I work hard to be thrifty. It’s in my blood I guess. It doesn’t matter what I want, I always try to find a way to get it for less than the average Joe. Usually this means time spent, which equates to real dollars (time=money right?). BUT since I’m a work from home type, I get to value my time however I want!

When the first iPhone debuted all those years ago I remember hearing the angels sing. Then I took a look at the asking price and nearly soiled my pajamas (I was eating a breakfast burrito… they’re really messy!). At first I resolved to wait the X amount of years until some carrier made it a free gift for switching service or whathaveyou. My patience began to wear thin when slowly but surely, each and every one of my friends found their way into Apple’s crosshairs.

Long story short, I wanted one, badly. But I needed a way to get one for free or at least really cheap. The problem however, was even if Steve Jobs happened by my house and kindly left an iPhone on my front steps, I’d still need a phone plan. And smartphone service don’t run cheap.

Luckily, I had a pitch to handle some marketing for a long established local business which happens to be a high profile race track out here in good ol’ CO. Soon, those angels started singing again as my partner and I thought up a game changing social media package for them. We’d handle their facebook, foursquare, twitter, etc.. and of course to accomplish all this I’d need a smartphone. And not any stinky old run of the mill smartphone either. I’d need the golden brick of love: the iPhone.

Well, the client loved our pitch and said “Yes, yes, yes!”. A $400 charge found it’s way to their first invoice as well as a $100 charge each and every month thereafter to cover the service costs. Viola! I had an iPhone. Even more violaish.. a major writer picked up the story about how this race track made a huge leap forward by getting involved with social media. They were one of the first in their market to attempt such a feat. And it was the most successfully executed social media package in the history of NASC… erm.. race tracks. So much so that every other track around the country now mimic’s our system.

At the end of the day I got a new client, extra income and a brand new iPhone and all it took, was a little time.