Have you cut your cord? (Still have a landline phone? Interesting article)

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MichaelD

MichaelD

Lifer
Jan 16, 2001
31,528
3
76
CNN Article

I've thought about doing this myself. The reason I haven't is that certain utilities like electricity and especially credit cards require you to have a home phone...how do they know the difference anyway?

I currently pay about $45/mo for my land phone...I hardly use it.
 
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Electrode

Diamond Member
May 4, 2001
6,063
2
81
We pay over $60/mo for ours. We would go wireless but the whole phone number change thing is too much of a hassle.

(note: I haven't read the article yet)
 
C

Crazymofo

Platinum Member
May 14, 2003
2,339
0
0
Havent had one since late 1999... no use for it. The only problem I have is when I get stuck on hold for some stupid bill i need to pay...
 
Pliablemoose

Pliablemoose

Lifer
Oct 11, 1999
25,195
0
56
No, but I am going to cut all but the basic services from my wired phone...

Just added a 3rd phone to our cell collection.
 

I don't have a home phone (I'm a full-time college student). My parents are paying my cell phone bill while I'm in school, so it's really a no brainer for me. My two parents and I share 400 minutes a month, with unlimited N&W, and it's been working out well. Together, we use about 300 peak minutes a month. I see no need for a landline phone anymore.
 
mugs

mugs

Lifer
Apr 29, 2003
48,920
46
91
Originally posted by: Electrode
We pay over $60/mo for ours. We would go wireless but the whole phone number change thing is too much of a hassle.

(note: I haven't read the article yet)
Click to expand...

Wow, just for basic local phone service? That's absurd. When I had a land line in Indiana last year, it was about $16 a month total... $20 if you're a sucker and paid for their "maintenance" service. It's <$20 in New Jersey I think.
 
MichaelD

MichaelD

Lifer
Jan 16, 2001
31,528
3
76
Originally posted by: fastz28
Originally posted by: MichaelD
CNN Article

I currently pay about $45/mo for my land phone...I hardly use it.
Click to expand...

Dang! I only pay about $22. Get rid of caller id, call waiting, etc...
Click to expand...

Heh, you hit it on the head. I've got both of those, plus an unlisted number.
rolleye.gif
Having a phone w/o Caller ID is a scary proposition these days. Call waiting is just as important, IMHO.

I think another reason I keep the landline is "just in case" something goes wrong with, or I lose my cell phone. I guess for folks w/two or more cells in the household this isn't a major concern.
 
S

Spoooon

Lifer
Mar 3, 2000
11,563
203
106
I haven't had a landline in about 3 years. The cheapest I could get my landline phone to be was 15-20 dollars per month. I might as well have just found someone on the street and given them 20 dollars each month considering how useful the landline was. :)
 
M

Martin

Lifer
Jan 15, 2000
29,178
1
81
Originally posted by: MichaelD
CNN Article

I've thought about doing this myself. The reason I haven't is that certain utilities like electricity and especially credit cards require you to have a home phone...how do they know the difference anyway?

I currently pay about $45/mo for my land phone...I hardly use it.
Click to expand...

My sister and her husband don't have a landline and use their cell numbers for utilities and such...no problem there. They don't need one for DSL either, since I ran an ethernet cable from our house to theirs...
 
T

Thegonagle

Diamond Member
Jun 8, 2000
9,773
0
71
Why do you pay $45 a month if you don't use it? If you don't use it, but don't want to disconnect it completely yet, you can bring down that cost by getting rid of all the features like voice mail (a $14 answering machine does the trick for me), caller ID, and call waiting. Also, dump the long distance companies that charge a monthly fee, even if you don't use it.

My home phone is $23 (no features or long distance, I don't do a lot of lenghty long distance calls, so the cell is good for that). I like having more than one number (I don't want everyone to have my cell phone number), and and I like being able to comfortably subscribe to the cheapest cell phone plan with no worries about going over my minutes. I'd need a cell phone plan at least $30 higher a month if I didn't have the home line. Oh, and I like land lines because they still sound much better than any cell phone.

One more thing: It's good to have a working home line that you can use to call 911. The call automatically gets routed to the city switchboard (rather then state patrol as is the case with my cell phones) and they will automatically get your correct address.
 
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fastz28

Golden Member
Mar 27, 2001
1,794
0
0
Originally posted by: MichaelD
Originally posted by: fastz28
Originally posted by: MichaelD
CNN Article

I currently pay about $45/mo for my land phone...I hardly use it.
Click to expand...

Dang! I only pay about $22. Get rid of caller id, call waiting, etc...
Click to expand...

Heh, you hit it on the head. I've got both of those, plus an unlisted number.
rolleye.gif
Having a phone w/o Caller ID is a scary proposition these days. Call waiting is just as important, IMHO.

I think another reason I keep the landline is "just in case" something goes wrong with, or I lose my cell phone. I guess for folks w/two or more cells in the household this isn't a major concern.
Click to expand...

Well, I NEVER answer the land line, so doesn't bother me. I only use it to make outgoing calls when I'm home and to give it out to utility, credit card, people who I really don't want to talk to. :p
 
B

Bryophyte

Lifer
Apr 25, 2001
13,430
13
81
Went for two years with no landline. Just had a cellphone and Resnet. Now I live out in the sticks (top of Pumpkin Ridge), practically no cell signal and absolutely no hope of internet without a dialup connection... so no cellphone, only landline.
 
waggy

waggy

No Lifer
Dec 14, 2000
68,143
10
81
Originally posted by: MichaelD
CNN Article

I've thought about doing this myself. The reason I haven't is that certain utilities like electricity and especially credit cards require you to have a home phone...how do they know the difference anyway?

I currently pay about $45/mo for my land phone...I hardly use it.
Click to expand...

yeap. we killed our landline a few months ago.

both me and my wife had cell phones with free nights and weekends. all the calls we do are at nights and weekends so it didnt make any sense to have the landline.
 
L

Luden

Platinum Member
Jul 15, 2001
2,269
0
0
I'm not home much, make most of my calls from work or school.. Home is just a place to crash :p So cell phone is only way for me.

Luden.
 
B

Binar

Banned
Dec 21, 2000
915
0
0
i need my land line to call my parents in Europe

you can't dial 1010 from cell
 
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geckojohn

Diamond Member
Nov 28, 2000
4,679
0
0
I haven't had a landline fone since 2000! Yay, sbc sucks! It's so much easier to stay in touch w/ just one cell phone.
 
Shawn

Shawn

Lifer
Apr 20, 2003
32,236
53
91
Nah, we got 2 phone lines. One for me, and one for everyone else in my house. We all got cell phones too. Partly because none of our cells pick up in the house! My exgf didn't have a landline though. I don't think her parents have had one for a few years.
 
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randomlinh

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
20,846
2
0
linh.wordpress.com
just have it at home for emergency stuff. at school.. it's faster to dial the 5 digit extension on campus to reach ppl... and it's how they leave messages for you (ie, you have a package).. but you can check that online now too :)

also, reception is crap in my summer apartment. i also wish we had something like 1st incoming minute free..... like way back when


also.. one more thing.. teenage girls yap on the phone all day long... my mom would kill my sister if she ran that up on a cell :)
 
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