Tip #6 – Get Rid of Your Home Phone
Welcome to day six of our roughly 10-day journey, where we are looking at 10 money-saving tips to help save $10,000!
If you missed the introductory post of 10 Money-Savings Tips to Help You Stash $10,000 you’ll definitely want to check it out so we’re all on the same page.
But to sum it up – here’s our mission:
- The Goal: Save $10,000
- By When: This time next year
- How: By implementing 10 money-saving tips
For the next couple weeks we’re going to look at one money-saving tip each Monday through Thursday.
On Thursdays we’re going to look at a tip, but also hear Personal Finance bloggers’ and hopefully some readers’ ideas and experiences on how they’ve saved money!
If you’d like to be included in the Thursday posts – please let me know your best money-saving tip here! We’d love to hear your stories of what you did and how much money you saved by implementing your tip! If you’re a blogger and have posted about your money-saving tip, please include a link to your post!
Here’s what we’ve been through so far:
Tip #6: Get Rid of Your Land Line
This one can be related to Tip #5, but it’s important enough to note a distinction.
Many of you have probably already gone this route, but I’m sure there are a few of you that haven’t. It’s funny, I say this as one having not had a home phone in about five years to getting one with our new place and here I am writing that you should get rid of it.
The main reason we got one was because it was actually a little cheaper to get the very basic land line package so that we could upgrade our high-speed internet. The land line cost itself (minus the taxes) is $8.50 per month and it includes 30 local phone calls.
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For years, however, my wife and I used our cell phones exclusively as our only phone options. We had plenty of minutes and it allowed us to save some money on the land line service.
After researching phone and internet plans when moving into our new home, I realized just how expensive that home service can cost!
Aside from our basic, no-frills, “don’t-call-too-many-people” plan, the next cheapest plan was around $25 a month! Tack on your taxes and surcharges and you’re upwards of $35-$40 pretty easily.
Alternatives to Land Line Phones
As I already mentioned, just using a cell phone is a great alternative to paying for a home phone. But there are other alternatives out there as well.
Matt from Steadfast Finances says he trimmed the telecom fat by cutting out his land line AND cell phone and only uses services like Skype or Magic Jack. He’s saving $50 per month by making some cuts.
I asked Matt if he missed his cell service at all, and he said, “Not really, even after four years. There is a bit of freedom without always being “reachable” 24/7.”
Kudos to Matt. I know I couldn’t go without a cell phone, but he does make a good point about always being reachable. Of course, I could always turn the cell off too – but I never do.
Matt is just one of many people that are making a move to internet phone services like Magic Jack and Skype.
Who hasn’t seen one of those cheesy Magic Jack infomercials!? Along with Vonage, these are probably the three most popular services like this out there.
I’ve heard some good things about Magic Jack, but also some not so good. A site called Spot Cool Stuff, gives a really great and in-depth review of Magic Jack, Skype and Vonage!
The conclusion is if you want cheap, go with Magic Jack, but there are some negatives that go along with it – so buyer beware.
The bottom line is that this is just another area that needs to be evaluated in the grand scheme of things to see if you can cut back and save a little cash.
Estimated Savings: $25-$50 per month
What are your experiences with home phones? Have you cut the cord? How much have you saved?
Check Out All The Tips From Our Series
Tip #1: Cut Back on Going Out to Eat
Tip #2: Evaluate Your Entertainment
Tip #5: Negotiate Your Cell Phone Plan
Tip #6: Get Rid of Your Land Line
Tip #7: Slash Your Grocery Bill by Cutting Out Junk Food!
Tip #8: Use Coupons, For Everything!
5 Bible Verses About Finances That Will Change Your Life
5 Ways to Get Fit on a Budget
IRA Withdrawal Rules – When Can You Withdraw Your IRA?
Well Paying Careers: 30 Jobs That Pay $30 Per Hour
10 Money-Saving Tips to Help You Stash $10,000!
Should You Give Money to a Homeless Person?
7 Most Important Habits That Rich People Use to Build Wealth
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
We would LOVE to ditch our landlines, but we have two teenagers with their attendant cell phones, and minutes are an issue. We keep the landlines with the rule for the kids that if they’re talking with a friend who isn’t on our cell system and the call goes over (or is expected to go over) 5 minutes, they’re to switch to the land lines.
It’s cheaper to keep the landlines with limited cell minutes plans than to go with unlimited cell plans.
For landlines we use Vonage. $67/mo for two lines, which is saving us about $1000/yr over our ATT plan. Vonage is good on price, you can call anywhere unlimited and so far customer service has been solid.
The limitations…we have two phone lines, but if you’re on one, you can hear the conversation on the other so it’s like having a perpetual party line. Also, static affects the connection based on the status of your internet connnection. Still, I’ll take it over the traditional service any time. We’ve had it for over a year and plan to keep it.
.-= Kevin@OutOfYourRut´s last blog ..How Much Money Can You Save by NOT Eating Out? =-.
We killed our landline this year. We never used it, it was only good for sending the occasional fax. We can fax from a neighbors house or online for less than we were paying for a landline. Neither one of us miss it all.
.-= Kyle C.´s last blog ..Kids and Money – It is Never too Early to Start =-.
I actually sold shares in BT (the UK equivalent of Bell before it was broken up) a couple of years ago when I realized how rapidly the landline was being deprecated as a must have (plus it has huge unfunded pension liabilities, but that’s another story).
