# ditching my land line..one more discussion?



## stef (Sep 14, 2002)

I know some might feel this has been talked to death, but I could use some encouragement from those who have ditched their land lines and never looked back. Thinking of doing that soon. 

Thanks, stef...


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## Win07_351 (Dec 7, 2008)

I never regret it. But I'm not a huge phone person anyway. YMMV


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## countryfied2011 (Jul 5, 2011)

We ditched our cell phones and never looked back....:hysterical: Best decision we ever made..

Actually we do have a cheapo tracfone but we never turn it on and still have our land line.


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## lordoftheweeds (Dec 27, 2012)

It's been over a year since we ditched the land line, so far so good.


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## cntrywmnkw (Jun 5, 2013)

I ditched my landline several years ago & have NEVER regretted it, same with my boyfriend, he ditched his several years ago as well.


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## mrs whodunit (Feb 3, 2012)

We have been land line free for about 6 years. Love it.


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

We ditched the land lines.
I hate it.
Truly.

Gotta remember to keep the dang cells charged.
Gotta remember to take it off the charger when you leave the house.
Ours don't like to work inside all the time.
So.. we miss calls..a lot.
Gotta go outside on the porch to talk..even in January.

And we use the Tracphones so no contracts.
We don't use them all that often so we don't have to buy new minutes often either.

I miss my land line. 
I really, really do.

Pondering switching from satellite tv to the local cable company.
We get our internet through them and they have a deal where if you bundle tv, internet and phone it is less than $100 a month.
Sweet.

Haven't moved on it yet, but to have a land line again.. heaven on earth!


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## Bellyman (Jul 6, 2013)

As far as phone service, I haven't had a land line in many years. I do have a cell phone, though, and so does my wife. 

The main feature of the common land line that appeals to me is the possibility of DSL over that line. In the locations I've lived in previous to our current living situation, DSL was about the most reliable internet we ever had. It wasn't the fastest, but it was way, way, way more reliable than the cable company. Times may have changed and different locations may be different so maybe a good cable connection isn't so hard to come by these days.

If it were a matter of having a land line simply for phone service... thanks but no thanks. Don't need it, don't want it and would rarely use it, certainly don't need to be bothered with telemarketers, phone surveys or political calls. Heck, I barely use my cell phone to actually talk on the phone.

I did go ahead and get a full contract Verizon smartphone, one for me and one for my wife. I tried to use the prepaid phones but found that I am in too many areas where one works and the other doesn't and then I'll go 50 miles down the road and it'll be just the opposite. I got tired of having to have two phones for me and two phones for my wife just to make sure that one of them worked. And it was a pain for other people not knowing which number to call us at. I love prepaid, as long as it works where I am. Unfortunately, the prepaid coverage maps are not nearly as extensive as the full contract coverage maps.


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## CountryCabin (Mar 8, 2007)

Son got me a cell phone...I hated it.
Hated being on call 24/7. 
If I didn't have it on someone would complain..."why didn't you have it on?" Well it may ruled their lives but I was having none of that.

Got rid of cell phone. Continue with the land line. Never failed me yet when trouble happens. Cell phones need to be charged..power goes out...no charging. 
Good ole land line works when power is out..


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## mtviolet (Jan 17, 2012)

Cell phones don't work here, no reception, so I keep my landline.


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## sidepasser (May 10, 2002)

Bellyman said:


> As far as phone service, I haven't had a land line in many years. I do have a cell phone, though, and so does my wife.
> 
> The main feature of the common land line that appeals to me is the possibility of DSL over that line. In the locations I've lived in previous to our current living situation, DSL was about the most reliable internet we ever had. It wasn't the fastest, but it was way, way, way more reliable than the cable company. Times may have changed and different locations may be different so maybe a good cable connection isn't so hard to come by these days.
> 
> ...



You do not need a landline to have DSL, they can run a separate DSL line without you having a phone at all. I have done that with AT&T before I had cable. They may TELL you that you must have a phone line, but actually the two can be separate. 

DSL rocks over cable or satellite in that your line is the only line, no one "uses" the bandwidth but you unlike cable where depending on where you are in the "line" you either have great speed or no speed.


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## ejagno (Jan 2, 2008)

We ditched our land lines following the 4 hurricanes and terrible repair service from Bell South. We since went with a cable land line through our cable provider to have on hand since Sprint's towers have had so many problems in the past year. We keep our cell phones. It's up to each person to decide what's best for you.


