Boost Mobile Coupons

^{Photo courtesy of Kenneth Lu, via Flickr}

This week the United States government sued to prevent the acquisition of T-Mobile by competitor AT&T. The reason given is that this would lessen competition and, in turn, hurt consumers.

Anyone who has ever dealt with a major cell phone carrier knows that the present state of competition isn't exactly producing a renaissance of terrific customer service. The norm is two-year contracts, high early termination fees, and steep charges when you go over your allotted voice, data or SMS limit.

But there are alternatives. Read on to find a few tricks to owning and using a decent smartphone without having to deal with the drawbacks of a contract with a major carrier.

^{Image by *Luana* via Flickr}

Whether you're a techno-geek or a Luddite, eventually you end up with electronic waste.  Those old computers, cell phones, and other gadgets that go unused and obsolete. What do you do with them? It may depend on where you live.

^{Image courtesy of ICanHasCheezburger}
This week we have self-gifting, cooking gourmet from the pantry, smartphones killed the digital camera star, Boxing Day, answering the eternal question: do women overuse credit cards?, and tips for regifting.

Also, cat wrapping.

A show of hands, please:  how many of you are giving yourself the gift of a shiny new iPhone 4S this holiday?  Or perhaps a Motorola DROID 3 or Razr or Bionic, Galaxy Nexus or HTC Rezound? 

Cellphone technology keeps offering gadgets that consistently up the ante for mobile communications.  Remember that scene in Wall Street where Gordon Gekko calls his protege Bud while watching the sun set on the beach?  Back then that was supposed to represent how Gekko's milliions enabled him to indulge in the very latest in technology.  Today, it's a stark reminder of how far mobile has come from the days that only the very rich could afford to talk into a device the size of Shaquille O'Neal's high tops...