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Phone Downsizing

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Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Messages
1,059
Location
Phoenix Arizona
Since we don't use the home phone very much (I make most calls from work and my wife and son mostly use their cell phones) we decided to cut back on it to save $ (not that I'll ever see it). Long ago, we quit using it for long distance, calling from the cell phones instead. We almost got rid of the home phone altogether, but that didn't seem right (probably an FOG trait).

Turns out that over 50% of our bill was for add-on crap like call waiting, Priority Calling (I have no idea what that is), call forwarding and more. The wife just got rid of all that stuff, and our bill went down to $35 a month from $85, a savings of $50.
 
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Joined
Jan 26, 2009
Messages
764
Location
Concord, NH
i haven't had a house phone for 7 years (since i left my apartment in college). no need anymore. my parents dropped their home phone service for awhile, but added it back on because they were lazy about charging their cell phones. maybe it IS an FOG trait.
 

Craig Mac

BoM 4/10 7/11 12/14
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Joined
Aug 25, 2008
Messages
9,494
Location
Hampton Roads VA
I had a home phone hooked up in my apt 5-6 years ago and only got calls from the girlfriend and telemarketers, had the phone cut off and don't miss either of them.
 

Electric Sheep

Dsicle - BoM Dec 06
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Joined
Aug 1, 2006
Messages
5,147
Location
Dallas, TX
We stopped using our land line as our "primary" phone 5 years ago, but we kept it and stripped off 99% the services.

We now have the ability to make up to 25 local calls, NO long distance calls, and receive unlimited incoming calls. It costs us $9/month, and then another $8 in taxes.

I really only keep it around for emergency use (like 911)
 

Cigary43

Just Another Ashhole
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Joined
Jul 12, 2008
Messages
3,742
Location
San Diego/Atlanta
A lot of consumers like myself are opting for VOIP which costs only $25 per month for everything,,,long distance, computer, voicemail, call forwarding, etc. You use your computer broadband capabilities for your phone and it is a much better way to go. You get digital service and in case of an emergency you can always use your cell phone. Remember that when you use VOIP as your primary phone service and it gets interrupted you have no phone service which is why you should use a cell phone for emergency services.
 
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Joined
Jun 16, 2008
Messages
1,802
Location
MS
We disconnected our land line about 6 months ago. I was thinking of buying the Magic Jack and see how that works.
 

Shmear

Megan the Great
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Joined
Sep 14, 2008
Messages
4,064
Location
"Paradise" City, Mexico
Oh man... wish it could be like that here. Not gonna happen, we use cell phone and home phone constantly. We use the cell phone when were in the city because we get signal there but i get back to my house (on a mountain, i hardly get signal) we switch to the home phone.
 

jwintosh

BoM June 07
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Joined
Oct 31, 2006
Messages
17,276
Location
San Diego
got rid of the landline last year! 95% of the calls i received were telemarketers. i don't miss it at all!
 
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Joined
Dec 15, 2007
Messages
1,465
Location
Omaha, NE
I haven't had a landline in years. I use a cell phone for almost everything, except I use Skype for international calls.
 
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