Telephone expense ?
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Telephone expense ?
| Thu, 03-24-2005 - 2:07pm |
Hi all...
I'm on a mission to reduce my fixed monthly expenses to the bare minimum.
Where I live, suburb of Houston, I have to have a metro phone line to phone into Houston or it's long distance to SWB but not really far. I think I'm paying way too much for the house phone line through SWBell $64/mo-no LD. I also have a Sprint cell phone service--$45/mo, lots of time, unlimited LD. I'd like to reduce my total phone exp. I also have two teens--it would come in handy to have cells for them. I'm considering getting rid of the land line and getting a family plan (3 cells). Has anyone done this successfully? Any suggestions of a cheap cell carrier/plan?
Cupcake

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Hiya Cupcake! ;-)
We got rid of our land line months ago, and seriously only TWO PEOPLE have said that they tried to call us and it didn't go through. Everyone calls us on our mobiles, which are free long distance, and 1000 minutes a month. We have the family plan, and it's about $100/month, but we didn't even look around for a better deal, we just bought the one that sent us a flyer. I'm sure you could do better.
At least we're saving $26 month on the landline, and not getting any sales calls, yippee!
Lee Ann
Lee Ann
www.werenotafraid.com
Hi Cupcake!
My fiance and I do this, and it certainly makes the most sense for us. We also use Sprint, I've had the best service with them, so I stay (did you know that if you decide to keep your land line you can get 50 free minutes of long distance with them when you have a cell phone plan- check it out on their website) I suggest ditching the landline though, it's useless. The cell serves every purpose you need.
Depending on how many minutes you think your daughters would need, you could find a good plan through almost anyone. I have lots of time on my hands, so through Sprint you could add 2 lines to a basic plan for about 20 per phone. If you want more minutes, then you would have to go up from there.However, if you think you need lots of minutes, the best way to go is to get 2000 minutes for $100 a month, then one of your 2 teens line is free. Even better, go with the fair & flexible plan - and each extra line is only 10 a month. And if one of your lovely children goes over, the charge isn't an arm and leg. HTH
~Shana
I wish we could do this!
All my best,
Danni
Oh, yes--we lost the land line years ago. Three years, to be exact--the same time we started working our debt reduction plan. We love it. For a long time, we had only one phone still, which I think is a viable option for many people. Then dh got a cell plan through his work, and we switched over to a pseudo-family plan, on which his company pays half since his phone is for work.
Now we LOVE having phones for us both--one of us can run to the store and call the other, regardless of where he is, and get feedback. It's great when yard-saling too, for the same reason.
We haven't missed the land line ONE LITTLE BIT. The only thing that's a problem is that without a land line our internet options are limited. We need high-speed internet for my business and because dh works from home from time to time (very long hours, and often on weekends too), but we hate not being able to choose our provider (our only option is cable and there is only one cable provider).
But if you are already on cable, it's not a problem.
Oh, there are a couple minor issues, I guess. One is, we moved into a house that gets very poor cell reception, but my nokia phone works okay here. No other brand seems to work (I was told that the antenna in nokias is better than in any other brand, which makes sense). The other issue is that if you lose your cell phone you're kinda SOL--which is another way having two phones helps--if I lose mine, dh calls it from his, and we usually hear it ringing and can find it. It's also easier to destroy cell phones, so if you have littl'uns, beware. Mine, a couple years back, dropped my purse in the swimming pool at our apartment complex. I fished it out, and the only thing damaged was the phone, which was totalled.
Also, you might want to run the numbers and see if you would save more by switching to a dial-up internet provider and keeping the land line.
Still, I think more and more people are going to be switching over to cell only. It's definitely a viable option.
Heather
All my best,
Danni
Dh works with someone who switched over and they're very happy with it.
Are you the one who posted that you can't live without tivo? I meant to respond to that, because I LOVE our replay tv. It has so many advantages, so I completely understand where you're coming from. Wanted to tell you, though, that we bought our replay tv used (actually, we traded for a laptop that we couldn't get to work--probably about a $200 trade), and it comes with a lifetime subscription to the service, so we have no monthly cost but all the advantages (I think) of tivo.
Just thought I'd throw that out there, because if you could find a deal like that, it could save you some money.
Heather
All my best,
Danni
Hi! We use VOIP (AT&T Callvantage) and we also have TIVO. I'm not exactly sure how my husband set it up, but it works. Maybe I could ask him how he did it, if you'd like? I'm curious about that replay TV though also! As far as the VOIP goes, I have been really happy with it. It costs $35 a month (this is the final amount) and I can talk as much as I want anywhere in the US, which is so nice (previously our phone bills were at least $85 and often over $100).
:) Sara
Nope,it doesn't record two shows at once. You can record one and watch another, but not record both. Also, dh informed me recently that we actually just really lucked out--apparently, the lifetime subscription was offered as a premium draw when the replay tv first came out, and is no longer offered at all. We found one used and bought it along with the lifetime subscription, so unfortunately the option really isn't available for most people.
Heather
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