What's life like without a land line

**Palooka** · 12-09-2011, 11:11 PM

I think I have some irrational fears or something. LOL We have tons of roll over minutes, unlimited texting, lots of friends have at@t like we do, so it's free minutes. The teens mostly text anyway.

If I drop my land line I could save around 30ish a month. The net would be 40.00 plus tax.

What do I do when I drop my cell in the couch cushion and have no land line to call to hear where it's at? LOL

TIA

**Libby** · 12-10-2011, 12:00 AM

Ya know...I've often wondered about this too however we keep the landline for dad and only dr offices, unwanted solicitation or us kids call him on it. I've routed my calls to my cell so I am in total control of when to answer or ignore a call. I chose call display over voicemail as well b/c only family and close friends have my #. Any important phone calls will continue to call until they get me and friends/family will text their messages. DH & I are not ones to talk on the phone so 200 minutes/month shared is more then plenty for us especially since we can call each other for free. (If we were to get rid of the land line completely, then I'd consider adding voicemail but ONLY then.)

I know my US family does this and they're able to call each other for free, nationwide. Not sure of their plan options though. But its totally doable.

Have you tracked all calls made/received on your landline to see if its really worth keeping?

BTW: you'll learn quickly to not place your phone on the couch so you don't lose it in the couch as well as keeping it charged

and if you do misplace your cell, you have one of your kids call it

**Palooka** · 12-10-2011, 12:19 AM

Originally Posted by Libby

BTW: you'll learn quickly to not place your phone on the couch so you don't lose it in the couch as well as keeping it charged and if you do misplace your cell, you have one of your kids call it

How can I ask my kids to call it, if I'm home alone?? LOL

And trust me, I have my phone on me 24/7 around the house, but there has been times where I forgot where I put it...and then sometimes it can fall behind the table.

**MTS04** · 12-10-2011, 12:24 AM

This is where you have a "throw away" back up phone. You know, the ones that you can buy in a package at the big box stores that come with x amount of minutes prepaid. i think you can get them for 25 bux or so. When you drop/lose/hide-your-phone-in-a-place-so-secret-that-you-can't-find-it, you can use the throwaway as the emergency back up.

We've been landline-less for 2 years now. No complaints.

**SwirlyThing** · 12-10-2011, 03:57 AM

If you cannot find your phone you use a site like these:

I Can't Find My Phone
phonemyphone.com :: Find your cell phone, escape boring meetings, free telephone reminders, wakeup calls
Where's My Cellphone?

I have a girlfriend who is always having to use free services like these to find the phone in the couch.

**imagine** · 12-10-2011, 03:58 AM

We recently went landline less. It did feel weird the first few days. It also was strange the first time I was out and about and the dentist called as I was use to the cell ringing in a store during the school day to mean an emergency. I adjusted to that quickly.

I also became really good quickly at not misplacing the phone it just became important and did not get misplaced as easily.

I am enjoying not having the landline bill.

**dancemommy** · 12-10-2011, 08:59 AM

Love it. We do have an extra phone for back up that we can assign a number if someone loses theirs, but have only done that a few times. My husband and I and the teen kids have them. Our younger 2 do not. Once they are old enough to stay home alone they will get them also. There should be no excuses for me to get in touch with any of my kids- they should always have their phone. The little ones know how to use the phones in case of emergency and they know where we keep them.

**butterflywatcher** · 12-10-2011, 09:42 AM

I was always one of those people that got irritated with others who dropped their land lines. I kept feeling like it was so necessary to have it. Eventually I started noticing that the only people who called our house phone was my family, mother-in-law and doctor's offices. Plus I used it for the rare fax I needed to send. $30 a month for that? I bit the bullet and cancelled our service. We all have cell phones anyway. The kids never used our house phone anymore, neither did my husband. It was just me. If I need to send a fax, I use a free online fax service which has worked just fine. I'm so glad I cancelled our land line. Totally worth it!

**Ponderer** · 12-10-2011, 10:05 AM

I am thinking I gave up a land line 3 dwellings ago. I was a little apprehensive at first because it still was not the common thing to do when I did it, but it has never proved problematic for me.

Do it...you will not be sorry!

**melanies** · 12-10-2011, 10:40 AM

I havent had a landline for about 5 years. It really hasnt been much of an issue, but I would highly recommend having a cheapy phone with a different service provider that you can use if the other goes out for some reason. I had that happen just last night and had to do without my phone for about 5 hours because of a service disruption. It almost never happens, but its just something to think about. You dont really even have to keep it active.... you can just activate it when you need it. Most you can do that with a cc either from the phone or online

**larabelle** · 12-10-2011, 11:09 AM

I have not had a land line for about 4 years...I don't miss it. It is so peaceful in my little place without it. I use my cell (one with a contract and a national company) and I have a back up pay by the minute cell from Wallie Land. I will never go back to a land line.

**MissSeetonFan** · 12-10-2011, 03:36 PM

We have considered dropping the land line, but with the possibility of power outages, cell phone overloads during those times and not wanting our phone ringing where ever we go - I like being away from the phone - we have kept the basic local land line. It costs us about $12/month.

Having a normal, old fashioned phone that doesn't require being plugged in comes in handy when there are disasters that knock out the power. We have kept a $5 phone that just plugs in for that reason. It has come in handy at times when power has gone out. Cell phones work for a while but when the power is out for several days, the power must be rationed and can eventually die, even if cell coverage is still available.

**frugalfranny** · 12-10-2011, 03:41 PM

Just be sure your house isn't in a 'flight path'..............

DD tried it a few years ago.....she was in a flight path and if the noise didn't kill the conversation, the disconnect would.

Takes longer for response (so I have read) if you need 911 too....though, the good news is, that NOW they can handle it.

**Anastasis** · 12-10-2011, 04:08 PM

I haven't had a land line since I moved out on my own 10 yrs ago and got my first cell phone. I've never looked back or had any issues. If anything it's been a lifesaver during the couple of natural disasters I've lived through (cell phone service came back before land lines).

The only issue I've ever had is needing a local number while I was in school and I just used Grand Central (now google voice) to get a local number to forward to my cell.