Keeping the house phone and getting rid of the cell ?

[Silverwood]

So I spend
$75/month on my cell phone (thru Rogers (Canada) with 5 gigs of data)
$100/month on my internet/house phone(thru Shaw, there isn't anything cheaper)

I'm thinking Id rather cut the cell phone or change it to just minutes than the house phone. The cell phone is an S2 and isn't that great. 

I know this is backwards thinking to most. I'm just wondering if anyone else has done this?

I don't have many friends that I talk to. Id much rather have a real conversation than a text one. I feel like people pay more attention to their phones than to people.

 I use it mostly because I'm bored at work and read blogs and play games.  I could just as easily start reading an actual book or listen to podcasts.

I think I would miss it for checking online reviews of a product while at the store and ...?

[warfreak2]

How many internet users are there in the house? I currently live alone, and my total expenses for phone and internet (in the UK) are £15/month. 3 (the company) offers all-you-can-eat data (including tethering) for that much, so I just connect my laptop to my phone when I'm at home. Something to look into.

[Silverwood]

wow that's cheap.It's just me. I'll have to look into that and see what I can do here.

[RootofGood]

We kept our home phone.  It's currently on free google voice service, and we'll probably switch to something like obivoice for a couple bucks per month when free google voice through the obihai goes away.  Internet is still $35-50/month depending on how successful I am at weaseling a promo rate out of Time warner (soon to be comcast).  Cell is now free through freedompop, or I might switch to a sub $10 Ting or other provider.  I use 100-200 MB data and 20-30 minutes voice each month on my cell, and use my landline for waiting on hold (at places like Time Warner to attempt to lower my rate). 

I will continue to do whatever is cheapest for our household that adequately meets our telecom needs. 

[MissPeach]

If you tend to call when you are at home that's an option. I would just see if your phone is unlocked or could be converted to a prepaid plan. I still feel better having a cell for emergencies but there's no reason to pay $75/month if you don't use it.

Personally I went the other way and did internet at home and cell for phone. Not sure if it's the same in Canada but in the US there are a lot of unlimited minutes plans now as low as $50/month.

[Daley]

Silverwood, give the guide a read (it'll be worth your time). From there, look into TekSavvy (Canadian ISP), PhonePower (VoIP phone provider that does Canada as well), and go over the list of Canadian MVNOs. I'm pretty sure you can get that price down considerably more than you realize.

[Silverwood]

Thanks. I will definetly check that out.

[BPA]

I am going back to prepaid of less than $10 a month when my contract is up and plan to use my landline.

I figured out that for me that is the most cost effective way to communicate.

[RetiredAt63]

I am on Fido (smartphone but no data plan)which is basically Rogers.  Fido has started offering a second phone line for $10, and I used my Fido dollars (never use them, so I had more than enough, and thanks to the Fido rep who suggested I do this) to buy the box to use for my home phone.  Fido ported over my Bell number, so no-one sees the difference but me.  I now have voice mail (Bell didn't offer it since I was so far away from their switch site) and my phone bill is so much lower.

I use Skype for the US.

I should post last year's and this year's communications costs in the Celebrations Thread.  It is a big difference.

[YK-Phil]

I am in Calgary but work in Yellowknife. In Calgary, we have a basic internet/telephone plan with Shaw ($75/month). I couldn't find anything cheaper, even for internet alone and since we don't watch TV shows or movies, we don't really care about speed and data volume. We don't actually use our land line but it is unfortunately required to buzz people in to our condo building. We could connect the buzzer to a cell phone but since I am the only one in our household who has one and I am away 2/3 of the time, it would not be practical to ditch our land line. For cell, I am on Bell's cheapest iPhone plan ($70/month) which includes unlimited calls to 10 Canadian numbers, unlimited texting, and whatnot. I needed to be on Bell when I was a flight attendant because I was always traveling, but now that I am an office drone, I will cancel my contract when it is up for renewal in 6 months. I will then simply use a dumb pay-as-you go phone, or just use my old iPhone on wifi only.

[Milspecstache]

I got rid of our home phone way back in 2005 when we first got a cellphone.  Was just too much trouble and I always hated getting calls at home from telemarketers anyway.  Have never regretted it.

[luigi49]

watch out for ATT.  They start you with a low rate of $30/month basic no long distance  and every 2 months the rate keeps inching up.  After 1 1/2 years it will be up to $34/mo. and still climbing up.