Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Going to mobile phones only...
Old 01-16-2011, 04:43 PM   #1
Moderator Emeritus
Rich_by_the_Bay's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 8,827
Going to mobile phones only...

DW and I each have mobile phones. Then we have a traditional house landline phone. She also has a 2nd land line she used for fax only, and that is getting less and less use as she works less. I also have a "Magic Jack" VOIP line which I used to use for work.

Our goal is to cut down to:
  • One cell phone each (both support 911).
  • Magic Jack for in-home longer calls to friends and family, and toggle it to the fax machine by pre-arrangement when a fax is expected.
Our Verizon contract may be problematic (not sure if they'll let us drop voice and keep data without a big fee). But aside from that, it should save a lot of fees.

Sound reasonable? Anyone have any problems going cell only?
__________________
Rich
San Francisco Area
ESR'd March 2010. FIRE'd January 2011.

As if you didn't know..If the above message contains medical content, it's NOT intended as advice, and may not be accurate, applicable or sufficient. Don't rely on it for any purpose. Consult your own doctor for all medical advice.
Rich_by_the_Bay is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 01-16-2011, 04:48 PM   #2
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 10,252
We have DSL for internet, so we would still pay the phone company if we didn't have a landline. Our bill is under $30 a month for DSL plus a landline. The landline is a so-called "safeline", so all incoming calls are free; outgoing non-toll-free calls are 50 cents, so we use our cell phones. We don't have to change our phone number nor give out our cell phone numbers with the landline.

During hurricanes, cell phones don't work. The landline does.

We do not have cable.

Maybe you can talk your landline company to pay you to keep a landline?
LOL! is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2011, 04:49 PM   #3
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Orlando
Posts: 2,636
Been there done that for the last 7 years (even without Magic Jack). We haven't found it to be a problem.
Buckeye is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2011, 05:19 PM   #4
Full time employment: Posting here.
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 945
You mention you have DSL and phone line. What is your understanding on being able to have DSL without the landline? I called my carrier about this (AT&T) One representative said I could have DSL without landline, a second representative told me after that, I could not.

Do you know anything about that. I recently purchased a ooma VOIP box for phone, but have not tried to hook it up yet.
modhatter is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2011, 05:34 PM   #5
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 10,252
One could have naked DSL, but it costs more than we pay now.
LOL! is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2011, 05:36 PM   #6
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Chicago
Posts: 1,008
Quote:
Originally Posted by modhatter
You mention you have DSL and phone line. What is your understanding on being able to have DSL without the landline? I called my carrier about this (AT&T) One representative said I could have DSL without landline, a second representative told me after that, I could not.

Do you know anything about that. I recently purchased a ooma VOIP box for phone, but have not tried to hook it up yet.
I believe when you get DSL w/o a landline, it's called "dry loop". You can get it from AT&T this way.
Dimsumkid is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2011, 05:52 PM   #7
Moderator Emeritus
W2R's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,468
We plan to drop our landlines, too, at some point.

I have known a lot of people who have done this, and none who have regretted it enough to go back to having a landline. I'll have to be more careful about charging my cell phone as required.
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.

Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
W2R is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2011, 06:15 PM   #8
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: No. California
Posts: 1,856
In my area, ATT offers DSL only but it costs the same as DSL with a measured plan land line. No savings at all, so I still have a land line.
KB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2011, 06:16 PM   #9
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 1,190
I can't get by without the ability to send and receive faxes. So unless I'm missing something (which is very possible) I don't see how you can abandon the landline and still have faxing capability...
LARS is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2011, 06:30 PM   #10
Full time employment: Posting here.
VaCollector's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 549
I'd like to drop my land line as well but assume that it is necessary for my home security system!?

I do get an actual discount on my homeowner's insurance by having my alarm system monitored....although I have never ever actually ASKED how much it is .... they do request a copy of my bill every year to confirm that I actually DO have the monitoring....

Anybody know if it's possible (monitoring) via cell phone service??

As far a needing it for faxes (my DW still w*rk$ from home occasionally)...we debunked that a couple of years ago by having all correspondence scanned and emailed....well, at least it works for us!
VaCollector is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2011, 06:46 PM   #11
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
REWahoo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,000
Rich, we did away with our land line four years ago. Although I know it goes against every fiber of your being, you really don't need to wait one more year. You'll be fine going mobile. Really.
__________________
Numbers is hard
REWahoo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2011, 07:08 PM   #12
Moderator Emeritus
Rich_by_the_Bay's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 8,827
Quote:
Originally Posted by LARS View Post
I can't get by without the ability to send and receive faxes. So unless I'm missing something (which is very possible) I don't see how you can abandon the landline and still have faxing capability...
She'd have to reserve it to pre-timed faxes, like fax it to me in 15 minutes, then hook the phone line into the fax until it arrives. Not ideal but probably infrequent. We'd use the Magic Jack for that.
__________________
Rich
San Francisco Area
ESR'd March 2010. FIRE'd January 2011.

As if you didn't know..If the above message contains medical content, it's NOT intended as advice, and may not be accurate, applicable or sufficient. Don't rely on it for any purpose. Consult your own doctor for all medical advice.
Rich_by_the_Bay is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2011, 07:20 PM   #13
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
walkinwood's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Denver
Posts: 3,499
You can subscribe to an online fax service & get your faxes over the internet. (eg. Internet Fax Features and Pricing - eFax Messenger) Could be cheaper and more reliable than a phone line based fax.