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## Brighton (Apr 14, 2013)

Bellyman said:


> The main feature of the common land line that appeals to me is the possibility of DSL over that line.


We have DSL through our old land line, the land line does not have to be turned on to do only DSL, we had the land line turned off here about 3 years ago.


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## sidepasser (May 10, 2002)

Folks, you can charge cell phones with solar..lol..

A cell phone is a TOOL, you are not obligated to keep it on, turn it on, answer it or otherwise use it. Just enjoy the convenience, pay as little as possible for the service you desire and use it as a tool.

Were it not for my cell phone I could never have the job I have, I talk to four different countries, text, email and do my job from my BED before I get up and go to work.

If I do not feel like answering it, I put it on mute. I can ignore messages until I am ready to answer them. Same with text.

Why people think they are "slaves" to the cell phone is beyond me..it is a tool, the same as a landline except it is portable. 

I got rid of my landline the minute I could reliably depend on a cell phone service. I have a SOLAR charger as well as one that plugs in..works like a champ. 

Enjoy the convenience, turn it off when you feel like it, or put it on mute like I do. Many companies these days have a BYOD - Bring your own device. That means no cell phone, no job. The companies do not supply a cell phone anymore, they require the employee to bring one and use it.

My phone has work email on it. I am expected to answer email during normal business hours no matter where I am. I do that..but I also answer off hours..that little extra got me a large raise as I went "above and beyond" the necessary duties. It makes a difference overall.

Of course, if you do not need a phone, a landline is adequate and really does save the day if a tornado strikes and you have no electricity. But then again, one can text on a cell phone and it will go through without electric as well.

Depends on the situation, but don't think you must be a slave to the phone. It is a tool just the same as a tractor, a hoe, or a plow. It is all in how you use it!


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## RiverPines (Dec 12, 2006)

Land line, a waste of cash. Ditched ours 5 years ago. Ditched tv 15 years ago! 
Cell phone and Netflix.


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## bouvi (Jun 1, 2013)

it is just me and the wife and we both have cells its been over 2 years ago and have not missed the land line at all and saved $30 mnt


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## tiffnzacsmom (Jan 26, 2006)

I haven't had a land line in about a decade.


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

I ditched land line about 1997 or 98. I was never at home to answer it, and would not return calls after about 9 or 10. And they charge for long distance.

It was more practical for me to have the phone with me.

And I remember on time around 1998 or 99, I was in Decatur AL WalMart looking at oil. My daughter on a mission trip that was coming back thru Paris, France called me and I answered. It still is mind boggling that I could be there and she could be in Paris and the call was better quality than any land line local or long distance.

I've never used land phone lines for internet.


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## ovsfarm (Jan 14, 2003)

I have never heard a cell phone with the quality as clear as a land line. May just be too much interference in my area, but it's no contest in terms of quality of sound. Also, Many times my power goes out or something goes wrong with the cell tower, but my land line still works fine.

If I had to drop one and keep the other, there'd be no contest - I'd ditch the cell in a heart beat and keep the land line.


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## Jaclynne (May 14, 2002)

chickenista said:


> I have a deal something like that. I seldom watch the tv. Don't count on it staying that price. My bill has crept up to over $170 per mo. I'm thinking I'll drop the land line and tv. I just need a more user friendly cell ph first.


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## wes917 (Sep 26, 2011)

I have had a land line for my dsl service only for the last 7 years, can't say I miss having a land line.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

I'd ditch our land line in 5 seconds if we had good cell coverage. But make sure you can get good enough signal on your cell phone before you leap. We can only use Verizon for cell phones out here, and even then there are dead areas.


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

Have not had a land line for about a decade. They are absolutely worthless in my personal opinion. Don't get me wrong, I'm not the type that has his face and thumbs buried in a smart phone. I just like the ability to take my phone with me where ever I go.


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

Mostly because of all the negative's that I read here about sat for internet----very limited band with . . . .and super high prices ($170 just posted) . . I keep the line for DSL
Where I live, there is no Cable . . no options for internet . .except for highly overpriced sat dish . . . . 
I just will not pay ($170) a month thank you.
My tracphone is mostly just for emergency's


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## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

We haven't had a landline in over 10 years. I totally agree with sidepasser. I often have my phone on just vibrate, check it once in awhile, call people back when I feel like it. DH never answers his unless its me. My MIL was here a while back, when one of our phones would ring she'd grab it and run it to us, "your phone's ringing!". It drove her nuts that we didn't care. 

