By mid August, your teen or college student has the disease: gadget envy. It’s an expensive disease, and there’s no cure. Everything they want starts with an “i”. (For the next stock market blog, I’m simply going to advise everyone to buy whatever Steve Jobs and team are cooking up for back to school and Christmas purchase times. The man can’t miss. If he makes it, kids and adults alike will run over each other to buy it, economy notwithstanding.)

I can’t stand the whining, and endless details about how iPod accessories and iPhone apps change lives. When one teen proudly showed me an iPhone app that looks like a full glass of Coke, which drains like you’re drinking it when you tilt it toward your mouth, and then makes a burp sounds at the end, I decided to declare war.

“You paid for that app?!”

It gets worse. “No, my Dad did.”

Okay, time out, we’ve all gotten out of hand. Let’s pull way back. We need a do over.
After glowering at the Dad over barbecued ribs (my husband doesn’t know why people invite me to parties), I decided I needed to come up with the Henry David Thoreau answer to the computer gadget problem, just to affect some sort of change, some sort of balance.

I mean, here I am, pure as the driven snow, thinking about what sort of brilliant surprise twist I want to add to my syllabus this semester (and okay, the fact that there’s a gorgeous new cappuccino maker that’s practically a robot, which I’d trade at least one kid and a husband for).

And that’s the problem. We’re as addicted as they are.

So, here’s a plan: Get your teen, or college student, to comparison shop prepaid cell phone plans. And if you’re willing, let them comparison shop for everyone in the household. (My husband literally hid his cell phone when I suggested this). The key to comparison shopping for the household is that you need to have a cell phone plan that’s just about expired to really make use of the data the kids gather. But, still have them do it, because if they come up with compelling cost savings, you can keep it in mind for when your contract does expire.

There’s nothing that gets a teen’s buy-in like making a decision for the whole family. It’s true. If they see you using a cell phone plan they chose, they’ll be beaming. And there’s particular cache for tech gadget decisions, because it truly is there domain. They’ve never acclimated to using technology, they were born with it.

To comparison shop prepaid cell phones, have them do three things, all of which they can do online:

1. Have them start the comparison shopping with looking at Cricket Unlimited (mycricket.com) and TracFone (tracfone.com). Cricket in particular is only available in select areas, but these two offer a lot of service for good price, so it’s a good base starting point. The key to comparison shopping is starting with a killer base point. Cricket is a teen nirvana: unlimited texting and picture messaging. Let them beat that. Make them present a chart.

2. Have them look at your cell phone plan—do you even know what it is and exactly what you get? Have them compare it to their choice for best prepaid. Can you still justify your phone?

3. Have them compare what kinds of cell phone you can get with the prepaid plan. When their hearts sink, zap them with a savings plan for the iPhone. Show them how long it will take to pay for an iPhone, including the monthly service fee, if they set aside X number of dollars per week. Have them play around with changing that number of dollars to see how long or short they can make the wait. Offer them side jobs to reach their goal faster.

I strongly encourage you to make them buy their own high end gadgets, even if it’s the only thing they want for Christmas. Don’t get suckered. If they get it for free, it kills their ability to objectively comparison shop tech gadgets, which, as the 21st century progresses, may be the most important self-control, anti shopping disorder skill they acquire. With gadgets, it’s too easy to fall in love, and love is blind. (You are invited to my house to observe my husband on the sofa any Sunday afternoon if you doubt this axiom.)

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