Have You Cancelled Your Landline? Did You Regret It?

Updated on March 24, 2012
B.C. asks from Riverside, CA
31 answers

We're shaking things up in our house with our TV/internet/phone. We have all with the local cable provider (Charter). We were on a 2 year contract which ended March 5. I just got our new bill, and since the contract ended, the monthly fees are up to $250! On top of that, we absolutely hate our cable box/DVR - the technology is from about 1982.

We cancelled TV ($125) and Dish is coming today (will be $57 per month with some new thing called the Hopper that is "whole house DVR", whatever that is). We're stuck with Charter for internet, but will be downgrading our service from 30 Mbps to 15 Mbps since we only get about 10 Mbps as it is.

That leaves phone. We are paying $40 plus taxes for our landline, which we never use. However, we're old enough that it will feel completely weird to not have a regular phone.

I want to cancel it and save the $500+ per year, but am worried I'll regret it. Has anyone gone through this, and is there anything you regret about not having a landline?

Thanks.

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M.L.

answers from Houston on

We haven't had cable/phone in about 8 years. We do have a landline I think, whatever is required to have internet, but that's it and it's only a few bucks a month.

I only worry is if there is an emergency and my kids have a hard time using the cell phone that we don't have a land phone. Other than that, we save a bunch of money. We watch shows on netflix or just the local channels we get with a simple pair of bunny ears.

1 mom found this helpful
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L.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

I would never cancel my land line. I use it 99% of the time when I'm home. I feel like we still need to have an old fashion phone that doesn't need electricity in case all the cell phone towers are down and the cable lines are down. It's probably because I'm older. I know lots of younger people now who only use cell phones but I would go crazy without a regular phone.

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M.L.

answers from Los Angeles on

We've been without one for 8 years and don't miss it at all. An added bonus: no solicitors calling!

Go for it!

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K.B.

answers from Tulsa on

We HAVE to have it for the security system. Plus, if there is an emergency and the cell phones were dead, we would use it. Lastly, I give that number to people I don't want to have my cell. My cell is guarded so I am not constantly interrupted.

4 moms found this helpful

☆.H.

answers from San Francisco on

Canceled it 8 years ago, no regrets.

4 moms found this helpful
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B..

answers from Dallas on

We cancelled our landline 6 years ago. No regrets.

3 moms found this helpful

⊱.H.

answers from Spokane on

My husband wants to do away with our landline, but I don't. Our kids are little so for now we are keeping it. Once they are both older and have cell phones then I might consider it.
The main problem for us is that our cell service isn't 100%. We live way out and I worry the one time we need to call someone my cell won't pick up any service. Or what if my cell isn't charged. What if I left it in the car and nobody can find it. What if my kids can't remember how to unlock the pad. Too many what if's for me.

3 moms found this helpful
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L.K.

answers from Kansas City on

Like Stephanie, my husband wants to get rid of ours too, but I won't let him. My kids are older. . . shoot, one is out of the house, but our cells don't work 100% in the house. And I want to be able to have a working phone when I need one. Plus, like someone else said, our security company really advises against it.

2 moms found this helpful
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K.F.

answers from New York on

Cancelled my land line over 3 years ago. Wished I did it sooner. It totally makes no sense with me having the cell phone. We also don't have cable or dish tv so no bill there. We do free tv. We have an antenna for our HDTV's it works but isn't the greatest but we aren't big on TV anyway. We get to spend more time watching movies and playing board games instead. We have teenagers so it's really nice they like living the way we do.

2 moms found this helpful
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P.M.

answers from Portland on

We kept ours because we get occasional calls on our home line to our little publishing house, and have found we still need it during power outages that last more than a couple of days. Which happens all too often in our semi-rural area.

Between our land line and our two Tracfones, we pay a total of less than $35 a month, but our local phone company offers several options just to hang onto people like us.

And like MusicMakingMama, we prefer to give out our cell numbers to only those people whom we actually want interrupting us when we're out.

