Do you still need a landline phone? Check out these pros and cons that come with cancelling your landline phone service.
By Sarah Mueller, Contributing Writer
When we moved into our dream home, we decided we didn’t need a landline phone. We’d just use our cell phones. Now, 2 years later, this decision has saved us at least $640.
3 reasons to skip the landline and use just cell phones
- You’ll save money. Our old landline phone bill was at least $30 a month. We’re saving at least $360 each year by not having a landline. We’ve saved even more by negotiating other utility bills.
- Fewer sales calls. For some reason, we get very few unsolicited sales calls on our cell phones. It keeps the dinner hour a little more peaceful.
- It’s easier to stay in touch with people. With my phone with me, I almost never miss a call. Of course, always being plugged in is not always a good thing.
These are great reasons not to have a landline. But still, we hesitated.
Having a “regular” phone was just something everyone did! It seemed strange to not have one. There were other downsides, too.
Disadvantages to not having a regular phone line or landline:
- Your Internet bill might go up. If you get your Internet service from the phone company, they might penalize you for cancelling your landline. The phone company doesn’t provide DSL in our area, so it wasn’t an issue for us.
- Your cell phone has to be charged to be usable. In a power outage, a corded landline will still work. Our generator will charge our cell phones if necessary. You could also use your car to charge your phone in a pinch.
- Challenges using 911. Since cell phones aren’t fixed to an address, emergency services might have difficulty identifying the location of a 911 call (although most phones transmit their location automatically to 911 and the FCC says that 70% of all 911 calls are from cell phones). This means if you call 911 from a cell phone, you should tell the 911 operator your location.
- You need cell reception. If you live in an area where the reception is bad, you surely won’t want to give up your landline.
- You might want a “house” phone. Even if you don’t need a landline, you still might want a phone attached to your home. For babysitters or before my teenaged son had his own $10 a month smartphone, we wanted to have a home number to call. After some research, I found an easy solution to this need – we now have a “regular” phone that works through our Internet connection and costs about $40 a year.
Once we identified the downsides and solutions, we were comfortable not having a traditional landline. And it’s not just the landline that you can ditch.
Here are some other services you might be able to cancel:
- Cable / satellite service. We use Amazon Instant Watch (one of Prime’s awesome free features) along with Netflix streaming and some library DVDs. We’re never at a loss for something to watch. Monthly savings: $80+ a month
- Credit monitoring service. This service often costs $10-20 a month, but you can easily keep an eye on your credit yourself. Most credit card companies will alert you immediately to suspicious activity on your card. The FTC has information on how to get a free copy of your credit report. Unless you have special circumstances, you probably don’t need a credit monitoring service.
- Service plans and special warranties on water pipes, electricity, cable modem, etc. The electric company sends me a letter every couple months offering a service plan on our home’s wiring. Since our house is newer, I don’t anticipate the wiring going bad any time soon. I’ll just keep that $10 a month, thank you!
It’s easy to get into the habit of paying the same bills each month (or not even realize they’re being paid automatically). But if you take a look at each bill, you might find that some of them are no longer necessary for your family.
By eliminating bills like landline service, you can easily free up money in your monthly budget. And that’s a beautiful thing!
Rachel
We are not comfortable ditching our landline yet. We have 3 small children at home. In the event of an emergency, we don’t want them to have to find one of our cell phones, enter the passcode to unlock the phone and then have the presence of mind to tell the 911 operator our location if the cell signal does not transmit it accurately. Our home security system is also tied to our landline. A cellular security system is available, but the increase in the cost for that service would negate any savings we’d get from cancelling our $30/month landline. Knowing our kids can find a cordless phone and easily use it to call 911 in case of an emergency is more than worth the $360/year it costs us.
Sarah Mueller
It sounds like you’ve really thought this decision through, Rachel. We have a VOIP system for just this reason so our kids don’t have to deal with passwords, but we’re also working to make sure they can use the cell to dial 911 if it’s needed when we’re away from home.
Thanks for your comment!
Karen A Hanzel
Amen. I want a landline resurrection. I think we are missing something here in 2019 by dismissing this mother life-line, this CLEAR sound of communication–one that isn’t discombobulated by a humm…static…or a hot receiver ready to scald and ear.
I want the option…I want a clear sound that ONLY comes from a landline.
