Cell Phone Vs. Land Line which are you??

**momof2joys** · 05-21-2009, 10:35 AM

Dh and I were talking last night and were discussing cutting back on some things for the summer or for good. We got to talking about phones: Dh wants to just get rid of the house phone and get two cell phones, but I sort of want to keep the house phone and get rid of the cell phone!

I understand Dh's point of being able to go anywhere and do anything, plus it's a matter of convince. I tried arguing with him that we don't even use the cell phone now, except to make long distance calls, which isn't very often!!! We do use our house phone everyday and with the house phone we only have local calls. But, I also realized that if we got rid of the house phone we would be using our cell phones all the time. I guess my big thing, is what if we accidently go over on minutes that can get expensive and a lot of times you have to pay for the text messages you receive!! Dh and I don't text or do any picture messaging stuff, our phone is for calling only, I can't texted like some people can so I just don't do it...LOL!!!

We can add long distance to our phone plan for the house, an extra $15 a month for unlimited long distance, of course they have other plans to choose from too, but this one is the best one for us right now!! Total cost would be about $45 dollars a month plus taxes!!

Cell phone plan with an extra phone (one for me and one for dh) with minutes and the cost of the phones would be about $60 a month or more plus taxes!!

I was just wondering what others have done or are thinking about doing. The difference of $15 isn't a lot to some but to us it's a payment for a medical bill! I am just trying to weigh out pros and cons, and was wondering what everyone else has done or thought about!!!

**The Muse** · 05-21-2009, 10:49 AM

We have both. I'd like to get rid of the landline, but DH works from home sometimes and doesn't have a company cell phone, so he could easily go over his minutes allowance in 1 day of conference calls.

If I could get rid of one or the other, I'd ditch the landline.

**savvy_sniper** · 05-21-2009, 10:50 AM

Hubby and I have a T-Mobile Family Plan with free nights and weekends. Plus when we call each others cell phones or anyone else with a T-Mobile cell phone (his parents, step-daughter) those minutes are free also. They just offered a family plan for $10 less a month (and 100 less minutes) so we downgraded because we don't come close to using our minutes.

Cell phones work no matter where you are (generally). We were without power after Hurricane Ike for 2 weeks; so we had no home phone (cable). You couldn't always get through on cells (towers were down/damaged), BUT a text message would ALWAYS go through. We could charge our cell phones with the car charger. We now have a generator so we will be able to charge our cell phones that way.

I have read several articles that say more and more people are doing away with land lines and going strictly cell. My brother has not had a land line for over 5 years.

You can monitor your minutes via your cell phone and online access. We take mini buying trips for several days at a time and it is nice to know that friends and family can reach us no matter where we are.

We are NOT those people that have a blue tooth earphone and must talk on the phone at the bank, gas station, WalMart, when driving, etc.!

Plus I have my own business so half of the cell phone bill is a business expense for tax purposes.

**tervsforme** · 05-21-2009, 10:53 AM

I have a cell phone and I also have Vonage at my home as my "land line". I have the 500 minute plan and with taxes and everything it is $23.00 per month. You can use those minutes for local or long distance calls. I have relatives out of state and it's nice to be able to call them and just use those minutes. To get a regular land line would have been something like $45/month and that wouldn't have included long distance. I'm very happy with Vonage.

**craftypam** · 05-21-2009, 11:33 AM

Originally Posted by momof2joys

Dh and I were talking last night and were discussing cutting back on some things for the summer or for good. We got to talking about phones: Dh wants to just get rid of the house phone and get two cell phones, but I sort of want to keep the house phone and get rid of the cell phone!

I understand Dh's point of being able to go anywhere and do anything, plus it's a matter of convince. I tried arguing with him that we don't even use the cell phone now, except to make long distance calls, which isn't very often!!! We do use our house phone everyday and with the house phone we only have local calls. But, I also realized that if we got rid of the house phone we would be using our cell phones all the time. I guess my big thing, is what if we accidently go over on minutes that can get expensive and a lot of times you have to pay for the text messages you receive!! Dh and I don't text or do any picture messaging stuff, our phone is for calling only, I can't texted like some people can so I just don't do it...LOL!!!

We can add long distance to our phone plan for the house, an extra $15 a month for unlimited long distance, of course they have other plans to choose from too, but this one is the best one for us right now!! Total cost would be about $45 dollars a month plus taxes!!

Cell phone plan with an extra phone (one for me and one for dh) with minutes and the cost of the phones would be about $60 a month or more plus taxes!!

I was just wondering what others have done or are thinking about doing. The difference of $15 isn't a lot to some but to us it's a payment for a medical bill! I am just trying to weigh out pros and cons, and was wondering what everyone else has done or thought about!!!

I don't know where you live, but here in MI we can buy long distance cards to use for ld calls. Sams has them for less than 3 cents a minute. I have also bought them at CVS (drug store) B1G1free. I have my home phone through same company as high speed internet now so I don't need the cards. In my experience home phones are cheaper. Before this phone service my bill was $30 a month including everything. For me the problem with only having a cell phone is needing to or wanting to talk a long time. ex being on hold at a company that you need to talk during the day.

