Anyone that doesn't have a landline

[luckyval]

Tell me the pros and cons

We're taking on some added expenses next month and I'm looking at ways to trim our budget. I feel like the only time the landline gets used is to answer political polling calls. Our friends and family call our cell phones.

I'm on board to cut it, but I know when H and I discussed previously he was reluctant.

So, give it to me straight - is it worth it to keep a land line?

[Deleted]

DH and I have only had cell phones for the 7 years we've been together. It's never been an issue.

[cbwm1]

Until May, we hadn't had a land line for 10 years. The Comcast offered us a ridiculous package for cable, Internet and phone and we couldn't turn it down.

So now we have a landline and I hate it.

The people who had the number before us get tons of collections calls, and we get a bunch of telemarketer calls too. DUMB

We've just unplugged the phones and don't use them.

[bex1973]

We haven't had for about 4 years and have been fine. It was the same as others said that it was only telemarketers calling so we cut the expense & haven't looked back.

[CurlyQ284]

I haven't had a land line since I went to college. My parents don't even answer theirs anymore, its all telemarketers.

[TrickyBob]

Our internet provider made us get one and we use it pretty often. We get super crappy cell service and I needed a reliable phone when I worked so my boss could get in contact with me. We like ours.

Saying that, if we had kick ass cell reception - I'd ditch the land line.

[janiejones]

We haven't had one it 4 years. We don't miss it. In fact what got us to drop it was that the phone company kept having a glitch where they would assign our number to new people and it would ring at both places.
It was absurd. And after they did it three times we gave up.



We keep a single emergency phone connected in the basement to call 0 or 911. You don't have to pay for that.

[luckyval]

Sept 10, 2013 7:41:02 GMT -5 @cse1960 said:

We keep a landline because my cell phones are through my office, and so an emergency call would show my office address to 911, not my home address. I really like it that if I call 911 from my house, emergency people can find me even if I can't talk. Plus, I don't keep my cell phone on me all the time, it's usually in my purse, and in an emergency I don't want to be looking through my purse to find the damn thing.

The 911 issue is the only draw back for me. I keep my cell on me at all times, same with H. But if we go on a date night, I feel like I would like that added security for the sitter to be able to call from the landline

grr

[leeann]

I haven't had a landline since 2005. I don't miss it at all. I currently have 2 cell phones, a work phone and a personal because I like to have the two separated. When I had a landline, the only people who called it were solictors and credit collectors who were looking for the last person who had that number. I got to come home everyday to mean messages and everytime I called to inform them that I was, in fact, not that person and did not know that person, they didn't believe me at all. It was super fun.

[Deleted]

Another no landline in years here.

I thought I might get one for when our son is old enough to dial 911 if needed but I feel like he'll learn how to use a cell phone just as easily.

[bonquiqui]

I haven't had one for a long time and i don't miss it.

[bananapancakes]

I haven't had a landline since 2006 and I don't miss it at all.

[sunshineray]

H and I have never had a landline in the 6 years we've been together. I haven't had one since college maybe, more than 10 years ago. I've never had any issues where I couldn't use my cell.
Pros: less telemarketing calls, less expense
Cons: if you have a kid old enough to be home alone, I guess they'd need a cell phone in case of emergency. Power outages.

I think it depends on your family needs. We would never use it, but we live in a city where cell reception is great and don't have to worry about dead spots.

[Deleted]

We haven't had a land line ever. We went from dorms to apartments with no land line to our house with no land line.

I've never once missed it.

Also, if you have smart phones/tablets and don't do serious computer work from home, you could cut out your Internet and just use an unlimited phone data package to save money.

[Stingyshark]

Sept 10, 2013 7:41:02 GMT -5 @cse1960 said:

We keep a landline because my cell phones are through my office, and so an emergency call would show my office address to 911, not my home address. I really like it that if I call 911 from my house, emergency people can find me even if I can't talk. Plus, I don't keep my cell phone on me all the time, it's usually in my purse, and in an emergency I don't want to be looking through my purse to find the damn thing.