Anyway, the downside is that US cellular, the only service out here, changed out their tower and the signal is greatly decreased. Still works, but not always downstairs or in the back of the house. Outside is fine. And doesn't work in town anymore or pretty much 1 mile from our house unless you're headed towards civilization. There are people on the other side of town that no longer have any cell service. The rumor is that US Cellular is denying it's happened but is also not opening any new accounts out here.


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## belladulcinea (Jun 21, 2006)

Our landline is 35.00 a month, we get no telemarketer calls, but my husband started getting them on HIS business cellphone, I don't because of my tracfone which I have in case of emergency. I see the commercials for paying 60.00 a month for phones and just roll my eyes.


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## Win07_351 (Dec 7, 2008)

sidepasser said:


> A cell phone is a TOOL, you are not obligated to keep it on, turn it on, answer it or otherwise use it. Just enjoy the convenience, pay as little as possible for the service you desire and use it as a tool.


It would be nice if government worked like that.


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## Guest (May 17, 2014)

We have TV , Internet & Phone in a bundle that is less expensive than most people are paying for cell phones only . DW does have a tracphone she keeps in her vehicle in case she has trouble .


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

I would have preferred to keep my land line but I think AT&T has basically dropped maintenance to a minimum deliberately to eventually get rid of them in my area. And there is no alternative. 
After about 3 months of the whole area suffering from continuous cut offs, I had to make a choice about it. I chose to get a smart phone. And not to pay for both that and the land line.

I am now 6 months going without it. And there are good things about it and bad.

The good is that I no longer have constant cut offs or my twice a year dead line thing that lasted for three days. I no longer have to grin and bear with AT&T's byzantine phone problem reporting system, seemingly designed to frustrate you into giving up, when there's a problem. I transported my old phone number to the cell and didn't need to change it anywhere. And for me, the new carrier has a much better service area than my old AT&T cell did. So when I had an emergency away from my house I could call and get calls without running to my front porch and reaching over the railing to get a signal. The other good thing is that I have become fond of certain smart phone things like calendars and memos.
The bad is that it costs more, if there's a widespread power loss, the landline usually kept going while the cell towers did not, and I have learned the word "bloatware." Which are unnecessary aps that I can't get rid of no matter how useless.


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## stef (Sep 14, 2002)

Thank you, each one of you, pro or con...your comments have been very helpful. 

I'm about the least 'telephone involved' person I know. I don't make or receive very many phone calls and my land line phone is just sitting there, eating $25 to $30 every month. I had two phone calls today: both of them telemarketers! (why should I pay for the privilege of allowing them to annoy me?!?)

I've had a tracfone for about 8 months, just to see how I like it, and I get great reception, even though I live surrounded by hills. 


I get triple minutes and it costs around $10-$12 dollars a month.

My biggest hesitation was concern over not reaching 911 in an emergency but someone explained how to direct dial them with the tracfone.

So, hopefully, this coming week I will go through the process of becoming land line free. 

stef

p.s. our apartment building has a bundle contract with a cable and ISP provider for which I pay respectively $12 and $26.95 a month: great reception on both.


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## belladulcinea (Jun 21, 2006)

Not all 911 call centers can find people from cell phones. That's the major reason we keep the landline.


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

I local call restricted my landline in 2001 but will never abandon it as it is my primary phone for incoming calls and worth the $20 a month to me but I don't like cell phones and keep mine turned off unless I have to use it for an outgoing call when not within range of my home landline.

GF hates that I refuse to turn my cellphone on and only check the voice mail on it from my home phone.


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## Nimrod (Jun 8, 2010)

I have a Trac phone and a land line. The land line is a requirement to have the computer hook up through the fiber optic cable.

The Trac phone allows long distance calls at no additional charge. It doesn't work in the house, you have to go outside, even in winter. I don't leave it turned on when I am not using it. It's for my convenience. It costs about $7 a month. In an emergency the towers get overloaded and don't work.

My neighbor 6 miles down the road is a long distance call for my land line. So is one of the towns 20 miles away but the other one the same distance is a local call on the land line. I pay $10.52 a month in fees and taxes plus a basic charge on my land line. The fiber optic cable is buried and very dependable.