Karen from South Dakota
Francis
As a former 911 emergency dispatcher I can say for certain the cell phone does not transmit your location. It will give you the latitude and longitude of the cell tower you are hitting off of, but it will not give the dispatcher your exact location. Now, there are more advanced 911 centers out there than the one I worked at so I am sure their location services might be a little more advanced but mostly the location aspect has been romanticized by television. In Georgia, there is a state law that states even if you don’t have a landline you can plug in any traditional telephone and dial 911. As well with cell phones, even if your phone is “disconnected” you still have the ability to call 911. What you have to be careful with is VOIP, voice over internet phones. If you are in Alaska and you have VOIP and you move to Texas, you need call your company and have them switch the address on your account. I have heard of incidents where someone moves and calls 911 and it will immediately route back to their old address. I’m not sure if this is still a problem but if you have something like Magic Jack it might still be a problem. I do still have a landline because it’s cheaper to have it bundled with my internet and I like talking on a landline better than my phone :-). I will have to look into the Amazon Instant Watch. I haven’t heard of it before but we are Prime members. Thanks!!
Sarah Mueller
Thanks for all the details, Francis! I know we have our address entered into our VOIP settings and our cell phone provider has it as well. It’s great to know that so much is done to help make 911 available even without an active account.
Melody Maynard
Francis, it’s great to hear from someone else who’s worked in 911. I have worked in dispatch for a police department and 911 center for about eight months now. My husband and I don’t have a landline right now, but we have vowed to get one when we have children just because of some of my experiences trying to track down cell phones . . .
Francis
I worked dispatch for 6 years at a consolidated center. We dispatched fire police, fire and EMS. So many people would just ask me, “Well can’t you just track my phone?”. No sir we can’t, that’s only on T.V. People were so baffled by that. I always ask people, please, please know where you are at all times.
Victoria
We keep our landline for two reasons. 1. We have relatives that we talk to that live in Canada and it is cheaper with a landline. 2. Our children are old enough to stay home alone so we like having one really old style phone that has a spiral cord (ie…not cordless) so that they always know where it is in an emergency.
Courtney
We ditched our landline a long time ago and haven’t missed it at all! One thing I have noticed about the landlines being replaced by cell phones is that I don’t remember numbers anymore. I can still remember my home phone number when I was growing up! With our contact list on our cell phones we don’t have to memorize numbers. Lol!!
Becs
Fair call on the money savings, but with wee ones in the house, especially, we’ve kept corded landline phones.
Great for emergencies, but also good when our littlies want to call grandparents as there are no EMF issues with them having a cell phone up close to a relatively thin growing skull and brain. The jury may still be out on the risks, although more evidence is mounting as to the dangers – obviously just not from cell companies’ research!
Interestingly, cordless landline phones emit more EMF than cell phones; when I read this a few years back we ditched the convenience of the cordless handsets for good old fashioned corded… If the kids play on my cell phone or Nanna’s iPad, we switch them to flight mode, just to be safe – and if they ever do need to use the cell phone for a call, we put it on loud speaker mode, so their heads are not right next to the handset. I also try to use my cell phone on speaker unless more privacy/discretion’s called for – obviously depending on where I am. I now also no longer sleep with my cell in the bedroom at night – it used to be by my head and used as an alarm clock…
I don’t waste a lot of my time being paranoid, life’s too short! But I also don’t like to risk my kids unnecessarily over something as easy to change and as often used as the phone 🙂 What do you think? xx
Amy
I have been debating this issue in my head for quite some time. I just can’t cut the cord! I know we are not using the landline very much. Only a couple of people call that number. My cell phone is so handy! We are paying about $20 a month for the landline because of our internet bundle. Last time I checked the bill we only used 23 minutes that month. But my son is getting older. He has been left alone a few times recently. He has my old phone and uses a free texting app but it must have wifi to work. I’m not ready for a full functioning cellphone for him yet. My husband and I do not have data plans on our phones.
I tried canceling the landline a few months ago and the phone company offered to lower our bill and upgrade our internet speed. I caved in and agreed.
I guess the peace of mind is what we’re really paying for.
Gina
We don’t feel comfortable ditching the land line either. With small children in case of an emergency, we just don’t feel comfortable with just our cell phone. We do save money though having both by having the landline phone and internet with the same provider so it is a little cheaper. We also don’t have any fancy cell phones- just a prepaid phone that we buy minutes as we need them. For us, our schedules and life, it is not needed to have a smart phone.
