Finance Discussions

I have my internet service bundled with my land line phone (Qwest), which saves a little. Also, I use my cell phone as much as possible for long distance calls. As long as I don't exceed my minute allotment there's no extra charge.  Some areas allow for measured local call service (instead of a flat fee and unlimited local calling), which is good if you make few locals calls.

Our phone is in a bundle too. In parts of Long Island if you have foodstamps or Medicaide/Medicare you qualify for "LifeLine". They give a special rate so people can afford to have phone service.

You can sign up for local only calls on the home phone and also a per call fee and then use the cell phone for long distance. That can be a problem if you need to coordinate something that requires a number of calls.

Also, let those who pay for unlimited long distance know that you pay out of pocket. Call and let them call back. I have unlimited, and I'm always glad to do that.

I'm bundled which was good until the prices jacked up. Now, I'm looking at other options.

Hey, guys and thanks for the tips so far. I'm interested to see what others are doing as well. I've never heard of that program that you mentioned on parts of Long Island. My brother was kind enough to include me on his cell phone plan, but I typically only use it for emergencies or for very few calls. I don't tend to talk on the phone very much anyway--I find it easier to write an email in most cases!

I used to have dial-up and had my home phone separate. The dial-up was cheap but horribly slow and when I began teaching online classes in earnest, trying to download class lectures in Ppt was a nightmare, and Bb was very slow in certain areas where I needed to add test questions, etc. I finally got DSL with my local phone, but whew, it seems high to me. I really need the faster internet at home if I'm going to teach. I'm sure a lot of people could save by using a computer at a public library for free internet access.

Your comment, Cyndi, about the prices going up so much makes me wonder if they're going to do the same with even a partial bundle.

I just looked at all the extra fees they tack on my phone bill:

Federal Excise Tax, State Sales Tax, City Sales Tax, Special District tax, Local 911 service, Colorado Universal charge, Federal Universal charge, Colorado Telecomm. Relay charge, City occupation tax.

Isn't it ridiculous?  My phone bill is 20% higher due to all the fees and taxes tacked on.

I actually have a bundled wireless service and split the cost with my mother.  If you can find someone reliable it's time to buddy up and beat them that way for a while.  It's worked for me for several years.

JovialCougar said…

I just looked at all the extra fees they tack on my phone bill:

Federal Excise Tax, State Sales Tax, City Sales Tax, Special District tax, Local 911 service, Colorado Universal charge, Federal Universal charge, Colorado Telecomm. Relay charge, City occupation tax.

Isn't it ridiculous?  My phone bill is 20% higher due to all the fees and taxes tacked on.

---

I agree that it's strange how many taxes and fees they have. We do pay an extra fee for inside wire maintenance protection. Our area gets hit with thunderstorms pretty regularly and it seems that electricity and phone lines are pretty friendly--we've gotten our money's worth on that plan. We always try to unplug our modem--fried modems aren't exactly tasty. The plan for the DSL modem protection through the phone company was way too high for us, but we've been fortunate that the surge protector has saved it a couple of times.

Landlines are going to the wayside in my family.  We decided not to get one, after all everyone already calls our cell phones and we have a great plan.  My sister and her husband don't have one either.  What's the point of paying x amount of dollars for a landline when you already have a cell phone?  Most cell phone plans are national now and it's not a bad rate either.  I think that soon landlines will be a thing of the past.

Plus, with things like "in calling" I never come even close to going over my minutes.  95% of the people I call have Verizon, and I've been trying to talk the other 5% into it for awhile :)  Basically, if you can get all your family member on the same cell phone service - you'll never have overage charges.

Other than that, I use the internet, I M and email to keep in touch with most people.

BEWARE OF BUNDLES!! You get locked into a 2 year contract and suddenly you find the TV service, Internet Service, or Home Phone Service is independent of the "bundle" and each service has a rate increase while you are still locked into your two year agreement! Read the fine print and BEWARE of asterisks!