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## secuono (Sep 28, 2011)

We have cell phones, telemarketers still reach us, so little difference. But having a line where you can call for help if you have iffy cell service is important....
No phone at all isn't a good idea, eventually you'll need it and hate yourself for not having that lifeline.


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## BlueRidgeFarms (Mar 23, 2014)

chickenista said:


> We ditched the land lines.
> I hate it.
> Truly.
> 
> ...





Nimrod said:


> The Trac phone allows long distance calls at no additional charge. It doesn't work in the house, you have to go outside, even in winter.




I had that issue in one apartment building I lived in. I ended up getting a bluetooth earpiece. Using that, I could place the actual cell phone in a window (where it got reception) and still stay indoors and move around the room while on the phone. 

It might be worth checking into if you're spending much winter time outdoors on the phone.


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## Wendy (May 10, 2002)

> They are absolutely worthless in my personal opinion.


They are not worthless if you need to call 911 & you don't get cell service. I have had to call 911 a couple of times. I liked that they knew exactly where I was as soon as I called in. You don't get that with a cell phone.

Our cell service here is normally non-exsistant. If I go stand a certain spot in the yard & don't move, I might get to take a call. 

My cell phone, land-line, & internet is bundled & is only $120 per month. I have siblings that are paying more than that just for their cell phones. I have unlimited internet use, unlimited long distance calling (all of my family is long distance even though we are only 4 miles apart), & a pretty good cell phone package for that price.

I also like the fact that I can use a landline when the power is out. For us, it is very worthwhile.


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## Esteban29304 (Apr 29, 2003)

I have had to call 911, 3 times in the last 3 months. I could have never been able to tell an operator my address over a cell phone, the first time.


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## davel745 (Feb 2, 2009)

My internet is only DSL we don't have cable


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## MDKatie (Dec 13, 2010)

We haven't had a land line in about 7 years, but we have had cable home phone service, and now we have home phone service through Verizon Wireless. Cable phone service was too expensive, so we switched to Verizon Wireless. 

Verizon Wireless's home phone works sort of like a cell phone, but you get a base that plugs into the wall and your cordless (or corded) phones hook into the base. When you go on vacation, you can take the base with you, plug it into the wall and have your "home" phone there, ready to go. But who wants to answer phone calls on vacation? :grin:

It's about $20/month, including call waiting, long distance, voice mail, etc. We have great service, but if you live in an area that doesn't get great service, YMMV. As long as the base gets service, you can go anywhere you want with the handsets.


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## prairiecomforts (May 28, 2006)

We got rid of our landline over 6 yrs ago and haven't regretted it for a minute! My husband and I both have straight talk phones l. We have great reception at our farm and never any worries. We just got our oldest a cheap straight talk that he can have at baseball practice. It is to be used for emergencies only. I don't miss the landlines phone at all. If someone needs to get a hold of one of us but doesn't have our cell number - we can easily be reached on fb or by just stopping by to say hi!


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## farmwoman59 (Aug 7, 2008)

In an effort to streamline our monthly bills I debated for several months over disconnecting our land line. Then I got to thinking how much we didn't use it - days would go by without it ringing. So I bit the bullet and had it turned off. It took a couple of months for me to get adjusted to using my cell phone exclusively but now, 15 months later, I wonder why I didn't do it years ago. We are saving over $35/mo.


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## terri9630 (Mar 12, 2012)

You can check with your phone company and see if 911 will still work if you disconnect. It does here.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

our phone provider was being such a problem , that I one of the last great proponents for actual land line was driven from the use of it . 

we went to cable internet and telephone , but no tv 

I know if the power is out it will not be there but I got to keep my 2 phone numbers I have unlimited long distance , that is part of why we switched I use a LOT of long distance and our phone carrier was calling to tell my I had gone over unlimited each month then shut me off and blocked me from every having long distance on that line again , even when they couldn't figure out how to sell me what they say I needed 

love the 30 meg internet 
ok with the phones 
911 works but only if we have power 
we do have 3 cell phones among us we get terrific coverage any where in the house our out side cause if I look north i can see the one tower and if walk 3 hundred feet south to get past the trees and look up I can see the other tower 
If power and cell are out , I will just have to deal with thing on my own 


It bothers me that we had what seemed like an Ideal system of 911 coverage and it dwindles more each day , but in the end I suppose it is dollars and cents 

I think as a nation we need to rethink the public safety network - how do we do it better


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## CJofWolfcreek (Jan 25, 2013)

Old cell phones sit in our glove compartments. Even after it's deactivated it's still able to call 911. Another 911 related issue with cellphones, once you call the connection may stay active so they can home in on you. Kinda sucks when you're being a good Samaritan and call in an accident only to find out you're unable to use your phone again until a 911 center releases the connection. So that's two reasons we keep our old cells, they can be used in an emergency and then we can continue using the current one.

