Money Easy way to save some money = cancel your home phone but keep the #

Ralphy Boy · 08-17-2010, 04:46 PM

and transfer it to a cell phone.

I'm sure some of you have done this and maybe there has been a thread on it before but, for those who don't know, I figured I'd pass this along. Posting it here since most people only go to the Lounge.

A friend of mine used to work for AT&T and I told him I was thinking of getting rid of our home phone and just getting another mobile, so he suggested I call AT&T and have our old home number "ported" to the new mobile phone. Basically you get to keep your old number and don't have to worry about changing your phone number of record with anyone.

Cost of the extra cell phone is $10 a month.
Our old home phone was $46.05 a month with all the features (caller ID, call waiting, long distance) and taxes.

Since a mobile phone has caller ID and voicemail built in, I didn't really lose anything other than the ability to have 3 or 4 different phones throughout the house.

Obviously if you use your home phone a lot then you might not want to do this.

Incidentally while I was talking to the customer service rep I told him I was thinking about cancelling my $33 a month DSL too and he said they are running a special on it for $14.95 a month for the next 12 months.

My total monthly savings should be $54 or about $650 over the next year.

Hopefully a few of you can save some green by doing the same thing.

Oh and your welcome.

tyton75 · 08-17-2010, 04:57 PM

I'll be the dick..

WE LANDED ON THE MOON!!!!

Ralphy Boy · 08-17-2010, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tyton75

I'll be the dick..

WE LANDED ON THE MOON!!!!

Naturally.

**Bugeater** · 08-17-2010, 05:29 PM

Actually this is news to me, I thought the portability thing only applied to cell phones. It never occurred to me that I might be able to port my landline # to a cell.

vailpass · 08-17-2010, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tyton75

I'll be the dick..

WE LANDED ON THE MOON!!!!

Haven't used a land line for our personal phones since 2005.

Ralphy Boy · 08-17-2010, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vailpass

Haven't used a land line for our personal phones since 2005.

So did you "port" your former land line to a mobile #?

With kids in school I really didn't want to have to change the records there, at doctors offices, our employers, banks and so on.

Half of the conversations we have can now be done or are done by text messages, so we can just shoot a message to the kids for when they get off the bus. "Text me when you get home and clean your rooms"

Most of our phone calls are made on our cell anyway.

Is there any industry that is more lucrative than communications? I'd lump media into that. With AT&T now so heavily into television, we were paying them around $400 a month between our home, DSL, mobiles and television, which is absurd.

vailpass · 08-17-2010, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ralphy Boy

So did you "port" your former land line to a mobile #?

With kids in school I really didn't want to have to change the records there, at doctors offices, our employers, banks and so on.

Half of the conversations we have can now be done or are done by text messages, so we can just shoot a message to the kids for when they get off the bus. "Text me when you get home and clean your rooms"

Most of our phone calls are made on our cell anyway.

Is there any industry that is more lucrative than communications? I'd lump media into that. With AT&T now so heavily into television, we were paying them around $400 a month between our home, DSL, mobiles and television, which is absurd.

Good on you. Landlines are a paradigm that most people have simply because they are used to them.
We have had our same mobile phone numbers for years and used them for everything anyway so didn't need to port our old land line numbers. Now that I think on it we haven't had a personal land line number since at least 2003.
Why would you need both land and cell?

tmax63 · 08-17-2010, 06:11 PM

What about those of us who have to drive up on top of a hill nearby to get reception?

58-4ever · 08-17-2010, 06:19 PM

People still have land lines?

BWillie · 08-17-2010, 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bugeater

Actually this is news to me, I thought the portability thing only applied to cell phones. It never occurred to me that I might be able to port my landline # to a cell.

Yeah me too, I couldn't even transfer my old cell phone # over to Sprint when I moved here in 2006. For unknown reasons. I feel bad for the poor girl who got my old # 712-251-9929. People were calling her for years and they gave her my phone # a week after I dropped it.

