5 Must-Have Apps For Married Couples
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser, Walmart Family Mobile. All opinions are mine alone. #DataAndAMovie #CollectiveBias
I really loved our home in Arizona, I loved the weather and I loved being within a 15-minute drive of five of my favorite makeup stores. I loved that we were only 5 hours from Vegas (where some of our best friends live) and that we were only 2 miles away from Rosie’s favorite place to go hiking.
I loved that Dustin’s work schedule was predictable and that he went to work in the morning and came home in the evening and we had dinner together and watched our favorite tv shows. I loved that I could plan on running all my errands with him on the weekends because he didn’t have to work on Saturdays. I loved that we could rely on a paycheck to be deposited into our bank account every two weeks to pay for our rent and food and cell phone bill. I loved our new friends in Arizona and the fact that we could have BBQS with them every weekend in March because of the weather.
So, the idea of turning our backs on a stable job with amazing benefits and on the Arizona sunshine for a completely new job, lifestyle and state scared me senseless. But, here’s the thing: my husband was miserable. His job could have been done by someone in high school and he wasn’t getting paid enough for us to live in the most expensive city in Arizona. He came home every night defeated and discouraged, wondering why his college degree landed him with a job in which he answered the phones for 8 hours a day and helped old people reset their passwords.
So, I said we could go. I agreed to uproot our lives once again for a new adventure. Dustin has always been supportive of me and my crazy blogging dreams, and since we don’t have kids yet, this was the best time for us to take this risk. I know that Dustin would do anything to put a roof over our heads, so even though I was scared to leave our security in Arizona for the unknown deep South, I knew that supporting my husband in this choice was the most important thing I could do.
Adjusting to our New Lifestyle
Dustin now works as an advertising director for a big security system company and our lifestyle has completely changed. Dustin now works from 12:30-8:00, but depending on the area he’s in, he could be as far as an hour outside of our home. He also has appointments run late, so he sometimes is out until 9:30 or 10:00 before heading back home.
Dustin also works from 9:00-4:00 on Saturdays and it’s been a huge adjustment to have him work six days a week and to not be able to spend lazy Saturdays with him.
I’m not going to lie, it’s been a little rough to adjust to a new life where I have to eat dinner by myself and save the leftovers for Dustin to heat up when he gets in. The first couple weeks, I stayed home in my pajamas and just watched Grey’s Anatomy all day long, waiting for Dustin to come home. It was hard for me to feel motivated to do anything, even blog! I just felt lonely and stuck and bored.
Thankfully, though, I’ve been slowly getting into a new routine and adjusting to our new lifestyle here. Dustin and I try to get up by 7 every morning to take Rosie out for a walk and hit the gym. We then spend time doing some chores, eating breakfast and catching up on a show before getting ready for the day. I’ve been trying to fill my afternoon with adventures with my new friends here, with phone calls to my mentees, walks with Rosie and trips to the makeup store!
Staying In Touch with my Spouse with Walmart Family Mobile Plus
When we pulled into Louisiana a few weeks ago, we immediately noticed that Dustin wasn’t getting a reliable service signal on his cell phone. Since he travels around the central part of the state for his work and uses his cell phone to make appointments and stay in touch with his office, having a reliable cell signal is of the utmost importance.
Dustin and I went from living a typical 9-5 work day life to living a life that’s so different and unpredictable and definitely way busier. I feel like our lives are way more busy this summer with this new job and being able to rely on our cell phones so we can stay in touch through the work days has become so vital!
After struggling with his phone for the first couple days, we knew we needed to find a solution. We headed to Walmart to see if there were any affordable options that would provide a healthy data allotment, along with text and minutes. Dustin uses a couple apps for work and we use a handful of apps to stay connected, so we knew we had to find a plan that gave us LTE coverage so that he could be productive on the job without having his cell speed slowing him down.
So, we were pleasantly surprised when we discovered that Walmart has it’s own Family Mobile PLUS plan, which means that it has unlimited Talk, Text & Data up to 10GB of 4G LTE coverage (and a free movie on VUDU ($7 dollar value) a month!) The plan is just $49.88 a month. Um, WHAT? When we did the math, this plan would save us over 60 dollars on our current cell phone plan!
Not only was the plan super affordable, but we picked up a smartphone called the Cool Pad Rouge (which runs on the Android platform) which was on rollback from $39.83 to a whopping $19.88. Yes, that’s right. We bought a SMARTPHONE for under $20.00. Mind. Blown. The last thing we needed to pick up was the Starter Kit, which allows you to program the phone and start up the service. We were told that the Starter Kits are cheaper than before and now on rollback for just 19.88 (from $25.00.) The offer lasts until July 7th. Insert our bewildered faces at realizing that we would be paying under $40.00 to buy and activate a new smartphone!
Disclaimer: All prices for phones and plans included in this post are accurate as of the date of posting; however, these prices are subject to change. Please refer to http://cbi.as/3edbl or your local Walmart for current pricing.
So, you can bet your bottom dollar we snatched up a phone and starter kit right then and there for Dustin to use. It was a huge relief to know that we could now stay in touch during this busy season of our lives!
5 Apps We Use to Stay Connected & Organized
Since we don’t have to worry about going over our data limits anymore, we can now use all of our favorite apps to stay connected while adjusting to Dustin’s new work schedule. Since Dustin and I spend a lot of time apart, I’m so grateful for the technology of smartphones so that I can still stay in touch with him throughout his work day. And, since we don’t get as much time talking face to face, these apps also help us communicate about day-to-day activities and make sure that we’re on the same page.
Snapchat – Since Dustin often is working when I take Rosie out for adventures, we use Snapchat so I can send Dustin photos and video clips quickly of any shenanigans Roo might be up to. That helps him feel like he’s not missing out on any of her funny little quirks or adventures!
Mint – This is our budgeting app that allows us to plug all of our banking and credit card information in. It not only allows us to track our spending, but it also helps us stay accountable to the budgets we set up for ourselves.
Open Table – Dustin and I have made it a huge effort to make sure Saturday nights are date nights, no matter what! Since it’s the only night we really get during the week to go out, we take full advantage of it! Open Table allows us to make reservations at some of our favorite restaurants around town so that we don’t have to wait in a line when we get there!
Our Grocery – I can’t tell you how many times Dustin will yell to me across our apartment “We’re out of paper towels” and expect for me to remember to get them the next time I’m at the store. Enter “Our Grocery” which allows us to sync our grocery lists on our phones! Dustin can add whatever he wants to the app and it will appear on my phone so I can make sure to pick up everything up when I go to the store. Since I run all the errands by myself on Saturdays now, this is a great way to ensure that I get everything he wants/needs.
LokLok – This is a super cute app that allows us to turn our lock screens into little message boards for each other! I can write Dustin a motivational quote or just say I Love You and it will appear on his lock screen and vise versa!
Date Nights with our Vudu Movie
Like I mentioned before, the Walmart Family Mobile PLUS plan comes with a free VUDU movie every month. It’s a super fun perk of having the plan and Dustin and I enjoyed getting to pick out our first movie to watch this last weekend on our TV! After being apart all week, sometimes it’s necessary to just snuggle on the couch and watch a movie and be close! And, we always unplug during our movie night. No cell phones, computers or anything so we can actually watch the movie and be together!
Guys, this move has been hard and Dustin’s new job has changed everything, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. It has already paid off in so many ways for us to take this risk and make these changes and we’re going to be able to finally achieve some big goals, financially. And now that we have a solid cell phone plan, we can still stay connected during this crazy busy summer and have fun date nights!
Tell me, what apps do you use to stay connected with your significant other? What do you like about the Family Moble Plus Plan?
