Anyone Ditch the Landline and Go Only Cell Phone?

My husband and I have cell phones only. We are talking about getting a disposable for the house as a back up in case one of our phones goes on the fritz. That way we would only pay for minutes on that phone if we need it. It will also allow anyone who come to our home to babysit a phone for emergencies.

I would research you cell phone providers policies on emergency calls and their 911 service before you make you decision to get rid of the landline. My provider has a 911 service and gps tracking. Also check into Vonage. It works with broadband and it has several different plans. My mom has vonage and it cost her 30.00 a month and they have cheaper plans. She has call waiting ,3 way calling, caller ID, 911 service, and unlimited long distance. You can keep your existing number and your phone all you need is the router provided by Vonage. There are other calling programs for broadband too, you just have to check their availability in your area.

We made the switch to just our cell phones over 5 years ago and I would never look back. It saved us a minimum $50 a month and NO TELEMARKETING calls. Just about everyone I know has gone to just cell phones now. We waited for DSL internet and immediately made the switch. I was worried about leaving the home phone for reasons I don't know, but I have never looked back.

C. -

I used to only have a cell phone as my home phone. The only reason we have a land line now is that we couldn't get cable when we moved into our house (no lines in the subdivision yet) and we were so disgusted with the cable company (all kinds of bad info and lack of response) that we continued with our DSL. Even though we have a land line, it has no long distance and we still use our cell phones for 99.9% of all of our phone calls. It's rare that we use the land line.

J.

I have been on a "cell phone only" since 2004. We moved from Washington DC to Central IL, and the landline service was SO expensive in IL. I kept the cell only (got internet thru the cable), and it was great b/c I always had my phone with me. Never had to check the machine when I got home. Then we moved to SW Michigan and I still only have the cell phone. I could probably have a better plan, but not at the point that I can leave my carrier without penalty. I only have one number to give to the schools, Dr.s, friends. I got a charger for my car. Telemarketing doesn't call me b/c it's a cell number. Lots of good things. Next time, I would look for a plan that has incoming calls for free, and maybe the circle of 5 most commonly called numbers for free. I pay $5/month to have unlimited calls to one designated number. It's worth it. Plus you may get a corporate discount by mentioning who you or your husband work for. Good Luck!

I agree with Nicole. I think you should always have a land line just in case. We did get rid of long dist. and that has helped with cost!

We ditched our landline for cell phones and just added a cell phone to our family talk plan and that phone is the house phone, pulled our landline number as our home phone number so that did not even change and the boys (we have 4) still had a home phone number to give to their friends and school etc.....every one wins, becuase there is still a home phone it just happens to be cellular, we have the family talk plan so every call my husband and I make home when we leave the boys home alone does not go against our mins., and there is a phone at home in case of emergencies~ we saved about 50 dollars a month. Good luck!

We haven't had a landline for the past 7 years and don't miss it a bit!

About two years ago we removed all services from the home phone (caller ID, long distance, etc) it was basically a basic line then about 6 months ago we decided to dump it all together. Now we just wish we had done it a lot sooner. Against popular belief you can have DSL without a land line as well as you can have security without a land line. SO for us it was a no brainer, we turned the land line off and havent missed it a bit.

No, still have landline. We primarily use the cells, but have the landline for emergency use really. Because I have 5 young kids, I want to make sure that if we need to call 911, we can. With cells, your 911 call can get bounced around. It's just not as reliable. Unfortunately, we have had to call 911 when our baby had difficulty breathing one time. It was enough to convince me to keep the landline phone. We also have the landline phone where the kids can get to it and we've taught them how to dial 911 from it.

(ok, my dad is a cop and my dh is a firefighter...a bit overprotective probably, lol)

K.

I went through the same thing in November. Paying cell bills and telephone bills just seemed a little much. I called the phone company and deleted out long distance, call ID, call waiting and we saved a ton!! When I want to make a long distance call, I use my cell phone. Family can still get ahold of us at home and we still have a land line phone in case of emergencies. I dont know much about Vonage or Charter Cable has phone. I dont know anyone who has those services or what the cost is. Good Luck!!

My husband and I have been strictly cell phones for the past 4 years. before that we had both the landline and the cells.

The landline was barely used and we felt that it wasn't worth keeping at the time because we rarely used it and using just cells have worked out just fine for us.

But now that our daughter is 10 and is constantly using my cell to talk to her friends (plus she has one friend that calls non-stop thinking that my phone belongs to my daughter), we are considering getting a broadband phone connection (we have WOW for cable and internet and they offer phone services too) because we feel that she isn't old enough for her own cell yet (besides, all 3 of my kids can't even keep track of their own gammeboys right now) and my boys (15 yo Aspie and 8 yr old) are just starting to use the phone too, just not as much as their sister. Also, When the kids are home on nights that I have to teach and dad has to work,(my 15 yo is a very good "kid sitter" actually) I won't have to leave my cell phone at home with them for emergencies.

I think that it really depends on the situation on whether or not to go cell phone only or landline and cell phone.

The reason I didn't go this route was the children and /or emergencies. What if there is an emergency and there is no phone in the house? 911 can trace the call to your address if someone can dial but cannot speak. It is my understanding this cann't be done with a cell phone. I think there should be a house phone in case a baby-sitter or someone needs to call for help. We do use an internet based home phone which has helped reduce the cost.