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SeaStar
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| Posted: Feb 07 2012 at 9:12pm | IP Logged
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Our basic phone plan for a landline has gone up to $37 a month just for local calls (which includes an unlisted number but not long distance).
Have any of you gone to cell phone only and given up your land line?
Pros? Cons? Anyone tried a Skype phone?
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
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Donna Marie
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| Posted: Feb 07 2012 at 9:37pm | IP Logged
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Yes, we have a landline. My parents turned off their landline and sometimes it is a pain to get in touch with them. At least when they had one, you could leave a message on their answering machine. There were a few times when I couldn't leave a message on their cell or they left their phone off.
Because we have kids, I figure that we should keep as many opportunities to stay in touch as open as possible....
We don't have a cell phone right now, by choice to help reduce debt, but when we get one again, we will certainly keep both...at least that is the way we see it working best for us...
HTH...
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Donna Marie from NJ
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Mackfam
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We do still maintain a land line, but we cut it way back. We could not discontinue the land line completely because we use DSL (which uses phone line) for our internet. We dropped back to a very minimal plan which costs $7 a month. Our number is not unlisted. There is no special plan or package associated with the phone now (no caller id, call waiting),
I posted recently on this thread about our new plan and what it offers.
Because we've lived here for 10 years, this land line phone number is very much associated with us - businesses, doctors, friends. We were hoping to be able to receive incoming calls even if we cut out outgoing calls on the land line. Though we can only make 5 outgoing calls on the land line a month (or incur fees for additional calls), I am glad that we can maintain the land line for incoming calls.
Cons: I miss caller ID.
Pros: The obvious cost savings. And using the cell phones as our primary phone doesn't bother us.
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Jen Mackintosh
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JodieLyn
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use a landline.. we also have DSL.. and I like having a dedicated line at home.. no one forgets and goes off with the house phone that way  and I give that # for all business stuff that I do NOT want them tracking me down on my cell phone.
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guitarnan
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We have a landline and a phone that plugs into the wall jack. If the power goes out (as it does here during severe storms), a cordless phone won't work and we have found (esp. during last summer's earthquake) that cell phone users jam the available bandwidth and then our cell phones don't work (unless everyone texts, which they don't think to do). The plug-in landline is our last best hope in an emergency.
We have used Skype and it works fine, but the power has to be on for us to use it in an emergency because we have a plug-in wireless router.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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SeaStar
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| Posted: Feb 08 2012 at 6:12am | IP Logged
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We don't have DSL as an option here  , and we don't have anything except local calls and unlisted number on our phone (no caller id, etc).
So almost $40 a month seems steep for that.
Without an unlisted number we get swamped with telemarketers, even using the "do not call" trick.
Hmm....
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Feb 08 2012 at 7:09am | IP Logged
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Are there other phone service options, Melinda? You're right - $40 seems steep for the services you're receiving. We go through a very small, local company for our service. These phone service providers are often listed in the front of the phone book, and it's possible you could keep your number even if you switched companies. Also, if you use a cable company for your internet service, they sometimes offer phone service, too, and will discount rates if you bundle a package through them. You might check into that.
guitarnan wrote:
| If the power goes out (as it does here during severe storms), a cordless phone won't work and we have found (esp. during last summer's earthquake) that cell phone users jam the available bandwidth and then our cell phones don't work (unless everyone texts, which they don't think to do). The plug-in landline is our last best hope in an emergency. |
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We have frequent power outages here, too, in stormy season. And we had a little bit of a different experience with the tornadoes last year. We were without power for over a week. I agree with Nancy that having a standard phone (not a cordless phone) that plugs into the wall for emergencies is a priority! But, our cell phones were instrumental in our ability to communicate and gather information about friends, family, local resources (gas, food).
For the first 3 days after the tornadoes our infrastructure was devastated - roads were blocked or impassable, homes and stores were wiped off the map, and we had no land line at all (too many lines down everywhere), and many cell phone towers were down. Cell phones simply couldn't get enough signal to call out or even sustain an incoming phone call....but there was just enough to support a text. For 3 days, we (and many of the local folks in the area) communicated with local authorities, friends, and families via text message. It was an uncertain time and many were caught completely unaware and were unprepared. The ability to communicate was essential and I never would have believed it, but texting was truly life-saving in some instances.
In addition, we had smartphones that could get online without needing power, or local internet service. Now, we don't use that feature that often, but again, for this week of survival it became the only way to get news and check on resources until radio stations were restored and we could hear info via radio broadcasts. We would have been isolated were it not for the smartphone - and that is a very unsettling feeling (isolation) - I can tell you!!
Toward the end of the week, our land lines were restored, but even with hundreds of cell towers down and damage everywhere, the little smart phone was perhaps the most instrumental tool in our ability to gather resources and information that we needed to keep our family safe. For this reason, though we do want to maintain a land line for emergencies, we will never be without the smartphone/cellphone option in an emergency. And because of that experience and decision, we chose to make the cell phone our priority in terms of maintaining and supporting financially - thus $7 land line service and $$ cell phone service. I really never would have guessed it or believed how helpful they could be in an emergency situation had we not lived through last April's tornadoes. (By the way, in any emergency preparedness kit, you need to make sure you have a solar power/wind up radio WITH a plug in option to charge your cell phone! Make this a priority as you build an emergency preparedness kit!!!) Ok....  .....done gushing about how our little cellphones saved us last year. But, I'm grateful for this conversation because it reminds me that we're settling in for an early spring after such a mild winter, and that means our high risk tornado season is just around the corner.  Time to make sure our emergency items are working well and in place!
