Life without an Electronic Leash

[BoomerD]

For the first time since the early 90's, we are now without cell phone service.

With neither of us working, we just don't NEED the dammed things anymore.

Between us, we rarely used 100 minutes per month, and at $90 per month...that's an average of 90 cents/minute. Too high.

We've looked at "pay as you go" cell phone service, but even they aren't "cheap," and many still charge you a monthly fee, even if you don't make a single call.

The CHEAPEST ones seem to have crappy service areas, and while we don't travel a LOT, we do occasionally climb in the vehicle and go...so I'd prefer to have a cell phone that can actually get out if I need it.

I haven't been that impressed with the newer cell phones anyway. It seems to me that they spend more money on non-essential features...and less on making a quality phone.

 

[Leros]

You can get much cheaper plans if you only use 100 minute a month.

 

[mcurphy]

My wife and I cancelled our cell phone plans just over a year ago after 10 years of use. I can only think of maybe 2 times since where I was like, "dang, it would be nice to have a cell phone right now."

I can honestly say, I really don't miss it, and neither does my wife.

Edit: to say that we do have a home phone through Charter Cable that runs approx. $33/ month with our package. It includes free long distance, caller ID, and all that.

 

[IronWing]

We canceled our cell phone as soon as the first contract was up and we dumped our long distance plan and just use phone cards. Total phone expenses are less than $25/month now.

 

[xSauronx]

i like having it....but i dislike some of the people who have my number.

 

[BrownTown]

If you have a cell phone though you don't need a landline so that evens it out. I know where I work they have a list of emergency contact numbers for peopel and 75% don't have a home phone number because they only have a cell phone. Unless you contend to use no phone at all it really is best to just have the cell phone IMO.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I've haven't had a cell phone in years, but recently my mom got me a prepaid. It's alright I guess, except for the fact that I never use it.

When you load money on one you have a time limit in which you can use your credit. I put $25 on mine 3 months ago and when the time limit ran out I still had $22 left on it. :/ This time I put $100 on it, which is supposed to be good for a whole year. At the rate I've been using it I still won't use up all my credit, but I see it as a year's worth of cellphone service whenever I need it for $100. Hard to beat that with any plan. If you talk a lot I guess you'd blow through whatever you put on it though.

 

[GeekDrew]

I pay something like $225 for 4 lines, with unlimited messaging on all lines and unlimited data on my line. 1400 anytime minutes, unlimited nights+weekends+AT&T.

We use the phones *plenty* enough to make up for the high cost.

 

[Gibson486]

boost mobile? They actually get better service than tmobile in my apt. It's $50 a month for unlimited minutes. I never actually owned the plan (just know people who have it), but it seems like a legit deal.

 

[shortylickens]

Tracfone doesnt charge a monthly fee. You only pay for what you use.

 

[rudeguy]

Originally posted by: Gibson486
boost mobile? They actually get better service than tmobile in my apt. It's $50 a month for unlimited minutes. I never actually owned the plan (just know people who have it), but it seems like a legit deal.

Cell phones are YMMV. Service can very drastically from one house to another, heck...from one room to another.

Trac is good for GSM areas (ATT, Tmobile) and Virgin is good for Sprint areas. You can easily get away with $20/month on Virgin. Trac is right about the same the last I checked.

But please never assume that 1 carrier has better coverage than another in every single part of the country.

 

[marvdmartian]

Good going, OP! I dumped my cel about 5 years ago (maybe more....been a while!), and only got a gophone a couple years ago, more for traveling than anything else.

With AT&T, a $100 load lasts a year, and you have 2 plans to choose from. One, a straight $0.25/minute, or two, $1.00 any day you use it (make or receive call, send text or listen to voicemail) plus $0.10/minute. Personally, I go with the 2nd plan, as anything past 7 minutes of use in a day will cost you less.

I'm really looking seriously at dropping my home landline, and going strictly with the gophone. 90% of my calls are long distance (I call my 80-something mother every Saturday), and even with 4 hours of calls (4 Saturdays x 1 hour each), it would only cost me $28 per month. Sure is cheaper than the landline cost I have now! :thumbsup:

 

[Kaido]

Leash? It's like my safety blanket :Q

 

[Parasitic]

Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
I've haven't had a cell phone in years, but recently my mom got me a prepaid. It's alright I guess, except for the fact that I never use it.

