Dropping Land Line Phone

Most cell phone companies will let you add another line for $10 a month. You could leave it plugged in at all times on the kitchen counter.

I wouldn't drop it completely , what if you have a babysitter that doesn't have a cell phone.
Anyway you can get vonage for 25$ a month all inclusive. WE have it and have no problems

Do you have any old cell phones with their chargers? Even without a service attached to them (plan thru a carrier, etc), they can STILL call 911, as long as they are charged.

When we first dropped our land line a few years ago, I kept the old phones around...we have "safe spots", and 3 phones (3 of us in the family had upgraded phones)...and kept them charged. That way they were always in the spots the home phones had been and could call 911. The name and address were there too (package taped to the "safe spot" where the phone sat atop, written on a colored note card...911-address-our names).

I taught my own child.....and my older daycare chldren, where this stuff was and to read what was on the card as best they could.

Have you ever tried calling 911 on a cell phone? Its nothing like calling from a landline. You have to tell them where you are and it takes MUCH longer to get anyone to your location.
I had considered the same thing for the same reason, but 911 service is something I don't want to be without EVER.

We got rid of our land line over a year ago. I heard some states have laws that all phones must have the ability to make 911 calls even if they are not active for regular outgoing/incoming calls. Call your local phone company to find out. As for 911 with cell phones it is different but you can always put the police/firedept on speed dial on your kids cell.

Hi Mommyloveskids,
We got rid of our land line about a year ago. It was TERRIFYING! I don't know why, we just talked about it for ages, and finally got up the nerve to make the call! tehehe

I have three teenagers. Between the five of us in the house, there are six cell phones, 6 laptops, 2 desktops, jeesh! Communication overkill!

We have the cable bundle with wireless/digital cable/phone so it only saved us about $40 a month.

But MAN, that's $40 a month I spent for nothing!

We live in a suburban area and have excellent 911 cell phone service, so...

Yeah, I can't think of a single con!

(Whenever I have to list a 'home phone' for anything, I just use MY cell number.)

We know adults who have NEVER even HAD a land line!

:)

Your kids sound old enough to be able to find and use your phone in case of emergency. No matter where I hide my cell phone it seems my 2 year old can find it, lol.

We have not had a land line for at least 8 years and it has never been an issue. We luckily haven't had to call 911. It has been a great savings.

If you are reluctant to get rid of it completely at least look into something like magic jack where it is only 20.00 a year and you can still keep a real phone in the house. The only down side is you have to keep it plugged into a turned on computer in order to use it.

We got rid of our lan lines at least a year ago. The kids can run outside if they need urgent help and yell at a neighbor. We live in a pretty safe neighborhood.

We also get free wireless internet in my town so it's a huge savings getting rid of land line, dsl, and other stuff not needed to keep the dls cheap.

I haven't had a land line in years. And actually, with my touch screen phone, it's easier for my son to call 911 or my emergency contacts because my phone has picture speed dials. He learned at 3 to touch the picture, then touch the telephone symbol, and the phone would dial. Being a single parent, it was important to me that my son could use my phone as soon as possible.

If you drop your land line, maybe consider getting a touch screen phone, if you don't have one. It's a one time expense vs. the monthly charge. Or at least set up some easy access speed dials on your cell and teach your kids the few easy steps to calling emergency contacts. The other thing I'd suggest is getting used to placing your cell in one designated spot when you are at home. My phone is usually on, or near the charger, so my son generally knows where to locate it. If he doesn't see it there, he'll look in my purse.

We have the land line on the 911 emergency plan only. Its 4.99 a month. We have this service through Cox communications. Not sure what is availibile in your area but I would check it out.

In our area, wecan keep a land line for 911 emergencies only & it is free. You can not make any other calls nor can you receive any calls. Call your phone company & ask about it. In power outages etc... cells won't work in emercency all the time.

This is the reason we still have ours. I have a 9, 13 and 15 yo home but what if I have my cell at the grocery store, the 15 yo is at practice and my hubby is at work? We have a landline for them at home.

And if there is an emergency and your phone is not in your purse how likely are you to find it? Our two home phones sit on the cradle and we have had to use them. I was not able to think clear enough to remember where the cell was.

I personally would never cut off the land line phone if there is an emergency or something happens there needs to be a land line- non electric old school phone. We had a thing on out local news about it the last thing you should cut is your land line. Cell phones dont give the location they cant trace them back. I would cut out the cell phones first.

I wouldn't drop the landline completely. What if you & hubby have a date night? Are either of you going to leave one of your cell phones so the sitter can contact you in case of an emergency? Are you good at not allowing your children to play games on your phone & preserve the battery for emergency calls? Then there is the issue of locating you phone. Landlines are always in the same place. There's no digging in the bottom of the purse or looking on the kitchen, bathroom counter nor on the bed or nightstand for it. I would lower the bill to the cheapest plan to include local ( just in case you may need to call a neighbor) & 911. I know you will make the best decision for your family.

We have a landline because our Directv requires a constant landline but we also keep it because of 911.

I clean at a house and they don't have a landline and that bothers me during the time I'm there. If I called I wouldn't remember the address if something happened so the 911 operator wouldn't be able to track me down as fast.

Not EVERYONE has a fully charged cell phone with them 24/7. Mine started acting up Thanksgiving night and stopped working and took two weeks to figure out it was damaged and DIDN'T just need a new battery. Very frustrating when phones don't work and great when they do.

Don't do it. That is putting a burden on your children that they do not deserve. Not only will they not have a clue as to where the phone is, they will also be responsible to giving their location b/c cell phones don't give their location when calling 911.

If not too late... I added my land line to our cell bill for $10/month.

We happliy divorced ATT and are saving $75 a month. We use OOMA ($12 a year) which is available at Costco. It is similar to Vonage as a VOIP. It is very reliable but if the power or internet goes out, so will the phone service. It also forced us to switch over to wireless alarm monitoring.

You could get a cheap prepaid cell phone for your kids as a backup.

Good luck!

you should look into getting Magic Jack. you can still have a land line but it plugs into your computer. one set back is that your computer must always be on. we have 2 computers at home. One land computer and one laptop. Our land computer has magic jack, Itunes and is the kids computer for play. our laptop is for the adults only as it has finacials etc on it. here is a website
http://www.magicjack.com/5/faq/