We ditched our land lines in 2007 and haven't regretted it. We use Skype for long calls to save on minutes. I've just discovered Cheap International Calls with Localphone which is significantly cheaper than Skype or calling cards for international calls & very convenient (no 800 number to call or pin to enter). Skype allows me to use my cell phone # as my caller ID which is very cool.
walkinwood is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2011, 07:45 PM   #14
Moderator
simple girl's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 4,006
We've been going with 2 cell phones and a magic jack for over 5 years now. No problems. Well, yes, sending faxes can be an issue - but our local library will let us send faxes for a nominal fee. Otherwise, people can send us faxes via scanning and email.

We get DSL from AT&T now - running a special for $14.95/mo in our area for a year.
__________________
simple girl
less stuff, more time

(55, married; Mr. Simple Girl, 59. FIRED 12/31/19!)
simple girl is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2011, 08:02 PM   #15
Recycles dryer sheets
Nova's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 270
Cell phones only since 2002. We have skype, but mainly use it to call USA numbers when we are in Mexico.
Nova is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2011, 08:15 PM   #16
Full time employment: Posting here.
sailor's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Atlanta suburbs
Posts: 898
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich_in_Tampa View Post
She'd have to reserve it to pre-timed faxes, like fax it to me in 15 minutes, then hook the phone line into the fax until it arrives. Not ideal but probably infrequent. We'd use the Magic Jack for that.
Just one word of caution.
Magic Jack (and a lot of other VoIP providers) does not officially not support faxes.
Your fax experience will be highly dependent on your internet connection quality & Magic Jack end point settings.
Try to receive few test faxes before committing to this setup.
As alternatives I can recommend few internet services (people who receive faxes for you and send them to you in an email).
Two with low rates are efax ( Free Online Fax Service from eFax free if under 10 pages per month) and Faxaway ( Faxaway's Internet Fax Service. ) for $1 per month.

sailor,
who develops VoIP software for living
sailor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2011, 08:49 PM   #17
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 182
Kept a land line for longer than I needed because of a perceived need to fax. Never used it that way. Ended up scanning and e-mailing instead. Moved old "home" number to DW's cell phone four months ago and are now cell only. Works fine for us so far.
lowflyer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2011, 09:52 PM   #18
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
haha's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Hooverville
Posts: 22,983
You folks who use DSL- how do you get your TV signal?

I pay way too much for Comcast bundled land line, cable and internet ($123/mo, and I have to call them and complain every 6 months to avoid being stuck with more.) but to drop the phone alone would save me almost nothing.

I am not sure I could go without cable- I would probably hate it during the NCAA basketball tournement or other similar events.

Are all of you using broadcast?

Ha
__________________
"As a general rule, the more dangerous or inappropriate a conversation, the more interesting it is."-Scott Adams
haha is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2011, 10:52 PM   #19
Moderator Emeritus
Nords's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Oahu
Posts: 26,855
Rich, even we at Ohana Nords have eFax. (It's free if you don't mind getting an area code for somewhere like Fargo, ND.) It's always worked and I've never had to worry about coordinating phone lines, computers, or answering machines. I can't remember for sure but I suspect we started using it in the 1990s. No complaints.

I've had it for so long that I hardly ever get a fax anymore. Almost everything that I used to get by fax now comes from e-mail or a secure download from a website.

I can't remember the last time I actually sent a fax. For our PenFed refi we sent an e-mail with about 20 attachments that were easier to download as PDFs (brokerage statements) and attach, or quicker to scan (rental property lease agreement) and attach as a PDF, than to fax.

But I've never owned a dedicated fax machine and we only pay ~$25/month for our landline. Now if there was some way to watch HGTV without paying a $60/month cable bill I'd be a lot more financially motivated...
__________________
*

Co-author (with my daughter) of “Raising Your Money-Savvy Family For Next Generation Financial Independence.”
Author of the book written on E-R.org: "The Military Guide to Financial Independence and Retirement."

I don't spend much time here— please send a PM.
Nords is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-17-2011, 01:36 AM   #20
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
youbet's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Chicago
Posts: 13,149
Quote:
Originally Posted by haha View Post
You folks who use DSL- how do you get your TV signal?

I pay way too much for Comcast bundled land line, cable and internet ($123/mo, and I have to call them and complain every 6 months to avoid being stuck with more.) but to drop the phone alone would save me almost nothing.

I am not sure I could go without cable- I would probably hate it during the NCAA basketball tournement or other similar events.

Are all of you using broadcast?

Ha
Ha,

I currently get DSL for $15/mo + landline for $13/mo from ATT. I get cable TV from Comcast for about $60/mo.

The DSL is their slowest offering but fine for my needs. The landline is a limited package pointed out to me by CUB (Citizens Utility Board - a consumer advocate group which monitors utilities) and includes unlimited incoming calls and 30 outgoing local calls (additional are $0.05 ea) and no long distance service. The cable is a package Comcast refers to as Extended Basic.

I'm satisfied with the value I recieve from ATT for DSL and landline. I puke everytime I pay the Comcast bill since we are not big TV watchers. But I keep the service since, like you, it would annoy me to miss certain sports broadcasts available mostly on cable.
__________________
"I wasn't born blue blood. I was born blue-collar." John Wort Hannam
youbet is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
T-Mobile-to-go phones Den26 Health and Early Retirement 1 01-23-2008 08:15 AM
tv, phones, internet Martha FIRE and Money 25 01-26-2006 10:46 AM

» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 03:16 AM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.