Cell Phone vs Land Line

[jeffrey]

When it comes to saving money and phones, the question of whether a cell phone or a land line (or if you need to keep both) is a better value for your budget often comes up. While it would be nice to be able to give a definitive answer to one or the other, the truth is that it depends how you use your phone as to which is the better deal. Here are a few issues to consider when deciding which makes better sense for you:

<b>How Big Is Your Family?</b> - The bigger your family, the better the chance that a land line be a cheaper alternative than cell phones. With a land line, your can get a phone placed in the room of each person in the family on the single line coming into the house. With a cell phone, however, you would need to provide each member of the family with their own separate phone. While "family plans" exist that lower the cost of multiple phones within the family, these plans are still much more expensive than a single land line.

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<b>How Much Do You Talk?</b> - The amount you talk on the phone will determine which option is a better value. If you talk a moderate amount, then land lines and cell phones stack up pretty well against each other in relation to cost. The more you talk on the phone, however, the land line quickly becomes a better value than the cell phone. This is becasue landlines tend to be a single, flat rate no matter how long you talk and this is why land line phone are better for your budget it you talk a lot. In addition, cell phone service in the US usually charges whether you make or receive the call which means that you often use more minutes than you realize.

Some people argue that cell phones are a better deal becasue of "free long distance." While this may be true if you make your long distance calls on weekends and nights when they are unlimited but be careful to assume that long distance calls made at other times are "free." these peak hour calls usually still count toward your overall minutes which will usually favor the land line phone.

<b>What Is Your Current Lifestyle?</b> - How you go about your life will be a big factor in determining which phone makes sense for you. if you are away from home, travel and use your cell phone as your main contact phone, then it's worthwhile considering whether or not you need a land line at all. If this is the way you use your phone and find that you rarely, if ever, use your land line, then your land line phone may be costing you money that you don't need to be spending.

In addition to these money related issues, there are some other issues that may make you choose one type of phone over the other:

<b>Reliability</b> - While cell phones have vastly improved over the years, they still aren't quite at the level of land line phones when it comes to reliability. Pick up a land line phone and unless a hurricane is blowing through, you're going to get a dial tone. This is not always the case with a cell phone. There may also be an issue of contacting emergency 911 services if you happen to be ill. If you call from a land line phone, the 911 operators can locate you even if you can't speak which may not be true with a cell phone. If you opt for cell phone only, make certain that it has a strong signal in all parts of your house.

<b>Battery Life</b> - While battery life for cell phones continues to improve, cell phones continue to add on new features that drain the batteries quicker as well. Cell phones may need to be recharged on a regular basis which can cause problems.

<b>Wireless Contracts</b> - While land line phones don't have contacts, many cell phones require a long term commitment to a contract. If you fail to meet the length of the contract and cancel your contract subscription early, it can mean penalties in the hundreds of dollars.

<b>Locating You</b> - Unlike the white pages of your local phone book, there currently isn't a centralized directory for finding cell phone numbers. This means that someone who doesn't have your cell phone number may not be able to contact you if you don't have a land line.

[infocus]

Re: Cell Phone vs Land Line

Really good article - thanks! I am so glad I found this site.

I recently cancelled our home phone because I found out that our cable company (which also provides the phone line we used to have) offers a value tier for Internet access that is 256k (5 to 10 times faster than dial up using the phone line). We use our cellphones for phone calls. Since US Cellular offers free incoming calls, as well as free nights and weekends, that saves us a lot of money. And our cellphones are always with us. I feel much safer knowing I can call for roadside assistance if I break down (that only cost a few dollars a year) and my son and I can reach each other wherever we are. Some friends of ours got free incoming and free mobile to mobile with US Cellular, which is an even better deal. The only problem is, you have to get a fairly expensive plan to be able to get all these perks. Like you said, it all depends on how you use the phone.

[januarymarch]

Re: Cell Phone vs Land Line

I am all cellphone all the time. Sometimes I realized I've actually forgotten completely that landline telephones exist. They look as strange to me as one of those desk top clunkers from the 40's.

[tinapbeana]

Re: Cell Phone vs Land Line

i was cell phone only from 1999 to 2005. got a landline when i had to go to argentina for a month for the international calling plan. plus, i worked for the phone company and got an employee discount.... kept the land line until we bought our house, then switched the service over to cable VOiP service. currently have that and a cell phone, but as soon as i find out if i can port the house number to a different cell phone i'll do so and that'll be my only line. i'm a dork, i like the number better, plus i'm the one who picked it out and installed the order...

[tabbycat31]

I've been cellphone only since 2002, and I never looked back. The "Locating you" part was a huge part of why I did it. I have a rare last name, and I want my privacy. I don't want someone to be able to pick up the phone book and find me. I had enough prank calls in high school, and I'm NOT about to go with that again.

If I want someone to have my phone #, then I will give it to them. I've often given fake #s if businesses want my # (unless they have a good reason for it)

[bobcat999]

We had considered discontinuing our land lines and just use cell phones for voice lines.
We also have a fax and we considered using an internet based fax service.
During the process we discovered that we needed the land phone line for our home security system.
It turned out that a stripped down land line was about the same price as the internet fax service and much more reliable.
Plus, as stated above, the land line works better for 911 and emergency calls in the event of natural disaster.
Another option though less reliable is to use a line switch.

[kork13]

In college we couldn't have land lines in our dorm rooms, so I got used to only having a cell phone. 4 years later to today, I have 2 roommates and we each have a cell phone--our jobs all require us to be reachable 24/7. Besides, a single land line is difficult to deal with between 3 completely independent 22yo's... So while a land line has many advantages, only having the cell phone is really the better option for my roommates and I, and I'll likely stick to this policy for a long time.

