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Michaela
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| Posted: July 16 2009 at 12:15pm | IP Logged
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I have taken over the responsibility of paying the bills.
After looking at our house phone bill, I am seriously considering having it disconnected. We are paying $50 for basic phone service PLUS a $30 undisclosed surcharge -- $80 a month for a phone we don't use. That's $960 a year that I'm beginning to think is being thrown out the window. Someone told us we should have a house phone for 911 services -- in case we can't speak our address would automatically appear for the 911 operator.
We usually use our cell phones, and I can't see getting rid of them.
Anyone only use their cell phone? is there a big downside to not having a house phone (only using our cell) that I just don't see?
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Michaela
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Caroline
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We have been cell phone only for 5 years. The phone company told me I needed a house phone for 911 otherwise it would go to a sheriff's department in a different county. It's not true. We called 911 in April and had a 5 minute response time. I can't say about the other part.
I don't think we'll ever return to a house phone.
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teachingmyown
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I believe the charge for having a dial tone, and thus the ability to call 911, is $6/month.
We cut our phone service down to very local calling and caller ID for $25/month but our bill is $36/month because of all the taxes!
We were about to get rid of the home line altogether when we lost our satellite internet to lightning. That same storm damaged a cell tower and our cell phones had no connection. That made me think twice. Also, we now need the line for dial-up.
If we weren't in the boonies, I would go for the cell phone and maybe the $6/mo for a dial tone.
A cool device you can get if you go cell phone only is called a Dock n Talk. You can plug a cell phone into it and any calls will ring to your house phones just like a regular phone line. I can't imagine having calls come in to one cell phone. We are always losing phones!  Also, that way, you can have one cell phone that is just to be used as the home phone, important if you have big kids who stay home, or a babysitter who may need to make or receive a call.
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mary theresa
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Articles I've read like this one (on the dangers of cell-phone use) are the reason we have a corded house phone.
I can only call locally, but I really try to use it as much as possible as opposed to my cell-phone.
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Mary Theresa
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anniemm
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For us, it's not worth the cost to have a land line. We are on cell phones only, which is apparently common for our "generation" (I'm 26).
There's no way I'd pay $80 for a phone line that we don't use. I've had to call 911 on a cell before and had no problems, and I even lived in a remote, confusing to find place at the time. 
ETA: I am NOT a phone person. I don't use it much, so that does affect our decision.
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Mary G
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We've done both ways -- cell phone only when we came back from Austria (it was a 6wk delay to get a phone installed and we just never did it!) ... back to landline and cells when we were in Denver ... then cell phone only in Dumfries,VA .... back to land-line and cells here in rural VA.
There are definite benefits to cell-only -- cost being the most obvious. We also loved that people could contact us even if we were on a trip ... very helpful when folks wanted to negotiate house-sale!
The problem with a cell phone only setup is having enough so one is home with some family, while one is on the road with another kid, and one is with another kid! It can get confusing!   On top of that, when dh and I were going to different events (often occuring)and one of us had to use Catie's (teenaged daughter's) phone ... it is so hard to figure out with all her little bells and whistles and tunes and vibrate only rather than rings .....  Also, some areas (like dh's highschool building) aren't cell-phone-able. No one can use a cellphone unless they're outside the building as it's built like a bunker and in a bit of hole! I also don't like the lock-in to a 2 year commitment ... but we moved so much over the past decade that we usually could avoid excess charges on that issue!
Anyway, having a land-line for this old-fogey makes me feel more settled and secure. Yes, it's an expense ... but we bundled it with internet and cable tv (another thing we hadn't had in a long time) so it's not too bad. Also, to me it's like an insurance policy. We'll cut back on cell phones in a year when the contract ends next Fall.
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Mimip
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We are a cell phone only family.
We never got a phone line when we moved down to Miami because we moved around so much and the cell phones were much easier. Now my kids are young so no one speaks on the phone. I do use a headset, ear plug thingy with my phone and Dh and I both have phones.
Another plus is that we have an unlimited plan in the area that lets you pay $40 (plus taxes). That gets us all the calling, internet, extra features and long distance with two phones for about $90 a month. You can't beat that.
When hurricanes come we sometimes lose service but last hurricane we lost land line service (at my mom's) for over 2 weeks so its just as common
A friend of mine tried to go only cellular but could not because of her alarm system on her house so if you have that, check out that situation.
BTW I am in a huge city and that might make a difference to coverage area as well.
Good Luck deciding!
