Land line or cell phone??

[Katiebug_1976]

We turned off our land line about 8 months ago and my husband and I each have a cell phone (his is payed for through his job). Now, my cell contract is up, and we are trying to decide whether to renew it or get a land line. Our older children are getting old enough to be left at home for short periods of time, but I wont leave them at home w/o a phone. So usually we leave 1 cell at home, and take 1 with us when we leave them. We cant afford both, and have kind of gotten used to the convenience of being able to get ahold of each other at any time (this also has saved many extra trips to town). However, long distance is limited with a cell phone unless you call nights and weekends. What would you do?

[Parrothead]

If I had my druthers I'd have a cell for each family member. Unfortunately cell service doesn't exist where we live.

[Kim in Appalachia]

we don't have long distance on our phone, so I already use my cell phone for all long distance calls. I need a cell phone for the car. We live in a rural area, and it would be unsafe to drive without one. I tend to always be driving an hour away from home.

 

My regular phone is almost a waste, except that people call me on it.

[elegantlion]

Our land line is almost useless. The only reason we have it is because it's bundled with the cable/internet.

 

We have a cell phone for each of us, me, dh, and ds. With our plan we were able to add phones with little monthly expense. We also get phone upgrade money each year through Sprint so ds got the hand-me-down phone. He's 11 and the furthest he roams is next door, but it's great to call him home.

 

I'd vote for the cell.

[MamaT]

The only people that call our house phone are telemarketers. I would go for the cell, because you can take it with you.

 

All of our kids have a cell and that's about all we use. I know 9, 10, and 11 year olds are young for cell phones, but they are at gym, dance, etc. for 9-12 hours a week without us. I want them to be able to call me if they need to.

[Peek a Boo]

I think cell phones are great, but i still want a landline, esp for emergencies.

 

If we call 911 from a cell out where we are, it goes to the county instead of the local PD. Check to see how your towers are set up.

 

I also like the landline because it does not require electricity to use it. Of course, you need to make sure the *phone* you have doesn't require electricity to RUN it --most simple corded phones are usable w/o electricty. If the power goes out for a couple days, my cell would be DRAINED and I'd hate going out to charge it in the car all the time.

 

Right now my kids don't have their own cell phone. If they are somewhere that i deemed safe to leave them, there is likely a business phoneor competent adult w/ access to a phone for them to use. There are only a couple instances where I insist that ds take my cell phone while i stay home w/ the others.

 

BUT --if we could only afford either a landline OR a cell phone contract, I'd vote for cell phone.

[lionfamily1999]

Lol, I don't have a cell phone. I have an excellent plan on our home phone, unlimited long distance with all the bells and whistles for much less than we had payed for our cell phones. Now, dh has a pay as you go phone and I get sweet sweet aloneness while I'm in the car... or at least as alone as I can be with the boys, but ykwIm ;)

[katemary63]

We canceled the land line. We all have cells except for DD8 and she is always with one of us, so we are good. I don't really like the 911 situation, but that's just life I guess. Hopefully, if we are conscious enough to call 911 we will be conscious enough to give our address. We live out in the county.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I would shop around for a better cell phone plan, one that has better long distance prices.

[Peek a Boo]

I don't really like the 911 situation, but that's just life I guess. Hopefully, if we are conscious enough to call 911 we will be conscious enough to give our address. We live out in the county.

 

unless you're choking.

or hiding under the bed or in a closet from an intruder.

or having a heart attack.

or lose consciousness after placing the call.

or....

 

do call 911 from your cell phone.

 

Tell them that this is NOT an emergency.

 

Clue them in that you do not have a landline, do have younger children, and verify how they are reading your call.

Ask if they already have a way to store this phone number w/ at least your address/ name/ secondary cell phone/emergency contact info for future reference.

They probably DON't.

 

Specifically request that they store your info SOMEHOW. You might need to drive down and fill out a form. It would slow down the 911 process dramatically, but if you have NO landline, that slower process is probably faster than NO process, kwim?

 

Also, each call doesn't necessarily go to the same tower: it might be picked up by the county sheriff one time and the local PD another. Or a different city. Try to cover your bases as best you can.

 

There's a lot about life that we can't do much about, but this is one area that we can at least try at, kwim?

 

Hopefully it will all be for naught :)

[elbac]

Personally, I'd have to say cell phone. But it really will depend up on your lifestyle. The kids had shared a cell phone for the last couple of years until December, when we added another line to our plan, so they now each have their own.

 

We also dropped our land line service down to bare minimum (Greenstreak through Windstream, so we could keep our dsl) which means we were able to keep our home phone number. Any incoming calls are free, as are any outgoing toll free or 911 calls. Otherwise outgoing calls are charged, but since we all have cell phones, the outgoing calls are a non-issue. Our combined bill now is less than what it was with 3 cell phones and our regular land line.