[Sam Martian]

cell phones are better than line land

sam

[renewableenergy2]

Unauthorized Charges on Your Local Phone - Utility Bill?
How to Find Them, Eliminate Them & Get Your Money Back!
If your business still gets its phone service through the old "AT&T and Verizon, etc" local phone company (as opposed to one of the newer competitive phone providers) then you need to double check your phone bill each and every month for charges you did not authorize. You may not know it but the local phone company allows other companies to bill you through your local phone bill. And while the local phone company allows other businesses to bill you through your local phone bill, the local phone company does not verify that the charges being billed to you by the other company are valid. When these unauthorized charges fraudulently appear on your phone bill it's called "cramming". Unfortunately you as the business owner or manager are the only one that can spot the unauthorized charges and if you don't comb over your bill every month to spot these unauthorized charges - you'll pay for them.
Why does the local phone company allow other companies to pass charges onto your phone bill? "Third-party billing" is supposedly a great convenience in that you only have to pay one bill instead of separate bills for obvious authorized phone related charges like yellow-page advertising in the "real yellow pages", 411 information calls and long-distance calls from your chosen long distance carrier. Over the years though, some less-than-scrupulous companies have realized that most businesses rarely scrutinize their local-phone bills. To take advantage of this, these companies have come up with elaborate schemes to place
unauthorized charges on your phone bill that you'll end up paying for without even thinking. Unauthorized
charges you can end up paying for include charges for unwanted (and unused) email accounts, web sites,
directory information calls, directory advertising in obscure publications, voice mail accounts and other
services.
In theory, before these charges can be placed on your phone bill, the company that is originating the third-party billed charges is supposed to have a verification of the order like a voice recording. In reality though,
all the company needs to do to initiate the charge is submit your name and phone number to the billing
entity. The verifications are only required to be produced if a complaint is filed.
To prevent these charges from appearing on you business phone bill it's helpful to understand the four
parties that make unauthorized third party phone charges a costly reality. Party number one is any
employee who can answer your business phones. The unauthorized charge is rarely random and it usually
happens after one of your company employees gets a telemarketing call. Employees should be instructed to
document and report any overly aggressive telemarketing calls they receive. Party number two is the
telemarketing company that originates the unauthorized charges by trying to get your employee to accept
some service for which you'll be billed through your local phone bill. Party number three is the third-party
billing company that has billing agreements with your local phone company. The name of the third-party
billing is the one that is prominently displayed on your phone bill. After the third-party billing company's
name is the name of the company that is originating the unwanted charges. Party number four is your "former Ma Bell" local phone company that collects the unwanted charges (keeps a share for "Ma") and then passes the rest to the third-party billing company (who keeps a big share) and then passes the balance on to the company that initiated the unwanted charge.
Following are some of the top third-party billing names and unauthorized charge originators you'll find on
your phone bill. If you see these names on your phone bill you'll want to call the toll free number listed next to the charge to confirm it's a charge that's been properly authorized to be placed on your bill. Following are actual examples that we've recently found while auditing business phone bills.
We recommend customers should review any utility bills issued by deregulated utility companies. (In most instances today, consumers are paying higher charges to the deregulated gas and electric supply companies).
All Utility - Energy, gas, electric and water bills should be reviewed for proper reading and tariff.
If you suspect that you have been overcharged ask for detailed explanation and or file a complaint with your State Utility Commission.
Compiled by: Jay Draiman, Utility Auditor

[sandyandry]

We have both land line and cell phones, we use landline phone when at home and cell phones when we are out. It will be better if we have both the options because if one is not working then other will be their for help.

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Personal finance tools

[GrimJack]

I had cell phones from '87 to '99 - getting emergency calls during hurricanes and having to go in to work was just too much. Stuck with land lines until DW and I drove to WI - we got a couple of those Net10 phones 'just in case'. DW now thinks she wants to keep hers, I have not decided yet - I have to buy more minutes within 90 days or I lose the number. I like having a landline, the phone gets power from the line so the phone still works when the power is out. We don't have cable so I use DSL.

[croland]

I currently only use cell phones, but we (My wife and I) are looking at getting a land line as well. The reception in our area is off and on, so the stability of a land line is what we are after. We will still keep our cell phones though.

[graceful]

I cut my home land line and saved the $20+ monthly charge because I never used it. DH & I both have cells. Mine never leaves my side. Every one who calls us, calls our cells directly.

We cut the land line about 3 years ago - it took us about 5 years to finally get around to doing it. Cell phones got absolutely no reception during black outs and brown outs and NYC got both in the last few years.

Also, we couldn't forget 9/11. There was no way to contact anyone on the cell phones during that time.

I also didn't want to give up my home number - that is the one that all the doctors and the kids' school and teachers had.

But my parents live in the same building and my office is also in the building where I live and there are land lines there. Worst case scenario for ME is I walk over to use the land phones there.

I had the cell company transfer my home number to my cell phone to keep it.

It's been over 3 years and I can't tell the difference but that is because I never used my land line for years before to begin with. I just had it in case of emergencies.

Every situation is different. I know some people who can't get reception for their cells at home.

[gk advocate]

Same goes with me. The flexibility of a cellphone is what i like most..

QUOTE=januarymarch;90180]I am all cellphone all the time. Sometimes I realized I've actually forgotten completely that landline telephones exist. They look as strange to me as one of those desk top clunkers from the 40's.[/QUOTE]

[pollock]

Saving Advice

I currently only use cell phones, but we (My wife and I) are looking at getting a land line as well. The reception in our area is off and on, so the stability of a land line is what we are after. We will still keep our cell phones though.