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D. Marie
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We use Comcast bundled services where we only pay $4 a month for unlimited digital phone. We keep this as a home base phone and as a back up. There are times when something is interrupting cell service, or we forget to plug in our phone and the battery is dead. To have the phone back up is a nice security net.
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stacykay
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$80 for just phone service- I think that is outrageous.
I don't know what sort of plans are available in WA, but here in our local area of MI, we signed up for a plan that includes hi-speed internet, cable tv, and phone service for $100 a month. We do have cell phones, using the Verizon family plan, for dh, 21 and 18 yo dss (many colleges no longer offer long distance phone service,) and myself. Dh needs his cell phone for his business, and the others are, I hate to say this, almost a necessity for keeping track of everyone and to make sure that all sports pick-ups and drop-offs are manned! (We usually have 3 or 4 playing sports in any given season, and it can get hairy.)
I would call your phone company (here in metro-Detroit area it is ATT, but then each metro city has their own cable outlets-we have all our stuff rolled into the AT&T U-Verse.) If they know that you are considering dropping their service, they may find a better plan for you.
I do have family and know of many of the moms in my group who have dropped their landlines. It does seem a bit redundant to have so many phones, when you think about it!
God Bless,
Stacy in MI (the state without a summer, thus far!)
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Michaela
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I didn't consider the problem of not having an additional cell phone for times that I'm gone.
If my mom watches my children or once Nicholas is legal (13 in September) to be left home while I make a quick run to the store for milk, there needs to be a phone available!
Diane, we have comcast for cable and internet. I'm going to call them right after I post to find out about the cost for a package w/ a phone line. I can see the benefit of one bill. (See you this afternoon.  )
Mary Theresa, that article is . I spent the entire day wondering about our wireless laptop that sits on my lap when I type as our little baby grows inside me. 
Thank you, ladies, for sharing info I hadn't even considered.
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Michaela
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Barbara C.
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We do pretty much land-line only at $66.00/month. That includes unlimited long-distance. Since most of our friends and family live out of state (especially my parents) and I am home most days (since we are a one-car family), it works out well.
We have talked a few times about going cell phone only but there are a couple reasons I have been hesitant:
1. I would worry about missing calls because the cell phone was misplaced or lost or downstairs when I was upstairs, etc. (Sometimes I miss calls and we have a land phone on each level.)
2. I worry about being able to find a phone in case of an emergency for the same reasons as above. At least a cordless phone has a thing to help you find the handset.
3. The phone(s) would never be charged unless I charged them every day...if I could find them to do so.
4. I like having an answering machine so I can screen calls without having to punch in a bunch of codes.
5. Going all cell phone sets up an expectation that you should be available to receive calls at all times. There are many times when I DO NOT WANT to be bothered by the phone. I would like my peace and quiet uninterrupted. I would find it personally stressful to have a phone attached to me at all times.
That being said, we have one cell phone. It stays in the car (where it is usually charged) and is usually turned off unless we are calling out. My husband is more likely to make social calls on it than I am. I use it just for things like touching base with him when out running errands. We have no idea how to access the messages; not that we couldn't figure it out, we've just never bothered. Only our parents have the number at all.
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Jen L.
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- Those "taxes" that Molly talks about the almost double the bill - I HATE THOSE! When I called the phone company to ask what they were, I found out something that made me even madder. They were mostly (if not all) phone company charges made to LOOK like taxes and external fees. Grrrrr. 
My phone is cheap enough now (with almost no features) that it is cheaper than a cell phone. Since I have limited minutes on my cell, I use a calling card from Costco to call anyone out of my immediate area unless they have Verizon cell also (free).
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mary theresa
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Barbara C. wrote:
1. I would worry about missing calls because the cell phone was misplaced or lost or downstairs when I was upstairs, etc. (Sometimes I miss calls and we have a land phone on each level.)
2. I worry about being able to find a phone in case of an emergency for the same reasons as above. At least a cordless phone has a thing to help you find the handset.
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Oh yeah, this is why I couldn't be a cell-phone only person. I am always losing my phone or letting the battery die. What would I do without my house phone to call my cell on so I could find it!
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Mary Theresa
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mary theresa
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Michaela wrote:
Mary Theresa, that article is . I spent the entire day wondering about our wireless laptop that sits on my lap when I type as our little baby grows inside me.
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I know! Sorry to make you worry!
