We are trying to lower monthly bills, so I called TMobile and they said that they can't lower it any more than it is already.

We pay around $58 for 400 minutes (family plan) and then we pay $63.96 for our home phone through Verizon. We get unlimited long distance, call waiting, speed dial, and 3 way calling. (We don't ever use 3 way calling.)

I hate talking on my cell phone for long periods of time, so I refuse to go to a strict cell phone only plan. Plus, I hate the delay in conversation. DH and I just use it to check in with each other, call from the grocery store, etc. The kids aren't old enough to use their own cell phones or have their own phone lines.

So, just wondering if we need to switch companies, or if we've got it good and it's wishful thinking.

By Juli4 on Wednesday, August 3, 2005 - 02:41 pm:

we have a cell phone for about 50 a month and our home phone costs about 20 a month and it is just basic. 30 minutes of long distance a month and call waiting.

By Missmudd on Wednesday, August 3, 2005 - 03:02 pm:

We pay about $35 a month for basic phn service. I use tel3 for long distance and that is about $.03 a minute. My cell is a tracfone and I spendo about $15 a month on that.

By Crystal915 on Wednesday, August 3, 2005 - 03:07 pm:

We're on cell only (Sprint is the only home provider, and they are the bane of my existance) with Alltel, and spend $96 a month for 1100 shared, free nights and weekends, and all the perks. I know you aren't looking for all cell, but it was our only acceptable option. When we did have Sprint they were quite expensive, I paid about $50 for the basic stuff, no long distance, but I needed it for DSL. Good luck!

By Kim on Wednesday, August 3, 2005 - 03:39 pm:

I have tmobile also and I can call my family for free because they are tmobile also and 600 minutes and the bill, I think, is $53 a month with tax and stuff. My home phone is just the basics and that is around $40. If I didn't use my land line for faxes and dial-up also I would get rid of it and just have the cell phone. But I can control myself whereas my DD would not be able to do that.

By Mommmie on Wednesday, August 3, 2005 - 03:40 pm:

I pay $40 for my cell phone - cingular - which I rarely use. It's for outbound emergencies only.

My home phone is $65 and pays for 2 lines both (one is a kid's line) with all the bells and whistles.

I think you could lower you home phone possibly. Get rid of those extras you don't use.

By Emily7 on Wednesday, August 3, 2005 - 04:10 pm:

We pay around $60.00 a month for our 2 cell phones with 1000 minutes.
We also pay $50.00 a month for our home phone with 5cent a minute long distance up to $20.00.

By Reds9298 on Wednesday, August 3, 2005 - 05:00 pm:

2 cell phones with Verizon, tons of minutes (we never use that many) but still the lowest min. plan and it's $60/mth WITH my dh's corp. discount. Our home, land-based line is $46/mth but that includes long distance service, voice mail, and caller ID. I just lowered it a bit...got rid of call waiting and some other features that we never used.

By Dawnk777 on Thursday, August 4, 2005 - 12:27 am:

Cellphone, with two phones is $67. We have 700 anytime minutes and included in the $67 is $5/month for 3000 night and weekend minutes. We never go over our minutes!

Landline is about $35/month. We try to use the cellphone for our long distance, to keep the landline phone cheaper. We like the cellphone, because it's usually a fixed cost. It will be more this coming month, since we used it once in Canada and I called my dad for 3 minutes, when we were in Michigan on the way home, so, we were still roaming yet. The Canada call was only 30 seconds long, so hopefully it wasn't too expensive.

By Boxzgrl on Thursday, August 4, 2005 - 08:13 am:

We have 2 cell phones through Cingular with 800 shared minutes for about $70 a month after taxes. Our home phone is a DSL package with basic phone service for about $40 a month. We use our cells for long distance calling since it financially makes more sense.

By Karen~moderator on Thursday, August 4, 2005 - 09:57 am:

Landline is $74 a month, but that includes unlimited nationwide long distance, caller ID, 3-way, etc. Has been well worth it, before we went on the unlimited plan, our phone bills were always over $100 due to the long distance calls.

Cellular - DH's is $57 a month, but he is reimbursed $50 from his employer - not sure of his minutes, etc. but has unlimited Sprint to Sprint calls & unlimited nights/weekends.

Cellular - mine is 1000 minutes, unlimited Sprint to Sprint calls, unlimited nights/weekends, and 2-way radio - $70 a month, but 100% paid by my employer.

By Bea on Thursday, August 4, 2005 - 10:47 am:

We use a phone card we buy at Sams for long distance. 3.50 cents a minute. My cell phone is also the same system. I buy minutes. 30 cents a minute. Our "On Star" also works that way. 50 cents a minute. There's no set amount we use each month. We only pay for what we use.

By Cybermommyx4 on Thursday, August 4, 2005 - 12:32 pm:

Land Line phone is around $48 per month (we don't make long distance calls often, and when we do, we use 10-10-987)....The cell phones total $85 per month for THREE. DH has one, I have one, and our oldest DS (who drives)..basically, one for each vehicle, lol! We share minutes through US Cellular...it's $45 for the first phone, and $15 each for the other two per month, and we never run out of minutes. It runs right around $85/month after taxes, etc.

Our electric bill, on the other hand, is WAY out of control

By Insaneusmcwife on Friday, August 5, 2005 - 10:14 am:

Well you definately don't want our cell phone bill. We have nextel and we pay roughly $140 a month for 2 phones. But we have unlimited incoming calls, 330 outgoing each and unlimited direct connect minutes. To us its worth it. My dad has one, my friend in 29 has one and my dh's whole family pretty much has them. As for the house phone, I'm not sure how much we pay. We have a bundle with Cox Communications and I haven't got the first bill yet. I estimate it to be around $120. But thats for cable and internet too!

By Kittycat_26 on Friday, August 5, 2005 - 10:34 am:

I don't feel so bad about our cell phone bill anymore. I always thought it was so outrageous but it's really in-line.

We have nextel and for two phones with 1000 anytime minutes each and unlimited nights/weekends and direct connect, we pay $110.

Plus we don't have a home phone so they play double duty.