Hack your cellphone, make it awesome.

I got a new cell phone when my plan with Verizon expired and took advantage of a promotional offer. Basically I got two cell phones for free after rebate and lowered my monthly cell phone bill by switching to a cheaper family plan. I got the LG 83000, I let the Verizon guy upsell me to this phone with more features and options rather than going with the basic cell phone which I intended to buy. I also was able to get a discount through work to bring down the cost a bit more. Verizon was not honoring my employee discount so I had to talk with many of their customer service reps and get things hammered out. Eventually they got it right and I got credit when they "lost my application" (always keep records, time and date things that you need to submit) Right now I pay under $60 for two phones, which is not that bad considering I used to pay around $90-$110 a month for the same thing.
I didn't opt for any of the extra features (to keep costs at a minimum, this is why I should have went with the basic) but I did find some nice features which I'm in the process of learning to use. Soon I will be unlocking the full potential of my cell phone using a bunch of tricks, and tips from the LG VX 8300 Blog
I will be purchasing a few accessories (a 1 gb memory card, a blue tooth dongle, and a USB reader for the memory card) I know these are definitely not a necessity but rather a luxury because I can survive without them. To quote U2 "what you don't have, you don't need it now.." from "A Beautiful Day".

Things that I will be able to do with my phone once it gets pumped up:

1. Play Music for free - I can transfer files directly from my computer to the phone without paying Verizon $2 per song. I have 25 downloads a month from Rhapsody - thanks Comcast. I'll be able to store about 200-400 songs, that beats the iPod shuffle, and is more than enough to help me get through tough distance runs (I'm training for a marathon).
2. Surf the web for free - With the help of cell phone techies who've cracked codes and used their super computers to be able to access the web. Blogging, checking email, reading personal finance blogs, get directions, etc.

I think that the one time charge to buy the equipment will be well worth it. There are many other things to do with your cell phone, play games, find friends. There was a nice article on LifeHacker about 10 cool cell phone tricks which inspired me to get more out of my phone.