NEVER LOCK INTO A BUNDLE!  YOU HAVE MORE BARGAINING POWER AND MORE FLEXIBILITY BUYING EACH PLAN INDEPENDENTLY!

Bundle packages can make a positive difference, but you need to investigate different plans before you make a decision. And, like others have said, eliminating your landline phone is also a good option, assuming you already have a cell phone. 

Wow! I hope landlines don't become a thing of the past! I have pay-as-you-go cell service because all cell coverage in my area is Roaming. Not to mention that I never charge the thing, so it sits in my purse dead for most of the time. I would hate having a cell phone as my main phone since I carry it with me. I have never come home to a voicemail that was so urgent that I had wished they had my cell number. When I leave the house, I am doing stuff and driving and not available for random conversation.

That being said, I have Vonage. I like it because it is inexpensive for flat fee unlimited long distance. They have other plans available too depending on your needs. You DO need to have broadband access though. Since we had it anyway, it made sense to use voip. Lots of people on Viewpoints like MagicJack but I had a horrible experience with it. That is REALLY inexpensive.

I actually have a bundled wireless service and split the cost with my mother.  If you can find someone reliable it's time to buddy up and beat them that way for a while.  It's worked for me for several years.

My brother has a cell phone service and several of us have phones on his plan. That has helped a lot. I wouldn't have a cell phone without that deal, but I've definitely used that phone several times for emergencies.

Nearly every time, buying a bundle will save you money in the long run.

In my case, my husband and I both have cell phones, so that we have access to a phone at all times. As we get good reception in our home, we opted not to get a land line for our new apartment. Since cell phones don't charge you long distance and charge you only for minutes (and many have plans such as "fave five", or free nights and weekends), this is cheaper for us in the long run.

Of course, be careful if you need to make international calls, as cell phone rates for international can be outrageous.

If you're going to have a cell phone either way and you're looking to save money, I recommend just keeping the cell phone and ditching the land line if you get reception in your home. However, if you're just looking for the cheaper rate over all, and you already have cable television, you might want to look into bundling a land line into that package.

In my twice a month calls to older relatives I ask about charging their cellphones. My cousins & I got together to purchase car chargers for their cell phones because three of them live in the country & we were concerned about them having car problems & a dead cell phone.

I have also heard mixed reviews with the Magic Jack product. Some people love it others have had connection problems, the majority like it. The Vonage product although more costly seems to be more reliable. Both good replacements for traditional land lines.

I have to agree with the people who use only cell phones: less fees , lower initial cost, portable thruout the country & sometimes out of the country, definitly the way to go.

I use keepcalling.com. It costs 1.9 cents per minute for long distance in the US and Canada, your balance never expires, and it includes a calling card PIN number for when you travel. You can associate your account to three different phone numbers (home, cell, etc.) so that you can dial the local access number without needing to the enter the PIN before dialing the long distance number.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Skype.  If you have internet access, you can get unlimited US & Canada calling for $2.95/month.  You can purchase an online number to receive incoming calls.  I only subscribed to the unlimited calling plan for one month to get a discount on an online number because I usually use my boyfriend's cell phone (paid for by his company) to make calls.  Other times I use Gmail to text people for free.

I got a forwarding number through Google Voice so I can just give out that number to everyone and forward calls to either my Skype number (when I have internet access), my boyfriend's number (when I'm with him), or my cell phone (when I go out alone).  Since I rarely go out without my boyfriend, I don't use my cell phone much.  I purchased a prepaid SIM card for my unlocked iPhone for $5 and it came with $7.42 worth of talk/text at $0.14/min and $0.05/text (first text of the day is $0.10).  I can also make calls through Skype with my iPhone whenever there is Wi-Fi.

When my boyfriend's work switches to reimbursing $85/month for cell phone, we're going to get the cheapest plan that includes unlimited web since we can just make calls through Skype on the iPhone.

My wife has suggested tat we consider dropping our landline.  The only prpblem I see with te idea is the lack of extensions for the same number.  When we're at home and my wife's cell phone rings, she's virtually never in the vicinity of her phone.