Ditching your land line and going cell phone only.

[wenrob]

We have a landline that the cable company just won't let us get rid of. No phone plugged into as it's just telemarketers and political ads anymore. In any case as mentioned above, it's digital, if that box goes out no phone.

However, I've always been told that if you have a phone line in your home and a phone plugged into it you can dial 911 even if you don't have service. Is this not the case anymore?

 

[amcnj]

Something else I just found out about last weekend was that Verizon wireless also offers a landline substitute. Not sure if all wireless carriers also offer it. in case you need that landline phone number still, they offer coverage with unlimited calling for $20 month. Apparently you use some little receiver box which pulls in the signal. Of course in an emergency/disaster situation I guess this service will be dependent on cell service being up and running too.

 

[bluezy]

We have discussed getting rid of our land line but at this point have still decided to keep it for a few reasons:

1. Cell service can sometimes be unreliable in our house. It's usually good in the kitchen, but drops to almost nothing in our bedroom and the lower level areas.

2. It's part of our cable/internet bundle and really isn't costing us very much. The price of just bundling the cable and internet is about $20 more than what the phone/cable/internet bundle is.

3. I don't want to get a million phone calls on my cell phone. If I'm at the doctors office, grocery shopping, running errands, etc., I don't *want* my phone ringing for non-emergency calls and I don't want to have to constantly turn the ringer on and off. I do that in certain situations now and I inevitably forget to turn it back on and miss a text from the kids telling me to pick them up early or later or whatever. My husband has also missed important work calls because of turning off the phone while we're at church or a doctor's appointment. If those callers had left messages on our home phone, we would have noticed them as soon as we got home. With the cell phone, it's often a day or two later until we realize the phone is turned off. Not to mention, if I get phone calls while I'm out and about and those calls require a follow-up action, I have to remember to do that task when I get home (or at least write it down as soon as I hang up the phone). I'd rather they just leave a voice mail on my home phone and I don't have to worry about forgetting things.

4. I hate when people have inappropriate phone conversations (like discussing medical test results or talking about someone's marital problems) while standing in line at the grocery store or in the waiting room at a doctor's office. People seem to forget that everyone around them can hear at least half the conversation when they're on a cell phone. I don't want to become one of those people.

5. I don't want to list my cell phone as my "home" phone because then *that's* the number that will end up on all kinds of mailing/phone lists and the number the telemarketers and politicians will call.

We've also discussed getting a cell phone just to keep at home but that isn't really a good idea for us right now. We're always losing the TV remotes so I have no doubt the phone would get lost as well (or more likely, accidentally left outside or in a car). And there's no good central location to put the phone that we would be able to hear it throughout the house if it rings. I'm sure once all of the kids are out of the house (the youngest is almost 10) and we downsize to a smaller home, we'll probably get rid of the land line...but we will always have a "home" phone that is a different number from the cell phones we carry with us.

 

[AlohaNow]

We’ve been landline free since we moved six years ago. No problems so far! We thought of getting rid of the landline back in our old house, but cell coverage was spotty back then for where we were and we had a baby and a pre-schooler in the house so a landline was our only reliable hotline to 911 should we had needed it.

DS12 has had $10/mo service on one of our old phones for a few years now. We are about to upgrade him to a real phone with data plan for Christmas (shhhh……don’t tell him!) and the $10/mo phone will be the ‘house phone’ that never leaves the house. And the ringer will always stay up on that one! This is because he may participate on an after-school sports team next semester so younger son may be home alone for about one hour from time to time. It’s not so much that he’d need to call out to 911, but rather so I could reach him at the house. We recently got a nice faux-leather charging station that is kept in a central place and holds cell phones and Kindles. It has worked out well so we all know where our devices are (well, most of the time).

Funny side story: When my son was 6 he was staying at his grandparents for a few days. I was speaking to him on the phone and when we were done I asked if anyone else there wanted to talk to me. He checked around and said no. I said, “OK then, you can hang up now.” Long pause from his end……..”I don’t know how.” The child had never before used a corded phone! I am still LMAO from that one!

 

[angierae]

We have discussed getting rid of our land line but at this point have still decided to keep it for a few reasons:

1. Cell service can sometimes be unreliable in our house. It's usually good in the kitchen, but drops to almost nothing in our bedroom and the lower level areas.

2. It's part of our cable/internet bundle and really isn't costing us very much. The price of just bundling the cable and internet is about $20 more than what the phone/cable/internet bundle is.

3. I don't want to get a million phone calls on my cell phone. If I'm at the doctors office, grocery shopping, running errands, etc., I don't *want* my phone ringing for non-emergency calls and I don't want to have to constantly turn the ringer on and off. I do that in certain situations now and I inevitably forget to turn it back on and miss a text from the kids telling me to pick them up early or later or whatever. My husband has also missed important work calls because of turning off the phone while we're at church or a doctor's appointment. If those callers had left messages on our home phone, we would have noticed them as soon as we got home. With the cell phone, it's often a day or two later until we realize the phone is turned off. Not to mention, if I get phone calls while I'm out and about and those calls require a follow-up action, I have to remember to do that task when I get home (or at least write it down as soon as I hang up the phone). I'd rather they just leave a voice mail on my home phone and I don't have to worry about forgetting things.

