Is a cell phone necessary?

[rennigade]

We pay $160.42 a month for 4 lines and 15gb shared data. There are much cheaper plans out there (I say this coming from a t-mobile plan that cost me maybe $80 a year with no data).

I agree there are cheaper plans. But even for a creme of the crop plan with unlimited everything...you can score a better deal than $100. I just cant figure out why people still pay such high prices for cell phone plans.

[rennigade]

One thing nobody has mentioned yet - if you get a cell phone, you can drop your land line so you aren't paying for both. That way you have the convenience of the cell phone and the necessity of a home phone.

We have not given up our land line yet though I keep thinking about it. I just don't want the calls that we normally get at home to start going to my cell phone. I prefer not to give my cell # out to everyone.

Just get a google voice number, its free. You can link up your GV number to your cell...that way you can give out the gv and it will ring directly to you. Whats also cool is you can force the person to state their name...so when you answer the phone you will hear a pre recording of their name before you accept the call. Of course you can also turn this feature off and simple answer the call like normal.

Whenever I craigslist I only give out my gv number.

[bmatthews]

Just get a google voice number, its free. You can link up your GV number to your cell...that way you can give out the gv and it will ring directly to you. Whats also cool is you can force the person to state their name...so when you answer the phone you will hear a pre recording of their name before you accept the call. Of course you can also turn this feature off and simple answer the call like normal.

Whenever I craigslist I only give out my gv number.

That sounds really neat actually, might have to give it a try. Not sure if asking everyone that calls to state their name each time they call is a good idea though. Would be nice if you could selectively whitelist family members and other people in your immediate social circle so they wouldn't be slightly inconvenienced.

[rennigade]

That sounds really neat actually, might have to give it a try. Not sure if asking everyone that calls to state their name each time they call is a good idea though. Would be nice if you could selectively whitelist family members and other people in your immediate social circle so they wouldn't be slightly inconvenienced.

I believe you can whitelist numbers you recognize. Although why would you want to give your family members your non primary number? Also, you can turn off this feature so the person calling doesnt have to state their name.

[Leo]

Home landline or cellphone yes, smartphone no.

I think cellphone is necessary depending on your situation. In my case, I can live without smartphone but call and text is important to me. I don't have landline and in my work, there's only one telephone and it goes to receptionist.

What if there's an emergency? What if I need to do a personal call during business hours? What if a future employer needs to reach me? What if I'm driving or not home and I need to call someone? That is just few questions on top of my head and text is major part of my day to day communication.

My suggestion is if you have a smartphone, sell it and buy a cheap cellphone for under $100. Change your service to a smaller carrier like Ting and it should cut your monthly cellphone bill.

[TimothyGandy]

My phone bill is pretty fair enough. And YES cell phone is very convenient as far as communication is concerned, it works best for me, most of my clients send me a text message or call me. It makes it possible for me to contact my mom and sister anytime.