2 moms found this helpful
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W..

answers from Chicago on

I don't have a landline.

I don't miss it.

In fact, it's one LESS thing I have to "check" to see if someone wants something from me.

The only thing I will say, sometimes you have to give your phone # to stores or whatever for frequent shopper programs. I have noticed an increase in solicitations since I removed the landline, so I liked the convenience of having the 2nd # to give out (just like I have 2 emails - one for junk and one for friends).

2 moms found this helpful

B.C.

answers from Dallas on

I don't miss our landline at all. Our 3 cell phones cost us almost $200 a month and then we were paying $40 a month for the landline. We get really good reception where we live though. If we didn't have great reception, I would hate not having a landline.

2 moms found this helpful
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❤.I.

answers from Albuquerque on

We got rid of the landline a few years ago and haven't missed it. We do have the majic jack and our cell phones. The majic jack we use as a back up and to use as a phone number when you need to hand it out. It also comes in really handy for international calling. It works with your high speed internet. It's $30.00 for the unit and then $20.00 per year after that.

2 moms found this helpful
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E.A.

answers from Los Angeles on

I learned from a friend 4 years ago to get Ooma and we have been using it for 3 years now. It's a internet phone device. You need to buy the box & hook it to your home Internet. It's the least expensive Internet phone service. You can add a couple of cordless phone along with your main cordless phone. No lines required! We use our cell phones most of the time but it's nice to have a home phone. We are happy with the quality of the service so far. You can get Ooma on Costco or eBay.

1 mom found this helpful
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L..

answers from Roanoke on

We got rid of ours 4-5 years ago, and we don't miss it at all! We both have cell phones and laptops. I'd much rather have the extra money!

1 mom found this helpful

T.N.

answers from Albany on

We cancelled our landline 2 years ago, it was terrifying. Dunno why since we have a whopping SIX CELL PHONES in the house.

Zero regrets, except not having done it sooner. Saved $40 a month.

Of course my kids are older, youngest is 15, and our area has enhanced 911.

:)

1 mom found this helpful
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M.S.

answers from Dallas on

We got rid of our landline 3+ years ago and haven't regretted it. My one initial concern was for babysitters- but thus far, all of our babysitters have had their own cell phones for emergencies.

Other than that, our alarm is wireless, our friends never called us there, and our conference calls can be accomplished via cell or Skype, or other netbased conferencing software.

1 mom found this helpful

I.W.

answers from Portland on

I haven't had a land line in several years. I do not miss it at all. Plus, I like being able to turn off my cell phone when I don't want to be bothered :-)

1 mom found this helpful
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T.L.

answers from Los Angeles on

I was about ready to because it just seems so useless because literally the only people that call me on it are my mom and inlaws and solicitors.
BUT, I have been reading more and more about how we are screwing up our bodies pretty badly with everything wireless and they are starting to find more and more corrolations of health problems (like cancer, fibromyalgia, etc.) associated with cell phone use, "dirty" electricity, cordless phones, wireless, etc. I think we are going to be hearing a lot more about this in the next decade.
I have already started turning off the wireless at night, talking on the cell phone as little as possible, and am actually going to get a non-cordless phone and use that as my main phone when possible. A little incovenient, but a lot better than brain cancer or fibromyalgia.
This might sound a bit paranoid, but would you want a cell phone tower in your backyard? You are doing the same thing to your head when you use a cell phone.

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K.A.

answers from Los Angeles on

We live in CA, and cell and internet service tends to shut down after an earthquake here, so we wanted to make sure to have a back up emergency plan. So we pay about $15-20/month to have LAN line connectivity, and have a pay-per-call plan (maybe 5 cents per minute) if we ever need to use it. Since we have a couple of cell phones, we never incur any pay-per-call costs, but at least have a back-up option in case of emergency or the occasional day when one of us accidentally leaves our cell phones at work/in a car. We keep the ringer off and I don't give out that number, and cant remember the last time I used it.