Param · 08-17-2010, 06:22 PM

Wouldn't the easiest way to save $ is to just cancel the land line and add minutes to your cell phone if you need it? Or if you're just dying to add another phone to the house, add a line for $10 bucks or $5 bucks on tmobile?

EDIT: see that my second sentence was answered.

**Mr. Flopnuts** · 08-17-2010, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vailpass

Haven't used a land line for our personal phones since 2005.

It's been longer than that for me. We got a good setup through Sprint with a nice little monthly discount. I have zero use for a home phone, but I do miss the ability to send a traditional fax. It's not worth the difference though, that's for sure.

We've mostly traded our money from a home phone, to the internet. Home phone service, like newspapers, are a dying breed. I wouldn't be surprised at all if within the next 10 years cell phone companies offer triple play packages much the way cable companies do now.

**Bane** · 08-17-2010, 06:34 PM

What are these "land lines" you keep referring to?

**Bwana** · 08-17-2010, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bane_58

What are these "land lines" you keep referring to?

The piece of crap Direct TV makes you have, in order to get NFL Sunday ticket. Freaken Dickweeds.

**jAZ** · 08-17-2010, 06:45 PM

If only Google Voice had in-bound portability.

08-17-2010, 04:46 PM
Ralphy Boy MVP Join Date: Aug 2001 Casino cash: $10004900	Easy way to save some money = cancel your home phone but keep the # and transfer it to a cell phone. I'm sure some of you have done this and maybe there has been a thread on it before but, for those who don't know, I figured I'd pass this along. Posting it here since most people only go to the Lounge. A friend of mine used to work for AT&T and I told him I was thinking of getting rid of our home phone and just getting another mobile, so he suggested I call AT&T and have our old home number "ported" to the new mobile phone. Basically you get to keep your old number and don't have to worry about changing your phone number of record with anyone. Cost of the extra cell phone is $10 a month. Our old home phone was $46.05 a month with all the features (caller ID, call waiting, long distance) and taxes. Since a mobile phone has caller ID and voicemail built in, I didn't really lose anything other than the ability to have 3 or 4 different phones throughout the house. Obviously if you use your home phone a lot then you might not want to do this. Incidentally while I was talking to the customer service rep I told him I was thinking about cancelling my $33 a month DSL too and he said they are running a special on it for $14.95 a month for the next 12 months. My total monthly savings should be $54 or about $650 over the next year. Hopefully a few of you can save some green by doing the same thing. Oh and your welcome.
Posts: 5,088

08-17-2010, 04:57 PM	#2
tyton75 Veteran Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: KC North Casino cash: $3698386	I'll be the dick.. WE LANDED ON THE MOON!!!! __________________
Posts: 3,336

08-17-2010, 05:29 PM	#4
Bugeater The Maintenance Guy Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Renovated Bugeater Estate Casino cash: $3992680	Actually this is news to me, I thought the portability thing only applied to cell phones. It never occurred to me that I might be able to port my landline # to a cell.
Posts: 70,546

08-17-2010, 06:11 PM	#8
tmax63 Veteran Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Colorado Casino cash: $453600	What about those of us who have to drive up on top of a hill nearby to get reception? __________________ An armed member of society is a citizen, an unarmed member is a subject.
Posts: 3,994

08-17-2010, 06:19 PM	#9
58-4ever The Collective Unconscious Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: The OP Casino cash: $9450422	People still have land lines?
Posts: 10,436

08-17-2010, 06:22 PM	#11
Param Veteran Join Date: Jul 2009 Casino cash: $10005218	Wouldn't the easiest way to save $ is to just cancel the land line and add minutes to your cell phone if you need it? Or if you're just dying to add another phone to the house, add a line for $10 bucks or $5 bucks on tmobile? EDIT: see that my second sentence was answered.
Posts: 2,173

08-17-2010, 06:34 PM	#13
Bane C.H.I.E.F.S Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: **** your face Casino cash: $10005055	What are these "land lines" you keep referring to?
Posts: 12,621

08-17-2010, 06:45 PM	#15
jAZ Supporter Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Tucson, AZ Casino cash: $9817493	If only Google Voice had in-bound portability.
Posts: 24,800