SeaStar wrote:
| Without an unlisted number we get swamped with telemarketers, even using the "do not call" trick. |
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Yes. This IS really annoying isn't it?!!
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Jen Mackintosh
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Grace&Chaos
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| Posted: Feb 08 2012 at 8:55am | IP Logged
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Our land line came with our cable/internet package, but just recently that special offer rose about $20 per month. I'm with you on contemplating keeping it. So far we've done nothing about it because it is nice to have that number for all the calls you don't want on your cell, for emergencies, and long distance calling. At this point to really see the savings I think we would have to get rid off our cable as well, removing the land line alone is only a 20% cut off the whole bill. And we do get all the extras with it: caller id, call waiting, long distance.
I wonder if you can find a combo deal with your other services to reduce you cost.
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mommy4ever
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We still have one. I'm contemplating dropping it. Most people call the cells or text us. With internet, it has become easy to change the phone numbers with various businesses we deal with.
Looking at the phone, we've had 4 calls in the last week...
Not sure that is worth the $30/mo
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CrunchyMom
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I have a landline, but I don't have a cell plan (just a go phone for when out and about).
We have FIOS for our internet, and right now, our phone goes through that. I have heard that you can have inexpensive phones through the internet if you buy the adapter to to your computer. It used to be free, but I think now you have to pay taxes. I'm not exactly sure how it works, but it is what the computer guy that works with dh has for his home phone.
I think that you can also get adapters to put your cell into so you can use a regular cordless phone system while at home.
The telemarketing is SO frustrating. Also frustrating is that the last person to have our new number (we were forced to change our number when we moved a year ago) has debt collection agencies calling here often. MOST of the calls I get are not even for me 
I have thought of going unlisted, but then, it seems that the benefit of having a landline diminishes at that point. I think that Jen's plan sounds like a good one if you can find it and already do most of your own calling from your cell.
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Betsy
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CrunchyMom wrote:
Also frustrating is that the last person to have our new number (we were forced to change our number when we moved a year ago) has debt collection agencies calling here often. MOST of the calls I get are not even for me
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I feel your pain here. We had this same situation, it was SO frustrating. I think that most collection agencies are use to being lied to so they never believe me that this wasn't his number!!!!!!!!
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SeaStar
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| Posted: Feb 08 2012 at 11:41am | IP Logged
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Thanks- you all are giving me some good ideas.
We currently do not have cable... just to get the basic networks via cable would cost around $60 per month here. We rarely watch TV- dh watches a little football, we watch the Olympics and now Downton Abbey. That's it. We are able to get very nice reception just with a pair of rabbit ears in the attic, so we don't really feel like spending $60 per month. But maybe there is some package phone deal that the cable company offers. No DSL here....
my dh would love to have it.
My cell phone is a $10 version that I mostly have "just in case".
I wonder how I could tie it all together and still come out financially ahead 
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DominaCaeli
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We got rid of our landline a few years ago. We use our cells most of the time, and I occasionally use Skype or Google Voice for when I need to make a very long call (i.e. to the insurance company ) and I don't want to use cell phone minutes. I'm not sure what we would do in case of an emergency, but we would be good for at least a few days with our cell phone batteries and we do not live in a remote area.
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JodieLyn
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Don't forget that you can charge cell phone off the car too.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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CrunchyMom
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SeaStar wrote:
Thanks- you all are giving me some good ideas.
We currently do not have cable... just to get the basic networks via cable would cost around $60 per month here. We rarely watch TV- dh watches a little football, we watch the Olympics and now Downton Abbey. That's it. We are able to get very nice reception just with a pair of rabbit ears in the attic, so we don't really feel like spending $60 per month. But maybe there is some package phone deal that the cable company offers. No DSL here....
my dh would love to have it.
My cell phone is a $10 version that I mostly have "just in case".
I wonder how I could tie it all together and still come out financially ahead |
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Verizon is always calling me to offer to tie in our cable with our phone and internet, and we keep telling them "we don't have a television" to which they usually respond, "you don't have a television?" 
We watch stuff online, though.
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cathhomeschool
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SeaStar wrote:
Without an unlisted number we get swamped with telemarketers, even using the "do not call" trick.
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We used to have a phone that had a "telemarketer" setting. When the setting was on, the phone would give an electronic beep when you answered. This beep is the first tone in the "this line is disconnected" series of three tones, so if a computer was answering on the other side (as is often the case with telemarketers and election messages) the computer would hang up. I'd still answer but there was no telemarketer waiting on the other end. And since the line was disconnected as far as the computer was concerned, they'd remove our number from their database. It worked really well. Can't remember the phone brand right now...
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stacykay
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We have a land-line. The biggest plus for me, is that if dc needed to call 911, and the address would show up right away. And, we do have one corded phone, so no matter if we lose electricity, we still have a working phone.
Our bill is $160/month (it was super cheap due to promotion when we started.) It is the AT&T U-Verse. It includes the internet (with wifi- good for three oldest boys doing school work and using their laptops,) tv (love the dvr, and it also includes a wireless feature, so we don't have to have cables all over,) and phone (caller-ID- I love it!)
We have one official cable company in our city- Brighthouse. Their rates start low to get you in, but then they become very expensive once the first year is up, and they don't have many of the extras we use.
In Christ,
Stacy
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kristinannie
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We got rid of our landline when it was $45 a month and was about to increase again. We very rarely used it and mostly just got calls from telemarketers. We do a cable modem, but we are rethinking that because I am begging my husband to get rid of cable. As long as you get good cell coverage in your home, a landline isn't really necessary unless you continuously lose your cell phone when it is on silent like I do...
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Do you have a land line phone?
