Between the cost of internet/phone/cable we were paying around 180/mo. Add in cell phones (two) at another 130/mo its just unreasonable for all these “extras”.
We got rid of the 2nd cell phone too, and just cut $125 from our monthly bills combined with the land line. Took all the extras off the cable, too.
May be a little harder with just one [cell] phone for the both of us for everything but I get sick of seeing so much money go out the door every month. Once the NHL season is over (already paid for center ice) Ill be getting rid of the box with HD/DVR and just using basic cable on all the tv’s.
Next up is quitting smoking and my daily Rock Star. We want to cut at least $750 in monthly expenditures including eating out only 1-2 times a month, and finding low cost meals. I found out I can make a kickass lentil soup for less than 6 dollars, and it will feed a good size family for a meal. All it takes is a bag of lentils (50 cents), cut up tomato, carrots, broth, and any other veggies you want. Throw in some seasonings, let cook for few hours, and its good stuff.
Its too easy to get wrapped up in things that cost a lot money, and that we can go without but just have to get used to not having it. I didn’t even have a cell phone until a few years ago, I didn’t grow up having cable, ect. Ill be glad when we cut our monthly costs in half.
We got rid of our landline about two years ago and have never regretted it. My wife and I both have a cell phone for less than one cell and a landline. As far as TV, we have had rabbit ears for about four years now.
I went through the same thing recently, although I switched to using Comcast digital voice and canceled my cell contracts. We were paying ~$140 to AT&T for cell phone service that we didn’t fully use (we were gaining ~500 rollover minutes a month). We were on a 1400 minute family plan. After calling them multiple times asking if they had a 900 or 1,000 minute family plan and being told “no,” I told them I was canceling. They immediately transferred me to the cancellations department, which informed me that I qualified for a 1,000 minute package that was only available to people who were canceling. Of course, that just made me cancel even faster, since they had been lying to me all along.
Comcast had a special in our area where we 22Mbps internet, basic cable, and phone (plus modem rental) for $55 a month, flat, for one full year. It was cheaper than the basic cable internet package on its own, so we took it (we basically saved money by getting the phone line).
I got my wife an AT&T prepaid phone (she only uses it when she’s not at home). It only charges you $2 per day that it’s used - the calls and texts for that day are unlimited. Buy a $100 prepaid card and you’re set for 6 months (or more, if you don’t use it much).
I was going to get myself a Sprint wireless plan, but my friend had an unused slot on his 3,000 minute family plan, so I pay him $20 a month to use his unused minutes.
Between both of our cell phones, house phone, and cable tv/internet, it’s $95 / month. Once our promo ends with the bundled cable + home phone, I’ll just downgrade to the standard internet package and pay the additional $20/month for Comcast phone (that should bring the total cost to $120/month).
Got rid of the land line a few years ago. Wife and I have cells and for home office, T-Mobile@Home. They no longer offer it but still support existing accounts, voip, flat $10/month, using time warner cable.
If you have Comcast available in your area, call your local Comcast office and ask for the contact numbers of your local sales reps - there’s usually two or three per city. The sales reps have offers that aren’t in the main billing system and can only be obtained through them. The actual offers will vary from city to city. I’ve done this twice now, once when I moved into my (then new) apartment 3 years ago and then again last year, when I bought my house.
These sales reps get paid commission for signing people up to these intro plans, so they want to save you money (since they get paid for it). You can also keep signing up for these offers as new ones become available, as they get paid for the signups regardless of whether they’re existing customers or not.
If you don’t have Comcast, I found the best way to save money is to forgo cable TV entirely. Otherwise, with cable TV, you’re at the provider’s mercy.
We just have 2 cell phones on a family plan. No land line.
I pay for basic cable plus internet from Comcast. (I have an OOMA phone system but we took it to Las Vegas a year ago for SHOT and when I got back I never got around to hooking it up. OOMA is a one time thing though – you pay once and get US phone for no charge monthly [guaranteed for X years]).
Sorry, you caught me before I edited my post to reflect that. Most of the major providers should have something similar, as you mentioned. If not, then best of luck.
I briefly had home phone through the cable co back when they introduced to my neighborhood as part of a special deal but it messed up my internet so I canned it.
Its too easy to get wrapped up in things that cost a lot money, and that we can go without but just have to get used to not having it. I didn’t even have a cell phone until a few years ago, I didn’t grow up having cable, ect. Ill be glad when we cut our monthly costs in half.
I really commend you on this. It’s a worthwhile effort but tough to do. I’m trying but it is really tough to make the cuts in some areas.
We’re working on buckling down on the eating out and groceries, since they are budget busters for us each month (not to mention a health issue eating out with crap food).
Agreed. We don’t really get natural disasters in this part of the country, but it’s remote enough that cable and cell just simply aren’t reliable enough for emergency phone calls. OTOH, virtually all of the telephone lines around here are underground and I just don’t recall ever having had a landline failure.