gingersmom Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 I have been thinking forever of getting rid of my land line phone. Everyone calls me on my cell phone and my computer gets internet through the cable company. Should I cut the cord? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmy Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 I don't. We got rid of it and use our cell phones. My only concern about not having one is whether the kids would be able to call 911 if I were unable to - and whether they'd be able to find my phone! We are planning to add a 3rd line to our cell service that can "live" on the counter so that a phone will always be able to be found by any child. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammy Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 qnt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 We still have a land line and have no immediate plans to get rid of it. I don't know if I'd want everyone to have my cell phone #. Why would I want to get phone calls all the time when I'm out and about?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danybug Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 We cut the cord when we moved. I ended up going over our minutes on our cell phones. We have the least amount of minutes for our family plan with the iphones. So we ended up losing the cost savings of not having a landline. The other issue, whether it is scientifically true or not, is whether you can get brain cancer from cell phones. My mom kept harassing me about no landline and that we were using cell phones to much, so I finally caved. Needless to say, we have been tossing the idea around again about getting rid of it again. It is one cost that can be cut as long as you manage your minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 We got rid of ours, especially when we realized we were paying 50.00 a month for it and never used it. I don't miss it. We all have our own cell phones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 We got rid of ours almost a year ago. We have Verizon, so for an extra $10/mo, we got an extra phone that we call the "home phone." That is the number we give out. It is also the phone we leave for the kids when we are out. We are saving so much money, and I have no regrets at all. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristusG Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 We just about got rid of our land line. Actually, hubby called to have them disconnect it, then we called back before they actually did it and asked them to leave it on. The reason being is due to a 911 phone call. Our phone company told us that we would not even be able to dial 911 without a basic phone plan. Our kids are still young....5 and 2....and if they were home with us and needed to call 911, they would not be able to do it. I have an iPhone and getting to the actual phone part is kind of tricky. They have to slide the phone on and then find the phone icon, then dial the numbers, and hit send. That's tricky for young children. And even if they could do it, they would have to know our address fully because a cell phone will not tell the operator where you are at. I taught my 5 year old about 911 on a regular phone though. So we'll keep the land line until they are a bit older. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patchfire Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 We got rid of ours in 2002. We reinstalled one earlier this year. Dd is old enough to desire talking on the phone (and what dd does, ds wants to do!) and I wasn't comfortable with getting her a cell phone at age 9. I also didn't like the idea of my phone becoming the family phone. It's nice. We'll probably keep a landline for some time at this point, given how young dd2 is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 We switched from a land line to VOIP several years ago. Back in July, we dropped VOIP and got cell phones for all the kids. The 16yo already had a cell phone. We added two more cell phones, doubled our minutes, added unlimited texting for everybody, and dropped our VOIP line to end up paying $10/month less than what we had been paying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepymommy Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 We have a land line and I have no intention of getting rid of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 We do. DH and I rely on cheapy prepaid cell phones to supplement. We didn't for a long time when we had good cell phone service, but when he lost his last management job, that went out the window. We got a land line mostly so that he can call us from jail when he needs to. You can pay to get the collect calls to your cell phone, but it's expensive and annoying. I'd rather pay Qwest than a jail-related racket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn in OH Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 We have a land line. We do not have cell phones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbie Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 We have a land line. We do not have cell phones. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparrow Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 We have a land line and I have no intention of getting rid of it. Yup. Our decision was sealed during the 2003 Blackout. There was significant cellular disruption, due to the increase in calls and tower overload. We got through to family on the land lines, no problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee in NC Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 We have no landline, but no home at this time either, so it would kind of be pointless!:lol: We have cell phones left over from our business. There are 5 phones - we have 2, my dad has 2, and my 16yo has one. By splitting them up this way, we pay less for our cell phones than we did for our landline in the past. My mother says we can hook a phone to the jack at our new place and call 911 - we'll have to see if that is true, then decide whether we want to add a basic line for emergencies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheBrink Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 I killed the land line a few weeks ago. Never used it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herbalgirl Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 We have a land line. We do not have cell phones. :iagree:, also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peachskittles Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 We only have a landline...Our credit is shot so getting a cell phone requires an $800 deposit and pre pay cell phones cost too much in my eyes...Even if we get cell phones, we'll have a landline...I'm prone to lose things I touch... