Time to save money and cut back - Internet/Phone (UPDATED)

[vi edit]

Do you have cell phones? Any reason in particular you just can't drop the hardline?

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
I'd go with Skype (and have) for about $6/month

I have Blockbuster's unlimited online rentals (grandfathered in at $19/month) 3 at a time with unlimited in store returns for anything the store has in stock for free.

Work pays for my cable & internets right now, but before the current contract, I had a dry loop for ~$29/month and used an antenna for free OTA TV and used my HTPC as a DVR with Windows Media Center for free...

My skype in/out expire this month. Like aphex, my wife was uncomfortable with it due to the lack of 911 service with it. I got around that for the first year by having a cellphone in the house, but it's a valid concern. When we moved though, $23/month for traditional POTS from the cable company for unlimited was too much to pass up.

 

[dandruff]

switched from comcast ($116) to att u-verse $57

got 6mbps dsl elite from att at $17.50 (from $30)

got phone from att at $16.50 (includes CID and CW) (from $26)

 

[ElFenix]

just cancelled the voice service, going naked dsl finally. dsl price went up $10/month due to unbundling so it's about $7 saving. if i bundle with an att cell plan i get the $10 back. may do that because my sprint bill is pretty high now that i'm not under contract.

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: vi edit
Do you have cell phones? Any reason in particular you just can't drop the hardline?

Its in the OP, we are pushing the limit on our plan now so dropping a house line all together would cause us to go over minutes on our cell.

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: aphex

Originally posted by: vi edit
Do you have cell phones? Any reason in particular you just can't drop the hardline?

Its in the OP, we are pushing the limit on our plan now so dropping a house line all together would cause us to go over minutes on our cell.

Missed it shoved in the middle there.

Why not cut back on talking? That's almost an hour a day, per person. I don't talk an hour on the phone a week. Is there anything you really gain in an hour a day that you couldn't do in 30 minutes a day? Quality over quanity.

 

[Pliablemoose]

I keep Skype so I have a number to give out to people I don't want to talk to and so I can call customer support for hours on end and not worry about burning cell phone minutes.

For a whopping $6/month, it's worth every penny

I don't see why people use Vonage for 4X the $ 😕

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: vi edit

Originally posted by: aphex

Originally posted by: vi edit
Do you have cell phones? Any reason in particular you just can't drop the hardline?

Its in the OP, we are pushing the limit on our plan now so dropping a house line all together would cause us to go over minutes on our cell.

Missed it shoved in the middle there.

Why not cut back on talking? That's almost an hour a day, per person. I don't talk an hour on the phone a week. Is there anything you really gain in an hour a day that you couldn't do in 30 minutes a day? Quality over quanity.

Its a family plan shared with my parents, my mom is a real estate agent. Its not us using up the minutes, but the way it is now, its significantly cheaper for us to all stay tied into the same family plan.

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
I keep Skype so I have a number to give out to people I don't want to talk to and so I can call customer support for hours on end and not worry about burning cell phone minutes.

For a whopping $6/month, it's worth every penny

I don't see why people use Vonage for 4X the $ 😕

If skype had any decent phones, absolutely. But the way the skype market is right now, the phones just flat out suck. Skype via Fring on the iPhone sucks, i've tried it a handful of times and its never sounded even halfway good (the delay is horrid).

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: aphex

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
I keep Skype so I have a number to give out to people I don't want to talk to and so I can call customer support for hours on end and not worry about burning cell phone minutes.

For a whopping $6/month, it's worth every penny

I don't see why people use Vonage for 4X the $ 😕

If skype had any decent phones, absolutely. But the way the skype market is right now, the phones just flat out suck.

Pliable is going to link you to this.

I have the same phone. It's good, but it has its moments...

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: aphex
Its a family plan shared with my parents, my mom is a real estate agent. Its not us using up the minutes, but the way it is now, its significantly cheaper for us to all stay tied into the same family plan.

how much would an unlimited be?

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: SunnyD

Originally posted by: aphex

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
I keep Skype so I have a number to give out to people I don't want to talk to and so I can call customer support for hours on end and not worry about burning cell phone minutes.

For a whopping $6/month, it's worth every penny

I don't see why people use Vonage for 4X the $ 😕

If skype had any decent phones, absolutely. But the way the skype market is right now, the phones just flat out suck.

Pliable is going to link you to this.

I have the same phone. It's good, but it has its moments...

Discontinued. As with the SPH200D, the only other good skype phone. Sure they are available used, but they are approaching $350-400. Which pretty much kills the benefit of skype being cheaper.

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: aphex
Its a family plan shared with my parents, my mom is a real estate agent. Its not us using up the minutes, but the way it is now, its significantly cheaper for us to all stay tied into the same family plan.

how much would an unlimited be?