When you load money on one you have a time limit in which you can use your credit. I put $25 on mine 3 months ago and when the time limit ran out I still had $22 left on it. :/ This time I put $100 on it, which is supposed to be good for a whole year. At the rate I've been using it I still won't use up all my credit, but I see it as a year's worth of cellphone service whenever I need it for $100. Hard to beat that with any plan. If you talk a lot I guess you'd blow through whatever you put on it though.

T-Mobile? Next year when the time is up just put $10 and you'll be good to go.

 

[Chaotic42]

I've never had one. I hate talking on the phone anyway, but cell phones are a complete and utter ripoff. The plans are absurd.

 

[ZzZGuy]

I haven't gotten around to setting up my voice message service (answering machine). If it's important they can either call back or I'll be waiting for the call.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

I use T-Mobile prepaid for ~$8/month, and buying the phone during one of their deals (eg, $25 phone card free with purchase) makes the phone practically free.

EDIT >> No landline either. We use Skype for $3/month and $30/year for SkypeIn number. International calls are $.025/minute.

 

[silverpig]

I'm looking to do this too OP.

You should get a google voice number, and then an iPod touch with skype. You'll pay ~$200 for the iPod (but you get an iPod...), and then it's $2.95 a month after that for unlimited calling in North America.

However, until OS 3.0 comes out, calls to your iPod won't ring unless you have skype running.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Originally posted by: silverpig
I'm looking to do this too OP.

You should get a google voice number, and then an iPod touch with skype. You'll pay ~$200 for the iPod (but you get an iPod...), and then it's $2.95 a month after that for unlimited calling in North America.

However, until OS 3.0 comes out, calls to your iPod won't ring unless you have skype running.

:laugh: Good one...

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: AnonymouseUser

Originally posted by: silverpig
I'm looking to do this too OP.

You should get a google voice number, and then an iPod touch with skype. You'll pay ~$200 for the iPod (but you get an iPod...), and then it's $2.95 a month after that for unlimited calling in North America.

However, until OS 3.0 comes out, calls to your iPod won't ring unless you have skype running.

:laugh: Good one...

What's so funny?

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Originally posted by: silverpig

Originally posted by: AnonymouseUser

Originally posted by: silverpig
I'm looking to do this too OP.

You should get a google voice number, and then an iPod touch with skype. You'll pay ~$200 for the iPod (but you get an iPod...), and then it's $2.95 a month after that for unlimited calling in North America.

However, until OS 3.0 comes out, calls to your iPod won't ring unless you have skype running.

:laugh: Good one...

What's so funny?

Since when can an iPod Touch double as an iPhone (or any mobile phone for that matter)? Since when do you not need a data plan ($40/month+) to use an iPhone?

EDIT >> After googling I see it is possible via hacks, though I still don't see the point in doing this.

 

[cronos]

My wife and I are with AT&T Pay2Go. We don't use ours that much either so this is a perfect fit for us.

Both of us used up the $25 refill (which expires after 3 months) in an average of two months. So that's $25/month total for two lines. Not that much at all.

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: AnonymouseUser

Originally posted by: silverpig

Originally posted by: AnonymouseUser

Originally posted by: silverpig
I'm looking to do this too OP.

You should get a google voice number, and then an iPod touch with skype. You'll pay ~$200 for the iPod (but you get an iPod...), and then it's $2.95 a month after that for unlimited calling in North America.

However, until OS 3.0 comes out, calls to your iPod won't ring unless you have skype running.

:laugh: Good one...

What's so funny?

Since when can an iPod Touch double as an iPhone (or any mobile phone for that matter)? Since when do you not need a data plan ($40/month+) to use an iPhone?

EDIT >> After googling I see it is possible via hacks, though I still don't see the point in doing this.

You can use skype to do all your voice calling. You can get a skype in number to receive calls. No hacks are needed.

You don't need a data plan as you can do everything over wifi. You won't have the portability of being on a cell network so it won't work everywhere, but it will work wherever you have wifi (home/work) which is where most people do their calling anyways.

To have something for emergencies, you can get a prepaid phone and leave it in your car etc.

 

[thepd7]

Yeah! And get off my lawn! Damn kids...

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: BrownTown
If you have a cell phone though you don't need a landline so that evens it out. I know where I work they have a list of emergency contact numbers for peopel and 75% don't have a home phone number because they only have a cell phone. Unless you contend to use no phone at all it really is best to just have the cell phone IMO.

That's how I see it too. I have a Virgin Mobile(Sprint network) phone, and I pay 20¢ per minute. I don't have a landline, and I pay less than $20 per month.

The Virgin Mobile plan I have rolls over your minutes, but you have to put at least $20 on your phone every 90 days. That works out pretty well for me.