Do people even budget anymore or do we spend until checks bounce and cards are at their limit?
Slowly, over the past few years, data plans and text message units have carved out a nice piece of the consumer disposable income pie. Whether we like it or not, other home budget categories are being impacted.
Half of all U.S. cellphone owners carry a smartphone. We are addicted. Even in this down economy, that finds households cutting back on dining out, entertainment and clothing, phone bills continue to increase. Watch as wireless carriers increase billings by promising faster speeds, new networks and new usage based data plans. Think of how your cable/internet bill crept up over the years.
The wireless increase will be similar, yet accelerated. The increase in spending last year rose 4%. The average household's annual spending on telephone services rose to $1,226 in 2011 from $1,110 in 2007. The iPhone was first introduced on January 9th, 2007.
U.S. wireless carriers brought in $22 billion in revenue selling services such as mobile email and Web browsing in 2007, according to analysts at UBS AG. By 2011, data revenue had jumped to $59 billion. By 2017, UBS expects carriers to be pulling in an additional $50 billion a year.
The carriers will have us in handcuffs. Want the latest phone to handle all those Apps? You'll have to give up that 'unlimited' data plan. You can move to a tiered data plan, but you'll have to buy your own phone. Most people want the subsidized new one. 30 minutes of streaming video over 4G will cost you about $130. We love to consume data and we'll continue to pay a high price to do so.
Slowly, over the past few years, data plans and text message units have carved out a nice piece of the consumer disposable income pie. Whether we like it or not, other home budget categories are being impacted.
Half of all U.S. cellphone owners carry a smartphone. We are addicted. Even in this down economy, that finds households cutting back on dining out, entertainment and clothing, phone bills continue to increase. Watch as wireless carriers increase billings by promising faster speeds, new networks and new usage based data plans. Think of how your cable/internet bill crept up over the years.
The wireless increase will be similar, yet accelerated. The increase in spending last year rose 4%. The average household's annual spending on telephone services rose to $1,226 in 2011 from $1,110 in 2007. The iPhone was first introduced on January 9th, 2007.
U.S. wireless carriers brought in $22 billion in revenue selling services such as mobile email and Web browsing in 2007, according to analysts at UBS AG. By 2011, data revenue had jumped to $59 billion. By 2017, UBS expects carriers to be pulling in an additional $50 billion a year.
The carriers will have us in handcuffs. Want the latest phone to handle all those Apps? You'll have to give up that 'unlimited' data plan. You can move to a tiered data plan, but you'll have to buy your own phone. Most people want the subsidized new one. 30 minutes of streaming video over 4G will cost you about $130. We love to consume data and we'll continue to pay a high price to do so.
Where will the cash come from to pay for our data addiction? We spent $116 more a year on telephone services in 2011 than we did in 2007, according to the Labor Department, even as total household expenditures increased by just $67. Meanwhile, spending on food away from home fell by $48, apparel spending declined by $141, and entertainment spending dropped by $126. Got to have our data and it's not just upper income individuals who demand it.
Nine in 10 of all U.S. adults have a cellphone, according to a Pew Research Center survey. Middle-income consumers increased their telephone spending in 2011 by $59, almost as much as the $64 in additional telephone spending by the 20% of consumers with the highest incomes, according to the Labor Department data.
What did we do before our thirst for big data? What is so important in there? One study found the average smartphone user checks his or her device 34 times a day, even when they know there are no new messages.
Oh well, times are changing. Big data is here to stay. Forego that night at the movies, that lobster, and stream Dancing with the Stars. Who has a budget these days anyway, isn't it more like just a review of expenses and stuff you can't afford anyway? Sua Sponte.
Bradford C. Bruner for Sua Sponte Wealth Management
Nine in 10 of all U.S. adults have a cellphone, according to a Pew Research Center survey. Middle-income consumers increased their telephone spending in 2011 by $59, almost as much as the $64 in additional telephone spending by the 20% of consumers with the highest incomes, according to the Labor Department data.
What did we do before our thirst for big data? What is so important in there? One study found the average smartphone user checks his or her device 34 times a day, even when they know there are no new messages.
Oh well, times are changing. Big data is here to stay. Forego that night at the movies, that lobster, and stream Dancing with the Stars. Who has a budget these days anyway, isn't it more like just a review of expenses and stuff you can't afford anyway? Sua Sponte.
Bradford C. Bruner for Sua Sponte Wealth Management