The land-line I keep because we're bundled. If i got internet and cell phones separately it would be just as much if not more than bundling them with the land-line.


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## Wendy (May 10, 2002)

> The land-line I keep because we're bundled. If i got internet and cell phones separately it would be just as much if not more than bundling them with the land-line.


That's how mine is. I was paying roughly $80-$90 per month for our landline. All of my family is long distance even though we are only a few miles apart. I bundled my DSl with a cell phone & now pay only $120 per month. I have unlimited long distance & unlimited internet use. I have free minutes on my cell after 8 pm & on weekends. i hardly use the cell though. I also have no texting on it as that was extra.


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

. . . ."I only pay $120 a month" . . . . . Wow


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## Yellowmug (Aug 7, 2012)

When we signed up for internet at our local co-op, they told us we get an emergency land line for free. We live rurally and the rescue squads prefer we call 911 from a landline. We can receive calls on it, but the only numbers we can dial out are 911 and the internet company  I like having the landline for emergencies.


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## Pack Rat (Nov 9, 2006)

It might be nice to have a choice, or even choices, but we seem to be in a pocket of 4th or 5th world connectivity. There is no Fiber, DSL, or cable within miles, and very poor cell coverage, though when it works, it works better in a specific area in the house than outside (makes no sense at all). To top it off, we pay about $80 a month for land line phone alone, more than many people are paying for smart phones with web access. The land line was out (again) for about 6 hours last week. We see the service vans go by regularly, and the guys tell us that Verizon doesn't want to replace the buried line because they are trying to get people to go to cell, which doesn't work here, which means we're stuck with a poor quality overpriced service with no choice but another poor and expensive choice - satellite.</br> </br>So when Verizon give you a great deal on your phone service, thank us for the subsidy.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

Yellowmug said:


> When we signed up for internet at our local co-op, they told us we get an emergency land line for free. We live rurally and the rescue squads prefer we call 911 from a landline. We can receive calls on it, but the only numbers we can dial out are 911 and the internet company  I like having the landline for emergencies.



that is the way things should be , we should all have that type of public safety line in the house , BUT , you can see that it is very seldom the way it is


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## WildernesFamily (Mar 11, 2006)

When we moved here our land line was very scratchy, sometimes so much so that we couldn't hear the person on the other end. We bought a new phone thinking that was the problem, but it wasn't. We had an AT&T person out twice and the problem never got properly fixed so eventually we just dropped the land line - why pay for something you can hardly use anyway? We can't get DSL or cable internet here, so that's never been a concern for us.

So... we have a GoPhone through AT&T - $25 a month, 250 minutes and unlimited texting. I would prefer 250 texts and unlimited calling, but this works okay. DH has a cell phone through work, so he uses that.

Our internet options are extremely limited, satellite only, so we have Wildblue. 10 gb a month and then it slows down to a snail's pace, but that's usually enough to get us through a month. We have "free" internet between 12am and 5am which isn't metered, so we can always use that if needed. Our internet costs us $40 a month for our lifetime.

We don't watch TV so don't have to worry about bundling. Unfortunately with our internet we can't use Netflix, so Redbox is our friend instead.

I don't miss the landline at all, mostly because it didn't work, lol! I like being able to take the phone with me and be able to take the call wherever I'm at.. or choose not to take it if I don't want. Apparently our 911 center is more updated and able to locate us even with cellphones as we found out when DH accidentally called 911 from the cow pasture with his phone 

I'll tell you what though.. recently my daughter was in an area when a tornado touched down. She and her friend had stopped at Wal*mart to get out of the weather when the sirens went off and they were ushered into the bathrooms. They had left the cellphone in the car... so for half an hour we couldn't contact our daughter, didn't know where they were, but we knew that they were under tornado warning... it was harrowing. However.. DH recently got his ham license and was able to be in contact with people in the area who were letting us know what was going on.. more so than what we were getting on the news online. That was peace of mind right there.


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