**happimommi** · 05-21-2009, 11:58 AM

We choose to get rid of landline and go cell phone because

There is only one phone company in the area and they charge a fortune for basic phone service and have terrible service
We have teenagers and we want to know where they are and what they are doing
For us, this was the cheaper option.

From the info you posted, I would go with the landline. Sounds like the cheaper option.
Cindy

**Grainlady** · 05-21-2009, 02:03 PM

We have the least expensive land line we could find. We get 100 long-distance minutes free each month (which is more than enough for us). Our ISP is also on the same line. We keep our land line because cell phone service is known to go down during emergency conditions around here (ice storms, a tornado went through here last spring and cell phone service was interrupted...) We also have to have a landline for a home security system.

Hubby and I each have a TracFone. We recharge them once a year for $99 - so we only spend $198 per YEAR for cell phones. We've never used all our minutes and the unused minutes roll-over each year. I like it that we don't have any monthly cell phone bills, no contracts, but still have the convenience of them. I've had a cell phone of one kind or another for 20-years and the TracFone is the best, and least expensive, one I've had.

**Nishu** · 05-21-2009, 09:55 PM

I think people have forgotten a 3rd option in this scenario.

We were paying 80+ a month to have two cell phones that we barely used. Problem was- when I was out of the house I wanted a way for the schools to contact me in case my children became ill or were in an accident. (Honestly in the 5 years since my daughter has been in school this has never happened.) And I also wanted to have a phone in case I got stranded on the road. I also wanted my husband to be able to take a phone underway with him so that he could call when they got close to pulling in.

However- I hate talking on the phone and I lose my phone quite a bit so it's only good for getting in touch with me about half the time. I was only using about 100 minutes a month- so that's like .80 a minute? I had to keep a home phone because otherwise my mother wouldn't be able to get a hold of me when I lose my cell or let it go dead.

So when my contract ended on our phones we had them switched to pay as you go and kept my landline. Reasons this is awesome:

-I'm not obligated to pay. If I run out of money and don't have the extra $$ to cover cell phone usage I can just let the phones get turned off for awhile.

-It's way cheaper for people who don't use a lot of minutes. Since I did this 2-3 months ago I've spent maybe $30 on minutes. (Bearing in mind that I go out of my way not to use them and that they're often turned off.)

-I still have a phone to tote around for emergencies and I know my kids' schools can get in touch with me in case they get sick or something.

-I can still send and receive texts. It just costs .25 per.

-I get updates on the balance whenever I use it.

-Mobile to Mobile is still free.

Reasons it might not be so awesome:

-I buy minutes at walmart and have to reload them. It takes a couple minutes but I only have to do it once a month or so.

-The minutes expire after awhile if you don't use them. I just put $25 on my husband's phone and it expires after 90 days if he doesn't use it.

-People call and you have to be like "k. I gotta go. This is costing me .10 a minute." Or that might be good. Depending on who you're talking to.

Doing it was super easy. We had Cingular and they just used our smart card number to switch our service to pay as you go. It didn't require any new phones or any other fees. I imagine most cell phone companies have a similar service.

**dean** · 05-22-2009, 09:41 PM

We have both. Need the home phone for DH's business incoming calls.
2 cell phones for long distance and calling kids and each other.

**freebs** · 05-22-2009, 09:53 PM

we went to cell only 2 years ago. we never go over minutes and my dd text me alot. but we have a text plan. I went internet also thru my cell provider so its all one bill.

**MomToTwoBoys** · 05-22-2009, 10:25 PM

DH and I both have cell phones and the land line has unlimited long distance on it. We need the land line because of our alarm system and we only have so many daytime minutes on the cell phone.

In December, my phone is going to Pay As You Go. March is when DH's phone will do the same thing. We're keeping the phones for emergencies because both of us will be out of the house during the day. When we're at home, we use the home phone quite liberally. I call DH on his cell at work because more likely than not, he's not at his desk if I need him.

**rowdy35** · 05-22-2009, 10:26 PM

i got rid of my home land line last year, and i don't miss it. We both have a cell phone and that seems to be perfectly adequate for us. I was also able to get rid of the internet too.

I'm just trying to cut back wherever I can.

**kaurand554** · 05-23-2009, 01:34 AM

We all have a cell phone family plan; and vonage as a house phone. Although house phone is not often used a lot; I like having it so I can use the number when need be, raffles, warranties, etc...

**Pemberleyan** · 05-23-2009, 04:00 AM

For us there is no choice for two reasons: DH has to have a land line for his job and we have no cell service at our house. Also, I just truly dislike holding this small, uncomfortable object up to my ear, whereas the land line phone just seems to fit.

Sorry -- I guess my answer doesn't help you any.

**Lora88** · 05-23-2009, 08:45 AM

We have both landline is bundled in from my cable company with internet and tv service I guess Im old fashioned but I like a landline. Dh has cell phone from his job so its free I have Sprint cell only have 300 minutes and I would love to go without it but have fallen into the I cant leave the house without my phone I dont know why that is years ago noone had a cell phone and we did fine but I guess its conditioning we feel we must have it with us. I kinda liked it when I wasnt available 24/7 lol