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Creatively Frugal Phone Service
What creative strategies do you use to save
money on your phone services? How do you cut corners without
cutting the quality of the service you need?
"Almost all our relatives are out of
local calling area. So we learned long
ago to buy unlimited minutes for anywhere in
the
U.S.
We also use the voice over cable
provider, so our phone bill is under $30 per
month and we can call any of our long distance
friends and relatives and speak for as long as
we like!" ~ Jen
"I am
blessed that I have a phone I can use at
work for local phone calls during the
day. I know more and more people
are getting rid of their land lines and
solely using their cell phones. I did
that at one point in my life and one
time my cell phone did not work and I
really needed to make a phone call from
home. I then decided to get my land line
hooked back up and then shopped around
for lowest rates and signed up for a
basic, no-frills land line for the
cheapest rate. I also got rid of my long
distance service on my land line and use
calling cards (the best rates I have
found are on Sam's Club calling cards
but Wal-Mart has the next best rates on
calling cards). Also, my
husband has a cell phone he needs for
work that has unlimited calling on
evenings/weekends so, if we are home
together and I need to make a phone call
(local or long distance), I use his cell
phone. Since I only need a cell phone
for emergencies, I use a TracFone."
~ Victoria
"We
have cut our phone service to bare
minimum. We have no special features
like call-waiting, voice mail (though we
do have an answering machine.) caller
ID, etc. We only subscribe to local
service so we rely on pre-purchased
phone cards for when we want to make a
long distance call. In our area we can
buy a 99-minute card for 99 cents at the
99 Cents store. Hard to beat that!"
~ Danielle
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"I'm sure you will get
lots of people who have done this. Discontinue
your long distance service and just use a 10-10 number.
We make very few long distance calls both at our home
and at my husband's business so this is a savings for
us. You do have to check the 10-10 number changes
periodically to get the best deals and there is a web
site that gives you a break down of all the 10-10
numbers, (http://www.10-10phonerates.com/).
Hope this helps some one." ~ Mary
"I have used www.onesuite.com for
six years for long distance calls. The cost in the US is 2.5
to 3.0 cents per minute, with no added taxes or fees.
Subscribers sign up online and prepay an amount they choose by
credit card, then recharge their account when it gets low.
I suggest starting with the
minimum amount ($10), since you have to recharge at least
every six months to keep the account going, and if you don't
make many calls, you may not use more. The six-month rule
means you have to pay at least $20 per year to keep the
account going." ~ Lindsey
Editor's Note: Thanks to these readers for taking time to share
their ideas!
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