I never thought of this. My cellphone is under my sister...and so is H's. Hmm

[Overthemoon]

We haven't had one in at least 7 years. Our city has a service for 911 where you can register your cell phone numbers and the 911 operator can use your number to pull up your home address, who lives there, etc. Our Internet isn't run on a phone line and our house alarm is connected by cell phone so there has really been no reason to have a landline. I could see us adding one though when the kids are a little bit older, just so we have a permanent line at the house.

[Deleted]

I still have a landline.

H was pretty adamant about keeping it - I was kind of eh about it.

Until one night, it was about 10:45, I was just getting ready to head out to meet some friends to watch one of the Twilight movies (shh!). I was talking to H, who was out of town that week, and just as I'm literally about to open the door, there's this huge banging on the door.

I peek out and it's this big, hulking guy, yelling and screaming so loud H can hear it. I'm sure he was drunk off his ass but yes, I was a little freaked out so I picked up the landline and called 911, with H still on the line on my cell.

The cops showed up a few minutes later (big crazy drunk guy had moved on to another house by then) but it helped being able to talk to the 911 operator and still keep H on my cell.

So yeah, peace of mind for those random freak incidents is worth keeping it.

[rex]

We have never had a landline and have never wished we had one.

[auntie]

Sept 10, 2013 7:41:02 GMT -5 @cse1960 said:

We keep a landline because my cell phones are through my office, and so an emergency call would show my office address to 911, not my home address. I really like it that if I call 911 from my house, emergency people can find me even if I can't talk. Plus, I don't keep my cell phone on me all the time, it's usually in my purse, and in an emergency I don't want to be looking through my purse to find the damn thing.

This.

I keep a land line so if my son calls 911, the first responders could find him. My father went into anaphylaxis twice in a 10 day period; I don't think my mother would have been able to report her location given how upset she was. 

[cheeseandcrackers]

We haven't had a landline in a very long time.. I can't really think of any cons other than if you have limited minutes on your cell phone, but now days you can even get unlimited minutes to use. I would def consider cancelling it if I were you.

[BaliHai]

No cons from me; we got rid of our landline after a year and it's never been an issue. We use our cell numbers as primary (or "home" when filling out forms) and our work numbers as backups.

[wambam]

We haven't had a land line for 3 years. I haven't missed it at all. I actually see no reason to have a land line.

[luckyval]

Sept 10, 2013 7:53:55 GMT -5 Overthemoon said:

We haven't had one in at least 7 years. Our city has a service for 911 where you can register your cell phone numbers and the 911 operator can use your number to pull up your home address, who lives there, etc. Our Internet isn't run on a phone line and our house alarm is connected by cell phone so there has really been no reason to have a landline. I could see us adding one though when the kids are a little bit older, just so we have a permanent line at the house.

I didn't know about this - I'll look into it with our local/county responders. Thanks!

[blueshirt2003]

I've had just cell phones for 11+ years.

[melodramatic26]

We haven't had a landline in over 10 years. Haven't thought about it once and it's never been an issue.

[Deleted]

No cons for us. We have had only cell phones for 7 years now. Everyone would call the home phone and if we didn't answer we would get a call on our cells anyways

[Muddled]

My understanding is that you don't need phone service to be able to call 911. You just have to plug a phone into a working jack and you should be able to make emergency calls. Of course, I have never tested this.

[janiejones]

Sept 10, 2013 8:15:58 GMT -5 Muddled said:

My understanding is that you don't need phone service to be able to call 911. You just have to plug a phone into a working jack and you should be able to make emergency calls. Of course, I have never tested this.

This is what we have set up.  You can hear a dial tone when you pick up the line, but you can't make outgoing calls to anything other than emergency.

[Cricket0619]

I haven't had a land line in 10 years. It hasn't been a problem. I think as long as your service is good in your house it's fine.

[Alyssa]

No land line here. I love it, no more telemarketers calling at dinner time.