Unlimited is $99/mo for each cell line. So for our family plan, that would be $400/mo 🙂

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: aphex

Originally posted by: SunnyD

Originally posted by: aphex

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
I keep Skype so I have a number to give out to people I don't want to talk to and so I can call customer support for hours on end and not worry about burning cell phone minutes.

For a whopping $6/month, it's worth every penny

I don't see why people use Vonage for 4X the $ 😕

If skype had any decent phones, absolutely. But the way the skype market is right now, the phones just flat out suck.

Pliable is going to link you to this.

I have the same phone. It's good, but it has its moments...

Discontinued. As with the SPH200D, the only other good skype phone. Sure they are available used, but they are approaching $350-400. Which pretty much kills the benefit of skype being cheaper.

Holy crap! You're not kidding! I should sell mine!

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: SunnyD

Originally posted by: aphex

Originally posted by: SunnyD

Originally posted by: aphex

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
I keep Skype so I have a number to give out to people I don't want to talk to and so I can call customer support for hours on end and not worry about burning cell phone minutes.

For a whopping $6/month, it's worth every penny

I don't see why people use Vonage for 4X the $ 😕

If skype had any decent phones, absolutely. But the way the skype market is right now, the phones just flat out suck.

Pliable is going to link you to this.

I have the same phone. It's good, but it has its moments...

Discontinued. As with the SPH200D, the only other good skype phone. Sure they are available used, but they are approaching $350-400. Which pretty much kills the benefit of skype being cheaper.

Holy crap! You're not kidding! I should sell mine!

Yep, its crazy. All the good skype phones are discontinued, all that's left now is the wifi phones (Belkin & Netgear) which both get shit reviews. According to some over at the Skype forums, there are no new models on the horizon.

 

[Baked]

I'm doing the same thing. Don't have a cell phone (ha!), but I do have DSL and cable. Those two adds up to $100 a month. I've down graded cable to the most basic service ($20), and planning on down grading my DSL to the $25/month plan. That's a savings of 55%!

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: aphex

Originally posted by: SunnyD
Holy crap! You're not kidding! I should sell mine!

Yep, its crazy. All the good skype phones are discontinued, all that's left now is the wifi phones (Belkin & Netgear) which both get shit reviews. According to some over at the Skype forums, there are no new models on the horizon.

To be honest, there are some concerns about Skype's survivability anyway. They have been losing money for eBay since day one, and have never been profitable. In some ways one could say it's only a matter of time.

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: SunnyD

Originally posted by: aphex

Originally posted by: SunnyD
Holy crap! You're not kidding! I should sell mine!

Yep, its crazy. All the good skype phones are discontinued, all that's left now is the wifi phones (Belkin & Netgear) which both get shit reviews. According to some over at the Skype forums, there are no new models on the horizon.

To be honest, there are some concerns about Skype's survivability anyway. They have been losing money for eBay since day one, and have never been profitable. In some ways one could say it's only a matter of time.

Since Ooma would cost about the same as a Skype phone normally should, I would rather stick with Ooma then as it has the potential to be cheaper in the long run (provided they don't go under in 10 months)

 

[MrDudeMan]

Comcast triple play is pretty good. I pay $117/mo and have 8/2 internet, HD cable basic (like 12 channels I think - it has all the ones we watch), and unlimited phone calls. I bought a lifetime subscription to TiVo so I don't pay for my DVR anymore. I've had it for almost 2 years so the break even point is coming in 2 months, and after that we will be "saving" $13/mo for as long as we use it (which will be a long time).

 

[Kev]

I dropped cable 2 years ago and I haven't even remotely missed it. In fact, at this point, it annoys me when I go over people's houses and I have the remote. I just endlessly scroll through all the shitty selections, and eventually give up and tell someone else to just pick whatever piece of crap they want to watch.

 

[tefleming]

Originally posted by: SunnyD


Cable: If you get OTA channels, do that. If not... hehehe... do what I do! With Cable internet comes a live wire. Analog channels might be a bust, but every single time I've tried it (3 different cable networks), I get all the ClearQAM digital channels (usually the OTA channels) for free. Did the with Brighthouse and TimeWarner.

Nice, that's what I was wondering. Means I'll probably just keep HSI (and skip Broadcast Basic = savings $12/mo), FWIW, I'm with TWC

 

[silverpig]

I get free cable tv with my apartment rent. If I didn't I wouldn't bother with cable tv anymore.

 

[TridenT]

MagicJack? Skype out and in? That's one way to lesser the bill... There are other methods, but most don't like them. (Some are even free... unlimited free phone service! And you can be called on a # too)

Uh... Cancel your TV service! Get all your shows online. 😉

 

[dquan97]

Call Vonage to threaten to cancel and they'll give $15/mo for unlimited service.

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: dquan97
Call Vonage to threaten to cancel and they'll give $15/mo for unlimited service.

The promotion is over, I tried calling last week and they said it was done. Sure enough, reports of everyone recently on FW are the same, no one is getting the $15/mo plan anymore.