Since really big earthquakes only happen about every century, I'm hoping to get rid of the LAN line after we have the "big one" everyone keeps predicting.

T.C.

answers from Austin on

We switched to a VOIP plan a few years ago, and I have no regrets. We still use the same phones in the house, but the signal goes through high-speed internet. We've used Lingo and Phonepower. It's a lot cheaper, and it includes a virtual 2nd line and all voicemails emailed to us. Once in a while we'll hear a little bit of an echo, but otherwise it's been reliable.
We have pre-paid cell phones that we don't use much. I don't answer the cell phone if I'm at home, instead I call the number back on the other phone. My husband also set up a way to make free calls on his cell phone using wi-fi.
We have AT&T Uverse for TV, and it has the whole house DVR thing.

F.H.

answers from Phoenix on

We just canceled ours and went to VOIP (basically thru the internet). I felt like we still have to keep the home phone (SUPER easy number ending all in 7's for the kids to remember). Our kids are older but don't have cells yet, so they give our "home" number out to their friends so the can talk. We don't get calls often, but considering the kids are starting to use it, I felt like we had to keep it. No one but the school has the number either. =)

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F.W.

answers from San Diego on

We haven't had a landline for 10 years! I obviously don't miss it.

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A.H.

answers from Los Angeles on

We have never had a landline. I've thought about getting the Magic Jack, but I don't know anyone that's tried it...

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K.P.

answers from Las Vegas on

Did it almost a year ago. Do not regret it at all. Did have to modify a few things. Make sure you get great cell service at your house. A Bluetooth is a must if you want to chat for any length of time. Decide which number will be considered the "main" number for things like doctors, service calls etc. Don't forget to update the world including credit card companies, insurnace companies schools etc.
If you have an alarm system, there is a way around the landline issue. They can install what essentially looks like an ancient cell phone box. It'll cost you around $300 (granted, I paid that about 5 years ago, so it may be cheaper now).
Good luck cutting the cord!

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K.J.

answers from Los Angeles on

We got rid of our landline over a year ago and replaced it with Magic Jack. We couldn't be happier. It cost $40 to start (20 for the equipment and 20 for the first year) and we just paid for another year because we're so satisfied. We have Mac computers in our house and we have it set up so everyone in the family has their own profile (this helps with security settings for the kids) The only downfall that I can even see with Magic Jack is that it appears to only work when my profile is logged in - which is 99% of the time anyway. When one of the kids are logged into their own profiles, calls go directly to voicemail and we cannot make calls either. But logging into my profile is quick and easy and so much more worth the savings. We also made this choice vs simply getting rid of the landline, because we like the extra security of having a landline when the kids are home alone.

K.G.

answers from Boca Raton on

I did cancel my home phone and I do regret it!

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D.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

We dont have a landline either. The only time I miss it is when I cant find my cell phone and I cant call it to hear the ringer, lol
If you have a gmail account, there is a way to assign a phone number to your account and link it to your cell phone, to make long distant phone calls, especially if you have to call for any technical support and know it will take while.
Good Luck!!

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D.P.

answers from Minneapolis on

Cancelled home phone until I had problems with my cell phone for 3 days and was without a phone with 2 kids. Didn't like being in that situation. We use Comcast and bundle everything now so we get a deal. Our old line was with another company and we just had local service for $20/month. We used cell phones for long distance. You could shop around and look for a reduced rate there too.

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G.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

We have not had a land line in several years and I can honestly say I am seriously thinking of adding it back on. I like the concept of having an emergency connection. To just pick up the phone and dial 9-1-1 would be important if I were choking, I had an allergic reaction to almonds a while back and my tongue swelled.

I also miss having a fully operational phone too. I often pick up my cell and it's dead from the kids playing on it. When I plug it in to charge I have often missed several calls.

I miss having the land line for sure.

~.~.

answers from Tulsa on

Yes, I have cancelled and I don't regret it at all. If you are worried about the number of minutes you have, get a Magic Jack. $20 a year and it works through your Internet service.

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