Sweet Sixteen

Like a snowball rolling down the mountainside, this has started to gain momentum. Day 16 and the running total is $88.47. It's all downhill from here. One thing that hasn't been discussed too much lately is communication services. Yes, that means the landline. What once was a necessary item in the American home is losing its stronghold. I should know: I was the third generation of telephone employees. My grandfather retired from Michigan Bell (which started out as Bell Telephone back in the grand old days of the telephone monopoly), my father retired from AT&T (although it was SBC after it was Southwestern Bell), and I attempted to be the black sheep of the family but because there was a need to eat, I succumbed and worked for Verizon (I was hired by GTE, but my first paycheck was from Verizon).

Cellular phones were once considered a luxury and now they are extremely prevalent. When I worked for Verizon from 2000-2006, I witnessed first-hand the demise of the landline. For Internet services, it was just about the only way to hook up. It was first through slow 56K dial up modems. If you wanted the ability to receive incoming phone calls while you were checking your email (and boy, was service slow back then), you often had to have second telephone line. I know, because that is exactly what we did. A second phone line was installed so that my wife and I could be on the internet at the same time. That was before DSL which gave you the ability to be online and on the telephone at the same time.

Telephone service has come down in price as the demand has dwindled. Sure, there are less populated areas that only have a connection to the Internet via phone line. There are satellite services and cable services that allow you to do away with your landline completely. Whereas we used to pay over $100 a month for our landlines alone, phone service is now through our cable company and we, through technology, can have two or more connections to the Internet simultaneously.

Do you need to have a phone line? It used to be that it was for safety that it was considered necessary, but with the popularity of cell phones, most people have one and use it exclusively for their communication needs. I cannot recall the last time that I took a call on our landline. I never give the number out as I exclusively use my cell phone which has built in voicemail so I never lose a call. You may be able to save the money that you spend for a landline to help erase your credit card debt. You simply have to weigh the pros and cons. It may come to the point where the cons outweigh the pros and you find that it is less expensive to go with an upgraded cellular plan than it is to hold on to the landline. That is an individual decision, but when it comes to saving money, you have to take a hard look at everything in your life.

Until tomorrow, have a great day!