 

I'm not a big phone talker; I find them rather annoying. In fact, in my ideal world, I think they wouldn't exist. :tongue_smilie:

[Avila]

We are really thinking about getting rid of our land line. We can get a third cell pretty cheaply, and we would leave it at home as the land line, or send it with my oldest DD if she is away from us.

 

Like someone else said, it seems like the only callers on the landline are telemarketers anyhow!

[Happy]

I need a cell phone for the car. We live in a rural area, and it would be unsafe to drive without one. I tend to always be driving an hour away from home.

 

My regular phone is almost a waste, except that people call me on it.

 

I had to smile when I read this. Time's have certainly changed. I used to live in a very rural area where town was an hour's drive. Long before the days of cell phones, I burned up roads back and forth...alone and carting young'uns.

 

My dh (or someone, if he was out of town) always knew when I was expected back. My car was kept in good running order. I knew how to change a tire by myself. In the fifteen years we lived there, I only had one late night incident where a cell phone might have made life more safe.

 

After we moved here and while I was still involved in wedding photography (early to mid-90s), we made the decision to invest in a cell phone rather than upgrade our beginning-to-age mini-van. That was a watershed moment and we haven't been without cell phones since.

 

These days we have cell phones for every driver in the house and are very, very close to canceling the landline. The emergency thing is a big issue for me. Besides, I like having the option of giving someone a home phone number and keeping my cell phone rather private. So, for now, we keep both. But the cost is beginning to irk me.

[Angela in GA]

We have just cell phones here. I am going to have to add another line to our account so my 12 year old dd can have one now that she stays home alone. It is cheaper to add a line for her though than to add a landline to the house. We currently have 700 minutes that we share, with free mobile to mobile. I try to be careful and place most of my longer calls after 9 or on the weekends. My Mom calls me on her way home from work because she knows it's free minutes. lol. So far, it's working out just fine.

[Aubrey]

We did cell phones w/ enough mins that they were essentially unlimited a couple of yrs ago. It worked out to only about $10 or $20/mo more than a phone line, & the way we figured it, it incl ld.

 

The problem for us came when we wanted internet. DSL (in our area) was *much* cheaper than broadband or fios, but it was dependent on a phone line. The cheapest phone line we could get was $40/mo. They didn't have the computer-only $10-$20/mo line like most places do. Internet alone was about $60/mo. We went w/out for a long time.

 

SO...when we moved here, we did a land line, & now we're paying about $65ish/mo for phone & internet & unlimited ld. I was so glad not to be available to everybody's beck & call, lol!

 

For safety, though, ils did add us to their plan. For about $10/mo, they can get an extra line, & so we have a phone for emergencies.

 

Ultimately, if all costs were equal, I think I'd stick to the cell phones. Internet is really the only thing that made us switch.

[MrsMe]

We "gave" our home-based business our land line and only used the cell phone. I love this idea. But let me add one tidbit. If you're used to having to check or find out about an order you placed, or need to place one or need to give vital info over the phone you do not want to do this on the cell phone.

 

I figured this out and have now sort of taken back my land line, but cancelled all the goodies on it and use it only if I need to give out vital information for whatever reason. No one has it anymore to call me on.

[jamnkats]

We don't have a choice. We can't get a landline here.

[Rhonda in TX]

Land line. A cell phone tower went down recently and I couldn't get hold of a friend. After Hurricane Ike, only land lines were working for awhile. I don't ever plan on getting rid of my land line.

[Audrey]

We turned off our land line about 8 months ago and my husband and I each have a cell phone (his is payed for through his job). Now, my cell contract is up, and we are trying to decide whether to renew it or get a land line. Our older children are getting old enough to be left at home for short periods of time, but I wont leave them at home w/o a phone. So usually we leave 1 cell at home, and take 1 with us when we leave them. We cant afford both, and have kind of gotten used to the convenience of being able to get ahold of each other at any time (this also has saved many extra trips to town). However, long distance is limited with a cell phone unless you call nights and weekends. What would you do?

 

 

Well, that would depend on costs, too. I'd have to decide if the price difference between cell and land line made a dent in my budget, or if the cost difference was outweighed by convenience factors.

 

We have a land line, dh has a cell, and I recently acquired a blackberry pearl for work (hate the blackberry! hate the blackberry!)

 

Cell service here is expensive, so dh's cell is one of those pay as you go things. My service is paid for by my work.

 

The only real reason we keep the land line is because we can't get internet (even high speed) without also subscribing to a land line here. I would not have a land line otherwise.

Edited March 8, 2009 by Audrey

[Colleen]

I'm one who has no love lost for cell phones and wouldn't want to be without a landline.

[Janna]

do call 911 from your cell phone.

 

Tell them that this is NOT an emergency.

 

Clue them in that you do not have a landline, do have younger children, and verify how they are reading your call.

Ask if they already have a way to store this phone number w/ at least your address/ name/ secondary cell phone/emergency contact info for future reference.

They probably DON't.