Ironically I have still got a landline, but that’s because a peculiar combination of factors means it’s cheaper for me to get broadband this way.
Good luck with the $10K challenge!
We have a landline as part of our cable/internet package through Verizon FIOS, but I think it would cost us more to drop it. I find we hardly use it, but our parents really like the idea of us having a landline.
.-= RainyDaySaver´s last blog ..The Yakezie Alexa Challenge — I’m All In! =-.
Last September, I did some great re-mixing of my package with RCN. In order to get the bundling discounts, I had to have 3 services. But they consider boosted internet speed ($10) separate from cable internet service. Including taxes & fees, cheapest phone + internet w/10mbps + basic cable = $145. I got rid of the phone and therefore most of the fees (the customer service rep said most of the fees were for the phone line, and boy was she right!). So Internet w/10mbps + basic cable = $68. I feel like an idiot for keeping my landline so long for those odd moments when I can’t find my cell phone and have to call it in order to locate it. My post about all this is here: http://moneymatekate.wordpress.com/2009/09/23/bye-bye-landline/
Kevin, check into ATT’s extreme basic plan! It’s not on their website, I had to call in and ask for it, but it was only $8.50 per month. We get 30 local calls – perhaps that won’t work with teenagers in the house, but I thought it was great for under 10 bucks!
Sooner or later I’m imagining these cell companies will need to drop their ridiculous prices on the unlimited everything cell plans!
Kyle, how much did killing the land line save you? Nice job recognizing an opportunity to save some dough!
Monevator – thanks for checking in! I think landline’s best days are behind them. Too much stiff competition nowadays with cells and voips!
Rainy Day – that’s so funny you mention about the parents, I think it’s just the parental nature thinking about all the “what ifs” and potential hazards – You never know when your cell phone charger shorts out and catches your house on fire and the only phone you can call 911 from is the land line! You know, stuff like that!
Kate, good call on dropping the phone service – I don’t understand how these companies get away with all these mysterious surcharges!
Are you aware that traditional 911 service requires a land line in order to locate you in case you are unable to give your address??? Most VOIP services cannot provide your physical location to a 911 operator and neither can a cell phone. Just something to be aware of.
Linda, that’s a good point to bring up. Something to think about before getting rid of that land-line.
We ditched our landline years ago, but I was a bit nervous about forgoing it altogether. Instead, we added a $9.99 family line to our cell phone plan and got a cheap phone to leave at the house with kids & sitters.
If the 911 thing or a security system is an issue, you can actually get the phone company to change you to a limited plan – they tend to run around $15-20 as opposed to the higher costs of standard “unlimited” plans.
Heather – great job getting rid of the landline and thanks for the tip on the 911 thing, which is a big issue for a lot of people!
I realize this discussion occurred back in April 2010, but I wanted to address a few misconceptions about VoIP service, and cell service as it relates to 911 emergency dialing.
That VoIP cannot do 911 is a blatant attempt to scare you into keeping your land line. The reality is that Vonage, and many other VoIP providers can, and do provide 911 service. Some even provide Enhanced 911 (E-911) service. Basically, what all of these services depend on is a database that matches your phone number with a street address. With Vonage, and other VoIP providers, having this functionality requires an additional step of registering that information with the VoIP provider.
Now, with your cell phone, it becomes a matter of what type of cell phone you have, and if you have disabled the GPS functionality of many modern cell phones.
I’ll start with the case where you have an old phone. You can still dial 911, but you will have to give them your precise location. They are already going to have your general location because your cell phone and the cell tower are communicating, and they can tell what tower you are closest to. (And through a process called triangulation, they can be surprisingly precise using more than one cell tower.)
Newer phones with GPS enabled, or enabled for emergency services only, will give the 911 operator your exact GPS coordinates, usually to within 30 feet. Drive along I-65, and you’re likely to get the State Police when you dial 911. Get off at 231 in Crown Point, and you are likely to get Crown Point, or a regional dispatch.
I have never had a problem getting through to the appropriate authority when dialing 911 on my cell phone when traveling on any major highway anywhere in the US or Canada for that matter.
Bottom line is, I’m probably one of the more safety conscious folks out there, and the only drawback to VoIP is that if you lose power in your home, you loose your phone too. But that drawback can be minimized by purchasing a battery backup (Called a UPS) for your cable or DSL modem, and your VoIP provider’s box.
I’ve been doing all of this for more than 7 years. My only “regret” is that I didn’t save the difference.
I got rid of my landline. Not only do I save money, but I also don’t have to put up with any more calls from telemarketers. My StraightTalk unlimited phone allows me to stay connected with everyone at only $45 a month
So, what would i need a landline for?
Nina, that’s a good point, although the Do Not Call list has wiped out a lot of telemarketers these days.
getting rid of your cell is not just getting rid of being “reachable”. There are NO pay phones anymore, so not having a cell is a saftey concern if you need help. Also, having ONLY a cell is VERY inconvenient at home. I have a 3-story home and my cell must be carried with me at all times or I cannot hear it ring and have to go up and down 1-2 flights to get it when I need to make a call…again, could be a safety issue. There needs to be a device that lets me plug my cell into a “Base” that transmits to cordless handsets like my landline…letting me take and make calls without the actual cell handset.
Sounds like an opportunity!
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