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 We have a land line, but we do not have a cell phone plan, just tracfone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fivetails Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Yes, we do. I'm picky about who I give my cell # out to, as is dh, and we have a 12 year old girl who can talk for HOURS to her friends back east. Darn right we have a landline - with an unlimited long distance package. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 We only have a landline...Our credit is shot so getting a cell phone requires an $800 deposit and pre pay cell phones cost too much in my eyes...Even if we get cell phones, we'll have a landline...I'm prone to lose things I touch... Just thought I'd say prepaid aren't always that expensive. Especially if it's not your main phone. I have Net 10. The phone itself cost $30, and came with 300 minutes and 90 service days. A card to add 300 minutes and 90 days is $30. This means, if I break or lose the phone, it's basically free to replace, I just buy another phone instead of a card, and have the number/minutes transferred. Even before I got the land line, 300 minutes a month was plenty. Now that I have it, I use less than half that, so the phone costs me $10-15/mo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peek a Boo Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 yes, we will keep our landline. We can dial 911 w/ our cell phones, but it does not reveal any information about the caller's location. Cellular disruptions are another valid point. to us, the landline is worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mabelen Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 We do and we dont. I'll explain, we have a phone line with our cable company, so if cable goes down, so does the phone, so I guess is not a landline, right? But at least it is a local number and if we call 911 it will direct it to our house. My dh has a work cell phone and both my oldest and I have a cell phone but they are not local numbers, we have a Mid Atlantic area code where we just relocated from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2a&z Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 We haven't had a land line in 2 years and we haven't missed it. This past summer we got a 3rd cell line that is our "home" phone and stays in a basket on the kitchen counter. The dc have been told to give out that number to their friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 I rarely use my landline but I still have it because I have DSL; it is about the same price to have landline + DSL as it is to have freestanding DSL, and I don't have cable. Also for making international phone calls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhonda in TX Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 With power outages, it was sometimes difficult to keep our cell phones powered. The first day or so after the storm, cell phone usage was sketchy. Most people could only text, not call. Our land line never had a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhonda in TX Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 We still have a land line and have no immediate plans to get rid of it. I don't know if I'd want everyone to have my cell phone #. Why would I want to get phone calls all the time when I'm out and about?? I feel the same way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura in CA Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 oh yes -- and it's connected to a rotary-dial phone ;-) My husband says I was born in the wrong century. Also the reasons people have already given -- it will work during a power outage, and this way I can give my cell phone number to only a few important people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 oh yes -- and it's connected to a rotary-dial phone ;-)My husband says I was born in the wrong century. What other century would have featured telephones at all? :confused: I love cell phones, actually. Without them, many in the world would have no telephone contact at all. It's changed the entire world for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
secular_mom Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 We went without a land line for over a year, and it was great. But I enrolled two kids in PS this year and my cell phone does not always receive calls, so we got a land line again. I miss not having the extra bill, but I just can't NOT have a reliable phone with kids in school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blossom'sGirl Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Land Line. We have no choice - no cell service here. We live in a very hilly area of NY and we are in a valley in the hills so it just misses our house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW in IL Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 My son and I both have cell phones which we use instead of the land line. For a while about 2 years ago, we only had cell phones. Here are some of my thoughts (both for and against) We have 700 (or maybe 750?) anytime minutes/month spanned across 5 phones. Granted most of the calls we make are free (other people on our plan, other AT&T customers, free nights and weekends), so each of us is supposed to keep our anytime usage under 100 minutes. I learned really quick that trying to get a teenager to keep their usage under control is like trying to herd cats. From my daughter "Does that mean I shouldn't have called my Dad when we were in that accident?" Of course not... Situations like that is why we try to have that 200 minute cushion. With my son, though, everything is drama and none of his friends have AT&T... "You have a test tomorrow? Call me when you get home from school" (despite the fact that this particular friend lives a block away). Then there are the calls from telemarketers. Even though they're not supposed to be calling cell phones, I get calls a couple of times a week. Mine is also a cell phone only area code, so they