Going landline-less...

[Michelle68]

...And,yes, I'm sure that's a real word. (At least in my personal dictionary. ) Anyway, I've been thinking about our family ditching the landline and going cell only. If we do, I'm figuring it would probably save around $30/month or so. For some reason, I'm having a difficult time imagining life without our home telephone. I'm just wondering if anyone else has done this and how it's worked out for you/ your family. Thanks in advance!

[beks37]

We've never had a land line, only cellphones. If you really need a phone at the house, sometimes you can add an extra cell phone line to your plan for pretty cheap. Usually around $10.00. We are just used to not having a land line and it works great for us.

[frugal.lass]

I only have a cellphone but there are a few things to consider before giving up your land line. This might not be as common a problem in the US but 911 services cannot track an emergency call from a cell the same way they can when the call originates from a landline. It's not like on TV where they can triangulate the location of the cell quickly and easily. There have been MANY situations of people making 911 calls from cell phones who are unable to give their location and it takes hours for their location to be found. I know of at least one case where a man was abducted, beaten and used his cell to call for help...they found his body a day or two later in the rural location he had called from. The same thing applies to VOIP phone calls, they don't use the regular 911 dispatch centres and if your address is not up to date, an ambulance might be dispatched to the city you USED to live in (when you set up the service).

I don't want to seem overly cautious (after all, I don't have a landline myself) but I would think parents would want to consider this issue before cancelling the landline.

[Thevail]

You're going mobile...isn't that a song??
I keep considering doing it. We have cell phones including DD, but we also have a certain amount of minutes..I tend to keep the land line just for those 5 hour long distance calls to my mom, DH's mom etc.

[TigerGirl1226]

We keep our land line for many reasons. One reason is that our security system is linked to it. Another reason is that when DD is old enough to stay here, I don't won't to rely on just a cell phone. The land line is just something I won't let go of. I don't like having to have my cell with me all the time even in my house. Just me...

[jennordhavn]

We don't have a landline and haven't for over a year. We never used it. We've had a couple power outages though and in that situation, our the cel networks were busy and we had lots of problems calling out. So that is definitely something to think about.

[mzpepper]

I have considered giving up my landline many times, but we lose power out here several times a year (at least) often for many days at a time, and I am not comfortable just relying on the cell phone. I have just the basic service on the landline for 20dollars a month. I think the peace of mind I am buying is worth it.

[phoeny_moonstar]

I don't have a landline and frankly don't miss it. But then again, I work at night so i'm asleep during the day anyways. Even when I did live in a place with a landline people called me on my cell phones anyways. So no big jump for me.

[baronmom]

Unfortunately, we have to keep ours. My job requires it, and our satellite tv is hooked into our phone line as well. I would like to try the magic jack. I am just waiting to be able to transfer phone numbers. I have had this number for so long that it would be more of a pain in the butt to get a new one.

[onencgirl]

I let me landline go about 6 weeks ago and haven't missed it once.

[VanVivCam]

We haven't had a landline in over two years. The only time I miss the landline is when I can't find my cell and need the land to call my cell to track it down!

[Michelle68]

Thanks for everyone's opinions. One reason I didn't want to let our landline go was because of the 911 problem. But watching the news the other day, from what I understand, the emergency services here in our city are able to track the origin of the call even on cell phones. The way we would work it is that we would upgrade our cell plan by $10 to the "My Faves" option. I've watched our call patterns for the past month and there are only a few people each person in our family usually ever call. As far as our landline goes, the only feature we have on it now is Caller ID, so our cost on it is fairly low. I've noticed about the only calls we receive on it are usually from charity organizations, telemarketers, etc.

It's something to think about and I'm still not sure if I'm entirely ready to ditch the landline. Thanks again for all the opinions.

[Michelle68]

The only time I miss the landline is when I can't find my cell and need the land to call my cell to track it down!

LOL, that's what I was thinking of last night!

[McD]

we don't have a cell and don't miss it at all. As Wesley gets older and actually has baby-sitters, we may invest in a very inexpensive plan so that I have the reassurance he can call me at any time.

[Buc-O-Mama]

Cell phones can be tracked by the e911 system, but it takes time, and isn't as precise as you'd think. They use a method that takes a while to narrow down your general location, but it doesn't get more precise than your neighborhood for example, sometimes it doesn't even get that close to your location. Some cell phone companies use gps technology and that helps locate you better, but again, it's an extra step and takes more time to get you services if you can't give out your location verbally. Don't want to sound like a know it all on the subject, but the DH worked on implementing the technology as well as optimizing it, so I've been "schooled" on how it works.