Is phone considered a need?

[frito833]

I never use my phone and could save $40 per month. My only understanding where a phone would be invaluable is during emergencies. For communication with family and friends, I just use facebook or email. My question is not having the ability to dial 911 worth saving money?

[disneysteve]

Why not just get a prepaid cell phone? That way, you only pay for minutes actually used. I'm sure you wouldn't spend $40/month but you'd still have a phone available if needed.

[cooliemae]

I really depends on your situation. You might not need not, but others will have to have some type of phone. My students are all in the construction field, and without a phone they don't get called for jobs...

[frito833]

I have considered that option Steve. What company and plan do you recommend? Not sure which company, but I heard there's one where you prepay the minutes and the phone is only $20.

[frito833]

Originally Posted by cooliemae

I really depends on your situation. You might not need not, but others will have to have some type of phone. My students are all in the construction field, and without a phone they don't get called for jobs...

This might change later when my small business picks up but I do all my communication by email.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by frito833

I have considered that option Steve. What company and plan do you recommend? Not sure which company, but I heard there's one where you prepay the minutes and the phone is only $20.

I'm not that familiar with them myself. Perhaps you should start a new thread asking about prepaid plans. I'm sure others know more about it.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Depends. I need a cell phone if I am looking for a job. I want to be available to headhunters and to companies for phone interviews. A lot of my DH's job interviews had a 30 minute preliminary phone interview and then they called back to set up a real interview.

Just a consideration. So maybe other companies work differently and only do email or in person interviews.

[frito833]

Originally Posted by LivingAlmostLarge

Depends. I need a cell phone if I am looking for a job. I want to be available to headhunters and to companies for phone interviews. A lot of my DH's job interviews had a 30 minute preliminary phone interview and then they called back to set up a real interview.

Just a consideration. So maybe other companies work differently and only do email or in person interviews.

LOL. this happened to me 2 years ago. I gave them my parent's number. Not a good impression when my dad picks up the phone and yells across the house, "Son, you got a phone interview!" However, I did land the job.

[Goldy1]

A phone a need? In one word, yes, but define need. We need food. I didn't need the chicken soup and cherry pie I just ate. I could have ate cheaper on beans and rice.

I use a cell phone and ditched the land line years ago. I have a plan with low minutes since I don't talk on the phone a lot. I use the phone more on free times like weekends.
I use a phone for jobs, calling work, calling insurance companies, etc etc. I need to communicate with spouse.
I think there are phones people donate which are set to only dial 911 but they are for eldery or women in abusive relationships.

I don't need my dog either, and he costs me money but he stays too

There are so many dumb things we don't need. Like my dh wanted to buy liquid fabric softener at Sam's and it was like $20. I never used it growing up and I told him I don't need to pour chemicals on my clothes. I do use dryer sheets, but they prevent static cling.
I don't need Netflix either. What else don't I need? oh a tv in general.

[frito833]

Originally Posted by Goldy1

A phone a need? In one word, yes, but define need. We need food. I didn't need the chicken soup and cherry pie I just ate. I could have ate cheaper on beans and rice.

I use a cell phone and ditched the land line years ago. I have a plan with low minutes since I don't talk on the phone a lot. I use the phone more on free times like weekends.
I use a phone for jobs, calling work, calling insurance companies, etc etc. I need to communicate with spouse.
I think there are phones people donate which are set to only dial 911 but they are for eldery or women in abusive relationships.

I don't need my dog either, and he costs me money but he stays too

There are so many dumb things we don't need. Like my dh wanted to buy liquid fabric softener at Sam's and it was like $20. I never used it growing up and I told him I don't need to pour chemicals on my clothes. I do use dryer sheets, but they prevent static cling.
I don't need Netflix either. What else don't I need? oh a tv in general.

I define a need as anything you need to live. Food, utilities, house, and clothes. So I guess not having the ability to dial 911 could be a need because you could put your life in jeopardy. Only extra expense I have is Internet because my work/business requires it.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Well I need a phone or else I can't get and keep my job. So I think it's a need because it gets me a paycheck! Like a car or a public transit pass. I don't need to ride in a car or bus, I could bike, but I find it easier to get to work. Just like I find it easier to find a job or contact my job and keep my job for the paycheck!

[snafu]

Have you heard of VOIP service? Phone service delivered via internet. The individual/business you call receives your call over their normal phone.
Vonage - A Better Way to Phone for Less
It's v/inexpensive and people can call you!

[frito833]

Yeah, I heard of Vonage and my cousin recommended it. $30 per month isn't too bad. What about magicjack? Same technology I think.

[vole]

Originally Posted by frito833

I never use my phone and could save $40 per month. My only understanding where a phone would be invaluable is during emergencies. For communication with family and friends, I just use facebook or email. My question is not having the ability to dial 911 worth saving money?

