Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Doing Away with our Landline

Today I turned off our landline with Verizon in an effort to save more money. The contract, which was supposed to only be for 15 months, somehow managed to be longer than that and my phone calls to protest were unfruitful. Well the contract has finally run out, so I decided to have it turned off, which will save us around $25 a month. We weren't using the phone, which hasn't even been plugged in for months. So we will save a little bit of money and as you know, every little bit helps.

I was going to switch our cell phones to Straight Talk from Wal-Mart, but had heard some negative comments about Straight Talk, so we are going to stay with Verizon and just try to lower our monthly costs. All of our phones are no longer under a contract and are now month to month. Verizon gave us a $15 per month discount for that reason in February.  

I do not need a new cell phone as mine is working and suits me just fine. If I did need  a new one I would buy one on the second hand market to avoid getting into a new contract.  When the day comes that I am no longer subbing, I will do away with the plan we have now and look into something even cheaper. 

So, $25 plus $15 means the cell phone bill should be $40 cheaper next month, and since I share a family plan with my Mother, should be $20 cheaper on my part next month. I also "charge" my daugher $25 a month for her smart phone on her financial journal, which she works off, so in the end I should be paying around $50 per month for my cell phone. 

On a side note, the customer service representative from Verizon did everything in her power to try and sell me another service. I help firm though and declined all of her offers. :)

Belinda
Live simply by not spending money you don't have.
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011 - 2015.

10 comments:

  1. both our kids (living in their own homes) don't have landlines and use cell/mobile phones only and it seems to work for them. Due to a number of overseas calls we make we don't have the option of getting rid of our landline.

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    1. Interesting, Gill. I am hoping this works for us. Time will tell for sure. V :)

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  2. I did away with a land line years ago, never missed it. Instead, we kept a "house phone" cell phone by paying for one extra cell phone bundled onto our plan. It was an extra $10/month plus tax. Fast forward,and I still have just a cell phone-no smart phone, by choice. DD has her own line/billing. DS #1 is bundled with me until April, when he turns 21. He can reimburse me for his line or go get his own plan. I did the same with DD, until she decided that her own line was needed as well as a smart phone. I get reimbursed for DS #2's phone, and still pay for DS # 3's line. So, I also await a reduction in my cell bill. We also have Verizon

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    1. Hopefully you will see a reduction in your cell phone bill soon. No smart phone for me, although my daughter has one. She does have several money saving apps on hers, but I have not seen enough savings to make me want a smart phone yet.

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  3. Good for you for succeeding in refusing Verizon's offers ! Here in France, they can be pretty pesky too. My Internet and phone arrangement is the next thing I'm going to get my thrifty hands too !

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    1. Thank you. :) Hopefully you will be able to see a reduction in your Internet and phone too.

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  4. I've known several people who have dropped their land lines. For many families, it simply makes sense.
    We still have our land line. It's bundled with our internet. I don't have a cell phone, so my land line is critical for me. Plus, I encourage the rest of our family to use the land line, when they'e at home, as they all have pre-paid cell phones, and pay by the minute. This is what works for us, for the time being.

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    1. Good planning on your part, Lili. There is no need to have two phones, a land line and cell phone. One or the other, depending on each family's situation, should be sufficient. Saving money is my ultimate goal. :)

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  5. We pay $25 monthly, including taxes, for 2 cell phones on DD's T-Mobile family plan. Unimited calling and texting local and LD 24 hours in continental USA. TV and Internet service are bundled with landline phone

    We also use U-Verse for U of Memphis men's football and basketball games. In addition, we enjoy college-type programs in which U-Verse excels.

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    1. That is a great price! I wish we could go with another carrier, but verizon is the only one that works in our mountainous/rural area. Everyone here has Verizon. In fact,t he school system goes by Verizon time.

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