If I ever use a laptop I always try to have it on a table or something. And I am trying to keep my husband from getting one to use on the jobsite. I read another article (that I can't remember where it is right now) that says that electro-magnetic frequencies, especially from laptops because of their normal location, can cause low sperm count in men. . .
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Bookswithtea
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Dh and I have talked many times about going to cell only. The thing that stops me is that I find it harder to understand what people are saying on a cell phone. Somehow it just doesn't sound clear like it does on a land line.
I don't think we have cheap phones. Maybe I have bad hearing???
It drives me crazy the amount we spend on "communications".  When I think about what our family's budget was in 1995, the biggest change is in phone and internet, definitely. Plus, plain ole rabbit ears worked then.
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KC in TX
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mary theresa wrote:
I am always losing my phone or letting the battery die. What would I do without my house phone to call my cell on so I could find it! |
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That's me!
We have a land line because it's connected to our security system. I supposed I could get the alarm system connected to our cell phone, but I like this much better.
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anniemm
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Barbara C. wrote:
5. Going all cell phone sets up an expectation that you should be available to receive calls at all times. There are many times when I DO NOT WANT to be bothered by the phone. I would like my peace and quiet uninterrupted. I would find it personally stressful to have a phone attached to me at all times. |
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This made me giggle! I am notorious for not answering my phone. It drives my DH batty...it'll be ringing and he'll ask me if I'm going to answer... not unless I feel like it!
I always assumed that answering the phone or the door were a matter of whether that person is available or not. I can answer if I want, or not. And I don't expect to be able to reach anyone else right when I want them either.
I do think that this is a major problem with communication these days - a sense of entitlement to chat with anyone you want whenever you want. I reject that!
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Andrea
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wamegomom
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First: EIGHTY DOLLARS!!!!! That's highway robbery! No wonder you're asking.
In our situation, when we did have to call 911 using the cell phone because our house had been hit by lightning last August and all the wires melted in the walls, the cell phone connected with the dispatcher two counties west of us. Here I was smelling smoke, seeing my living room floor blown into thousands of sharp pieces and impaled in the walls and ceiling, trying to get my incomplete- quadriplegic husband into a wheelchair (we were all in bed in the very early morning), getting the kids up and getting out (including teen dd who uses a wheelchair too) and I'm talking to someone about 40 minutes away. After explaining where I was, she connected me to our county dispatcher but the firetrucks took 35 minutes to get there because they went to the wrong road. Thank God that though there was a scorched smell there was no fire. We credit St Michael! Anyway, it CAN happen that 911 messes up. The firefighters told me that it might be that the last time I used the cell phone it used that faraway tower. I wasn't in that direction at all, though. Who knows?
When we had an ice storm and lost power for a week, the corded phone worked and we jealously guarded the cell phone because we couldn't charge it up.
After the lightning episode, we decided not to re-wire the Dish satellite TV and went to cable, landline and internet on one bill, which includes a free hour of long distance per month. That's working ok but the kids miss the Chinese channel on Dish (and Daddy misses the western channel).
All in all, I'd be a little afraid where we live out in the country to totally give up the landline. And when I had to go away from the kids earlier this month to join Ed at the hospital in Denver, I took both cell phones (contract phone and pay as you go) because the pay as you go doesn't roam there but not everyone knows that number. I needed the landline at the house for the kids and the sitter.
That Dock and Talk thing sounds cool, though.
Does it seem to come down to where you live? Is it easier to live without a landline in a city?
Mary Alice in Kansas
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Stephanie_Q
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wamegomom wrote:
First: EIGHTY DOLLARS!!!!! That's highway robbery! No wonder you're asking.
That Dock and Talk thing sounds cool, though.
Does it seem to come down to where you live? Is it easier to live without a landline in a city?
Mary Alice in Kansas
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Yes - $80 is outrageous. We pay about $40/month for our landline. $34.99 is a package that gives us basic service and a 1.5M Internet connection. We also have 2 cell phones.
We tried the Dock N Talk and resold it on eBay b/c my dh hated it. I mostly talk to my him on his way home from work. He "couldn't understand" me when I was plugged in - but didn't have trouble when I was not connected to it. No one else seemed to have a problem.
We tried living out "in the boonies" without a landline, but feel "safer" with it - when cell phones aren't charged - got dropped in the toilet - or we are just getting poor reception, we have that option. PLUS, the wireless Internet cost more and was slower than what we're getting + basic phone service.
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Bookswithtea
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Does anyone have any experience with Vonage? It might offer a less expensive alternative for a land line?
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Cell phone vs. House phone