Jenn
I feel really old for insisting on having a landline in our home. I like the peace of mind knowing I can be reached, or call someone, if something is wrong with my cellphone. Ours isn’t very expensive, and I’m glad we still have it!
Daniela
I am thinking about the landline because my cellphone signal is really weak and sometimes the call is just dropped.
Erin
That would definitely be a reason to get one! That is a safety concern!
Laycee
I would love to ditch my landline!!! But…I live in a rural town and the only way to get internet is through the phone company. Direct tv offers their service with internet but we just cancelled our dishnetwork service because we have an amazon fire stick. I’ve searched for a different way to get internet service and not having any luck, do you have any suggestions?
Carrie
I refuse to “cut the cord” and my family makes fun of me because of it. However, I like the peace of mind of knowing that I have a backup if the power goes out and I have problems with VOIP at work all the time. Disasters do happen. When Hurricane Katrina hit I saw people who couldn’t get any help even from 911 (that is also why I own a shotgun). If you believe the police/fire/ambulance will always be there in a disaster, you are living in a dreamworld! My children know that even when the power goes out, they can still pickup the phone. I like to put my cell phone away when I am home for the evening and the people that count know that they can reach me on my home phone. My husband and I are very active in our community and volunteer for many organizations and I like that my number is published and available for people that need my help.
Pat
My husband keeps landline for 911 and if power goes off. It’s worth the 10 monthly for his happiness and peace of mind
Mikkie
I murder cellphones like no other. So having one constant number that doesn’t change is a must. Plus I live in an area where the power goes out, it will stay out in bad weather.
LouAnn
I still have a landline and love the fact that I can have real conversations with family and friends. Cell phones have divided families. When my son was school age and his friends called the house, I knew all their voices. They were all very polite when I answered and enjoyed the fact that I recognized who was calling. When each family member has a cell phone, we lose that sense of community.
greengirl
That’s what I’m sad to lose, but it is mostly lost anyway with most people just using smart phones. I am strongly considering cutting the cord. I have heard that home phones plugin stations are like a cell phone tower in your home and I am trying to cut the amount of EMFs etc.
Jennifer
We’ve kept our landline, and actually have gotten rid of our cell phones. The landline is cheaper for us, partly because it is bundled with our internet/cable plan. However, even without the bundling, the regular cost for the landline would be $5/month cheaper than each of the cellphone plans we had. Also, the premise for having a cell phone is convenience, so it doesn’t make sense to have one cell phone for the two of us, assuming we were to have them, upping the price for the plans significantly over the landline cost. As for long distance charges, calling Australia and the USA is much cheaper by landline, especially when we tend to spend up to an hour playing catch up with friends and family. Finally, with our provider (Shaw), we do not play long distance within Canada if we’re calling someone who also is with the same provider as us.
Alicia
I want to go back to land line because cell phone company funds abortion and I dont want to fund the murder of innocent children.
But my hubby is a tech head and doesn’t want to go back to the old way of doing things.
So we have two cell phones and yes we have to give location every time we call 911.
Praise Yahshua for land lines!
Maybe I can pray harder and convince my husband we need one again.🙂
Sean
Good for you, Alicia! Are you aware of Charity Mobile? (https://www.charitymobile.com/) It is a pro-life cell company, and 5% of your monthly plan price goes to the charity of your choice.
Lynn Coffin
I’m a senior, age 86, I have a computer but only use it for email, FB & to look up a question about ‘something’ I need. I gave up my Trakfone during the Covid shutdown and don’t miss it at all. Cellphones are constantly getting more ‘n more complicated for someone in my position. My family is more comfortable if I have a cell phone while driving or on a trip which is the only reason I would have one. I just this week bought a new Trakphone, which, because of the unfamiliar lingo needed to set it up, my son had to get it activated for me; Also, I don’t like it that abortion is supported by the cellphone industry. I’m very healthy, active, and live alone, & I don’t “need” an expensive cellphone with all the fancy, complicated aps, because I never use them, except “maybe” the camera. If Land Lines are discontinued completely, it’s going to be a tragically bad hardship on the elderly, especially when we forget to charge them or where we left them last. Not all of us need to be in a Nursing home. I plan continue living at home until I’m gone. Thank you for the opportunity to voice my concerns.