 

Specifically request that they store your info SOMEHOW. You might need to drive down and fill out a form. It would slow down the 911 process dramatically, but if you have NO landline, that slower process is probably faster than NO process, kwim?

 

Also, each call doesn't necessarily go to the same tower: it might be picked up by the county sheriff one time and the local PD another. Or a different city. Try to cover your bases as best you can.

 

There's a lot about life that we can't do much about, but this is one area that we can at least try at, kwim?

 

Hopefully it will all be for naught :)

 

Just as an FYI, do NOT call 911 for this. You need to call the non-emergency number and explain this situation. If they want you to call 911 as a test from your cell phone, let THEM be the ones to tell you to do so. Also, for the record, this kind of thing (calling the non-emergency and testing things out) is strongly encouraged on their part. As is having your children call (again, the non-emergency number to explain) and doing a run-through with the dispatcher.

 

My best friend is a dispatcher and she wishes more people would do this kind of thing. (stressing again that you need to call the non-emergency number, LOL)

[PCA]

We have gone back to a land line. I only use my cell phone if I absolutely have to, and I never put it up to my head -I use a safe headset

 

After much research we have learned that cell phones (especially next to your head) are very unhealthy. They are predicting an increase in brain tumors in the coming years due solely to cell phone use. They are extremely unsafe for children, so our children NEVER talk on cell phones.

[Janna]

No way would I want to be dependent on a cell phone only. In fact, we got rid of our cell phones 2 years ago and it was the best thing we could have done. In all actuality, I feel like we have more freedom without it and a sense of boundaries that we otherwise struggled with. Sure, we could give ourselves rules or guidelines as to when the phone is on, when we will answer and so forth, but we didn't.

 

However, I will say that we broke down and bought one 2 weeks ago. It was the first time dh and I went out together without the kids in many years. Since we have a baby and we used a young babysitter, we bought a pay-as-you-go cell phone. In other words, no contract, no monthly bill, truly emergency only. However, since we went though Verizon for it (since we still had our old phones we just needed a service provider), we still get the Verizon-Verizon free minutes. It just so happens that my bff uses Verizon, so we can talk all day long, every day for free. Not that we do of course. ;) Having the phone on the nights dh and I are out (which in the last 2 weeks has been twice!) has been a comfort. But for everyday, cell phone use *only*? No way.

[Tabrett]

My dh, dd and I all have cell phones. We don't use a land line. If you can't afford a cell phone for your dc, could you afford to buy a pre paid cell phone? Find the cheapest one and then you only have to load minuite when you need them. Keep that phone at home for emergencies for you dc.

[Kim in Appalachia]

I had to smile when I read this. Time's have certainly changed. I used to live in a very rural area where town was an hour's drive. Long before the days of cell phones, I burned up roads back and forth...alone and carting young'uns.

 

My dh (or someone, if he was out of town) always knew when I was expected back. My car was kept in good running order. I knew how to change a tire by myself. In the fifteen years we lived there, I only had one late night incident where a cell phone might have made life more safe.

 

After we moved here and while I was still involved in wedding photography (early to mid-90s), we made the decision to invest in a cell phone rather than upgrade our beginning-to-age mini-van. That was a watershed moment and we haven't been without cell phones since.

 

These days we have cell phones for every driver in the house and are very, very close to canceling the landline. The emergency thing is a big issue for me. Besides, I like having the option of giving someone a home phone number and keeping my cell phone rather private. So, for now, we keep both. But the cost is beginning to irk me.

 

I've only had to use the cell phone for a car emergency once. We broke down on the highway. Once is enough.

 

We had no cell phones when we lived in WV, because the phones did not work in our town. I broke down once there too (different car). I had 3 young kids and I was pregnant. My kids all went into a panic. Fortunately, a state safety vehicle came by. She had a satellite phone.

 

Having the phone this last time made a big difference. My kids knew that I could call my dh. I was able to call where I was going and let them know I wouldn't be there. We were able to be towed and got home in less than 30 minutes.

[Peek a Boo]

Just as an FYI, do NOT call 911 for this. You need to call the non-emergency number and explain this situation. If they want you to call 911 as a test from your cell phone, let THEM be the ones to tell you to do so. Also, for the record, this kind of thing (calling the non-emergency and testing things out) is strongly encouraged on their part. As is having your children call (again, the non-emergency number to explain) and doing a run-through with the dispatcher.

 

My best friend is a dispatcher and she wishes more people would do this kind of thing. (stressing again that you need to call the non-emergency number, LOL)

 

Initially I had called the non-emergency number. They told me to advise people to call 911 directly and simply explain upfront it was NOT an emergency :) Mostly because of the cell tower situation --they never know which dispatcher will actually be receiving the call. If you are smack dab in the middle of a busy city like Dallas, NY, etc, where the chances of getting a cell tower directed AWAY from the city are lower, then it might be good to call the non-emergency number first. But in a smaller town or rural area, calling the non-emergency number doesn't help.