can't claim that they didn't know it was a cell phone. I looked it up one month and I had like 50 calls from telemarketers. I wonder what portion of our minutes were used up on those. And that was despite being on that National Do Not Call list! The calls only abated when I'd insist on talking to a manager every time they called me. And then there are calls from collection agencies (they're after me for a bill my ex-husband didn't pay from almost 15 years ago!), all those "vote for so-and-so" calls during election years, etc. For us, dialing 911 hasn't been a problem. I've had to call maybe 4 times in all the years I've had cell phones and each time I've gotten the correct municipalities emergeny services. And you do not need to have an active cell phone plan in order to call (as I found out one of those times). They must put the call through regardless, without charge. But you do need to tell them where the emergency is, as they cannot pinpoint your location down to the street address/intersection. If I had a child who was too young to be able to communicate that information, I'd definitely keep a land line. Back to the cost for a minute... My daughter is already on her third cell phone in less than 2 years. I don't know what she's doing to them, but about a month after she gets a new cell phone, I start getting calls... "Mom, when can I get a new phone? This one doesn't _____." And my son already lost 2 cell phones (in as many years). So far, I haven't paid to replace any of those, but I know the time will come when I'll have to. Cell phones are sure expensive when compared with land lines... And when was the last time you lost your land line phone... (mainly meaning the kind that are connected with a cord or mounted on the wall... I think we've probably all misplaced handsets from cordless phones at some point). Also, out here, people are regularly mugged and have things like iPhones and iPods stolen. Much as I would love an iPhone (and disregarding the fact that they're way, way more than I can afford), I'd be scared to take it with me when I went out, thus kind of defeating the purpose of having a cell phone. Then, of course, is the question of whether people can get a hold of you (especially in areas where coverage is iffy)... But the same can be said of land lines. If you're not home, you can't answer. When we didn't have a land line and I'd get asked for my home phone, I'd just give them my cell number. But then when asked also for a cell number, I'd only have the same number to give. When I explained that all I had was a cell phone, I was told, more than once, that "everyone" has a home phone. Now that I have a land line (or have access to one anyway), whenever I have to give out my phone number I give out my cell as my primary number. When my son was taking a class, they even put a note on his paperwork saying to call the cell phone number first and then, if they couldn't get me that way, to call the land line. Invariably, though, they'd still call the home number first (we live with my mom and the land line is hers... DS and I are not supposed to use her phone). It's a tangled web for sure, Sue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternalknot Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 We still have a land line and have no immediate plans to get rid of it. I don't know if I'd want everyone to have my cell phone #. Why would I want to get phone calls all the time when I'm out and about?? :iagree: I'm of the "the cell phone is for MY convenience" mentality. I'm selective about whom I give the number to. I'm selective about whose calls I answer, and if/when I answer them. Having a land line is just one more barrier to feeling like I have some control over the intrusiveness of the modern life. Ringer is turned off, calls go straight to the messaging center and I check it at my leisure and convenience. Perfect for telemarketers, businesses, the library, and anyone who isn't in the Inner Circle (and would have my cell number). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peek a Boo Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 For us, dialing 911 hasn't been a problem. I've had to call maybe 4 times in all the years I've had cell phones and each time I've gotten the correct municipalities emergeny services. And you do not need to have an active cell phone plan in order to call (as I found out one of those times). They must put the call through regardless, without charge. But you do need to tell them where the emergency is, as they cannot pinpoint your location down to the street address/intersection. If I had a child who was too young to be able to communicate that information, I'd definitely keep a land line. not only that, but if an older someone is choking or almost unconscious suffering from a heart attack/stroke/ bleeding profusely, they won't be able to communicate that info either. calling 911 on the cell sends it to whatever locality the tower that happens to be receiving the call is located: if the call gets routed to a tower in the county, our sheriff office gets the call. If it's located in the city, the city gets the call. Neither one has that identifying information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa in the UP of MI Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 I have been thinking forever of getting rid of my land line phone. Everyone calls me on my cell phone and my computer gets internet through the cable company. Should I cut the cord? If I were in your situation I would cut the land line. We don't have cell phones so we need our land line! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Yes I do, However I do not have a cell phone, and we get our internet as part of our landline package as we do not get cable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Yes, we have a land line. Everyone and their mother does not need my cellphone number. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyful Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 We have a land line. From time to time DH will initiate a discussion about whether we should nix it to save money. But we do have friends and family overseas, and we get charged for receiving their calls on our mobile phones. Plus, we get really good international rates on our land line when we call out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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