Cell Phones???

[TanksHill]

Well my cell phone got turned off last week. My phone used to be part of a huge minute plan at my dh office. When the in laws owned the company it was no biggy. Now with new owners and restructuring I have been cut off. What makes me mad is they did not give me notice so I could not port my phone number to another network/ carrier etc...

I guess my question is , do you have one? do you use it?

Now that I have lost my phone number I really don't want to go through all the hassle of getting another. I am thinking I will just skip the whole cell phone thing for a while. What do you think?

So the second part of this dilemma is I cancelled all extra long distance on my house phone. Because I could call for free on the cell. So I am thinking about getting a Magic Jack. Does anyone have one???

This obviously does not solve the mobile problem but will enable me to make long distance calls again. Dh says I should just add log distance back to the house phone but I think the jack will be more cost efficient in the long run.

Any advice????

gina

 

[Dace]

I went over a year without one and just recently got one. It was DD's she had purchased it herself and the glass was cracked....she got a new one for her 16th bday and we replaced the glass on her old one and I got it.

With older kids I use it often to stay in contact with them and DH of course. Mostly I am not a big phone person...I text more that I talk.

 

[patandchickens]

Don't have one, never have, expect I never will. No need.

For long distance (not that I do *much* long distance calling) I use third party discounters, 10-10-230, sort of thing.

Every *rare* once in a while I sort of vaguely wish I had a cell phone, like if I have to stick around the house waiting for the vet to call back with when he's coming out to check out my horse's ulcerated eye (that was this morning )... but that's only a few times a year, and I can certainly put up with the inconvenience. Especially when compared to all the (IMO) inconveniences and 'traps' involved in HAVING a cell phone

DH has a Blackberry from work (he's a gov't computer sysadmin), but it is rarely used for non-work purposes and I myself do not even know the password or how to make it 'go'

Pat

 

[keljonma]

I have a virgin mobile pay as you go. It has to be topped up every 3 months or you lose the money on it, but you can top up as low as $10 every 3 months. We mostly use it for long distance and since my kids and grandkids live in Texas and we're in Ohio.... I am glad to have it. Having it has saved us a number of times when a vehicle broke down or needed towed.

I have a *really* basic phone, it cost $14 at K-Mart.

 

[Wifezilla]

Most of my friends have just the cell and no home phone.

 

[DianeB]

I have a virgin mobile pay as you go. It has to be topped up every 3 months or you lose the money on it, but you can top up as low as $10 every 3 months. We mostly use it for long distance and since my kids and grandkids live in Texas and we're in Ohio.... I am glad to have it. Having it has saved us a number of times when a vehicle broke down or needed towed.

I have a *really* basic phone, it cost $14 at K-Mart.

I have Virgin Mobile, too. I really like it. Only use my cell phone for emergencies. Their phones start at around $15 or $20. The cheap ones are nice. They even have internet connection.

 

[Beekissed]

Don't have one and probably never will, but I can see where they might come in handy for travel. Payphones are now a rare thing. Sometimes they make me carry one on the the job and they are both a curse and a luxury. The curse being they can track me down, the luxury being I can track THEM down!

My home phone has freedom calling, which means I pay around $70 per month for unlimited long distance, caller ID, call waiting, three way calling, etc. I would never give up my landline for a cell phone only existence.....too unreliable, lose a charge too quickly, no service where I live and too many hidden charges.

My sis just called this morning and said her cellphone-only house(no teens/children) just got a big ol' cell bill of $397. That is more than my rent!!!

My co-workers complain of $500 cell bills all the time, as they have teens and young adults on their plans.

I think most cell usage is highly unnecessary, can cause a lot of young people to get in auto accidents, and do they really need to text the gal across the classroom from them every 5 seconds?

 

[Ldychef2k]

I have ATT Go Phone, which I hardly use. I buy $25 worth of minutes (about 150) every three months. The remaining minutes roll over. After I have spent $100, the minutes don't expire for one year, and I get about twice as many minutes per dollar. So basically, once a year I now buy a $25 card which is now about 300 minutes, and it is good for a year. And the remaining minutes still roll over. I use it only for emergencies, so I now have a couple thousand minutes in the "bank". $2 a month is pretty good insurance.

 

[me&thegals]

I have a TracFon. You buy the phone at Wal-Mart with minutes included, then buy more min each year. I don't even use up 300/year since it's just for emergencies or urgent convenience--like I'm going to be home late and need to call husband to get the kids off the bus. This phone costs about $10/month and I lived just fine without it before. Now with both kids in school and our car getting really, really old I like the security it gives me.

 

[TanksHill]

Thank you guys. I rarely use my cell or even call out on it. Until recently that is when I cut back everything on my home line. I reduced my home line to 16 bucks a month and really want to keep it that way.

The only reason I ever had a cell was for emergencies and if the kids school needed me asap. I always have this fear of coming home from errands and finding a message that one of the kids has had an accident.

I read about the ATT go phones. Since my home line is ATT I think I can get a good deal on one. I like the idea that the minutes roll over if not used.

I guess I will just need to check out some pay as you go phones and their long distance plans.

thanks again, gina