4. I hate when people have inappropriate phone conversations (like discussing medical test results or talking about someone's marital problems) while standing in line at the grocery store or in the waiting room at a doctor's office. People seem to forget that everyone around them can hear at least half the conversation when they're on a cell phone. I don't want to become one of those people.

5. I don't want to list my cell phone as my "home" phone because then *that's* the number that will end up on all kinds of mailing/phone lists and the number the telemarketers and politicians will call.

We've also discussed getting a cell phone just to keep at home but that isn't really a good idea for us right now. We're always losing the TV remotes so I have no doubt the phone would get lost as well (or more likely, accidentally left outside or in a car). And there's no good central location to put the phone that we would be able to hear it throughout the house if it rings. I'm sure once all of the kids are out of the house (the youngest is almost 10) and we downsize to a smaller home, we'll probably get rid of the land line...but we will always have a "home" phone that is a different number from the cell phones we carry with us.

I keep my cell on vibrate 24/7, with the Do Not Disturb on from 11pm to 8am (except for people in my "favorites". If my phone rings while I am out in public, I see who it is, and generally choose to let it go to voice mail. Being on vibrate, it doesn't disturb anyone around me, and since it's always in my pocket, I know when it rings.

You are in charge of when and where you use your cell phone. You are not required to answer your phone, ever.

 

[davedmaine]

I use my fax machine a few times a month. The money saved on the bill is not worth me driving to Office Max to fax

You should just scan and then fax online. There are a lot of free services for it

 

[MsHershey]

We have not had a landline since 2002 and have never regretted this decision.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

You should just scan and then fax online. There are a lot of free services for it

Or you could just scan your document and email a .pdf. That's what I do.

 

[SplashMo]

Thanks everyone! great points.

 

[gofordrew]

It's almost 2015 and people still have landlines?

 

[havaneselover]

It's almost 2015 and people still have landlines?

Some people need them for security systems.

My kids don't have cell phones so they need a way to use the phone.

And my verizon bill will increase if I drop my home phone.

So yes for practical reasons people still have them.

 

[Jaime4004]

It's almost 2015 and people still have landlines?

I always think that when I see people still writing checks. But that's a different thread
We haven't had a land line in about 7 years. Don't miss it. We have 3 cell phones and one tracfone. Most of the time we use my cell # as the "home phone." I rarely get annoying calls (political, etc) and I never answer a number I don't know. My cable bill did drop by getting rid of the phone. I'd like to get rid of basic cable, but that would increase my internet by the same price as basic cable.

 

[bluezy]

I keep my cell on vibrate 24/7, with the Do Not Disturb on from 11pm to 8am (except for people in my "favorites". If my phone rings while I am out in public, I see who it is, and generally choose to let it go to voice mail. Being on vibrate, it doesn't disturb anyone around me, and since it's always in my pocket, I know when it rings.

You are in charge of when and where you use your cell phone. You are not required to answer your phone, ever.

I've tried only keeping it on vibrate along with the DND setting but there have been times I don't notice it vibrate even when it's in my pocket so I feel like I constantly have to check the phone no matter what. At this point, getting rid of our land line isn't an option for us due to the reasons I listed above -- and mostly because the cell service in our house is spotty (and we've had cell service through AT&T, Sprint, & T-Mobile -- doesn't matter). I prefer to keep my cell phone more for emergency use and limit the number of people who have that number. Everyone else can call the house phone and leave a message. And for the record, I've had a cell phone for over 20 years so I'm well aware that I'm in charge of when I do or do not use/answer it.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

I wanted to ditch the land line too. However, we realized we have ADT and it's connected in some way to land line. Husband knows the more technical way of saying it. Bummer.

 

[Judique]

I wanted to ditch the land line too. However, we realized we have ADT and it's connected in some way to land line. Husband knows the more technical way of saying it. Bummer.

I'm thinking that the home security companies will soon have to come up with a different type of monitoring system setup. One that doesn't rely heavily on landline service, or maybe they will start including some kind of basic landline when they sell you their services.

More and more people are ditching land lines. Marketing security that requires an existing landline almost sounds like an outdated concept.

I'm an older person who gladly pitched the landline and I just use my cell. It's been a few years now. Don't need it and don't miss it.

 

[kymom99]

I have a line for my internet. The phone company includes it really cheap. You can't call out or receive calls on it.

 

[justlook3]

It's almost 2015 and people still have landlines?

I hear people complaining these days on twitter when a character on a tv show calls a landline instead of a cell. "No one uses those any more, it's not realistic!"

I had to laugh last weekend watching a football game and a coach was using a corded phone on the sidelines. I mean really?

For the OP, we got rid of our landline when we moved 3 years ago. No problems. A whole lot less telemarketer and political calls too (but then I use a blacklist app so they don't even ring through).

 

[ThisIsJason]

Still have one as of right now. Probably going to drop it come Spring and upgrade the security system package to use a cell phone for $8 more a month over what we pay now. The landline is running $20 by itself, will save some money doing that.

 

[usnuzuloose]

I like my land line, I don't have a cell phone so I need it to reach DH. It is worth the money for us.

 

[MillauFr]

It's almost 2015 and people still have landlines?

I can't believe there are still fax machines out there? It seems so antiquated.