The pre-pay phone cards vary in price with minutes expiring after a period of time. If you're not using the cell phone, I think it's Verizon that offers $100 card that expires after one year.

As someone else mentioned, there's VOIP with some of the services even free.

As for emergency use, how is cell phone reception. And if you lose electricity, you lose VOIP. For some reason, land-line phones seem more reliable than anything else.

But if it's a true emergency, what about neighbors? Maybe a cheap CB radio?

I think someone told me that even an unactivated cell phone will still make calls to 911. Unless it's a very old phone, it will have GPS for police to use.

Get hold of someone's old cell phone they don't use. 911 won't get angry if you call and explain you are making a test call. I've called them on my regular phone to verify the Caller ID was correct and no one got upset at my call.

-Dave
Affordable Alternative Dental Insurance - Employee Dental Vision Health Benefits for Small Businesses

[chewie8himup]

I think a phone is a need, but to each their own. And really, you wouldn't even need a prepaid cell phone to dial 911. Any old phone, even if it's not activated can call 911.

[SacredFaerie]

I really think this is a case of taking frugality too far. I can't believe you're debating whether or not you need to be able to dial 911.

[neatdesign]

My husband and I aren't cell phone people, but we bought a prepaid Virgin cell phone about 5 years ago in case of an emergency when we take a road trip. I don't remember how much the phone cost (maybe $70?), but the service costs us $60/year -- we're charged $15 every three months. The per-minute rates are very high but we very rarely use the phone, only a handful of times every year.

We'd probably use it more but we get absolutely NO connection at home (we have to drive 2-3 miles before we get a couple of bars), and I get no connection where I work. Of course, we didn't have any way of knowing that until AFTER we'd bought the phone!

~ Jenney

[vole]

Originally Posted by neatdesign

My husband and I aren't cell phone people,

~ Jenney

It's a generational thing.

At my son's college, only 4 students have landlines, the others have cell phones. And only 14 have desktop computers, the rest laptops.

Take a taxi in NYC. It's amazing how the drivers are talking away on the cell phone. Must have better plans than I ever got since they talk day and night. Surprisingly, it's not annoying. Maybe because it's in a language I can't understand and I just filter it out.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by vole

It's a generational thing.

At my son's college, only 4 students have landlines, the others have cell phones. And only 14 have desktop computers, the rest laptops.

Take a taxi in NYC. It's amazing how the drivers are talking away on the cell phone. Must have better plans than I ever got since they talk day and night. Surprisingly, it's not annoying. Maybe because it's in a language I can't understand and I just filter it out.

I think that's partly true but gradually changing as the technology integrates itself more and more into daily life. My 78-year-old mother has a cell phone and uses it regularly.

As for the taxis in NYC, I already feel like I'm taking my life in my hands when I get into one. If the driver was talking on the phone, I'd really feel in danger. I wonder how they react if a customer asks them not to talk on the phone while driving. I wish they would ban that nationwide and actually enforce it. It is illegal here in NJ but nobody pays any attention to the law based on how many drivers I see everyday talking on the phone.

As for college students and computers, laptops are the only way to go. They often need them in class as well as in their dorms, plus they can bring work home on weekends and breaks that way.

[Phenomenal Woman]

From someone who experienced going without a phone for several years, I could tell you that a phone is not a NEED! You could do fine without one but you will lose all the conveniences and may end up depending on others for help from time to time.

My experiences were not by choice. I am Deaf and the internet and text phones did not come out until later in my life. Before that, when there was an emergency in my home and I needed to call 911, I simply knocked at my neighbor's door and ask them to place a call for me.

Without a phone, I had more visitations from friends. I miss those days and it seems like a phone call is these days is sufficient and replaces 1 on 1 quality time together.

There were times it was tough, where I used to live have cities that are several miles apart. I had an accident on the highway one time and had to wait until a car drives by to get help. It can take a long time in states like Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and etc.

Today's time has a set of different problems if you go without a phone. A lot of accounts or forms you need to fill out requires a phone number to identify you and in some cases will not accept your form without a phone number. This makes it tough if you were trying to apply online for anything or make an online order. It gets kind of frustrating when you need a phone number regardless of using the phone or not. Before the text phone, I would just use my parent's phone number on these forms. I am also noticing a lot less working payphones in public.

I now pay a lot to have a PDA cell phone with an all data plan, but I enjoy the convenience and being independent completely. (I just have to remember to keep my phone charged at all times though).

I understand that my situation was different, but regardless I did all right without a phone. It probably made me more creative when it comes to resolving conflicts which in return made me stronger and more "free" in a sense.