I'm a Cheapskate Continued

It's no secret that I enjoy a good bargain when it comes to technology. While my pursuit of bargains is mostly motivated by wanting to save money, for me, being a cheapskate is as much about remaining aware of what I consume as it is about finding a good deal. A perfect example is Jenny's and my phone usage, both home and cell. We use to pay for a land line and also had two cell lines with US Cellular. All totaled together, we were paying over $100 per month for phone service. We never used all of the allotted minutes on our cell plan. Likewise, we hardly ever used our land line but felt we needed to keep it for 911 (depending on a call center's system in-bound 911 calls cannot always be traced to an exact cell location) Bottom line, we were paying for stuff we were not using. Below, I've noted a couple changes we made to our phone usage that saves us a ton of money and actually provides us with more, and better, service. These changes meant some upfront cost but they will definitely yield long-term savings and best of all, we are not tied to contracts.

1.) We purchased an "Ooma Phone" 
Ooma enables your home phone to work using your internet connection. It's a little box that your existing home phone plugs into and then connects via Ethernet cable to your router. You are then able to make and receive phone calls using your internet connection. This type of calling is called Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP or Voice Over IP).

The Ooma device normally costs $230 but Best Buy and Amazon usually have them on sale for less than $200. After it is hooked up you only pay a federal telecommunications tax of roughly $3 to $5 per month. The service itself is free and it is not contracted. All of the features phone companies like to charge extra for like call waiting, long distance, caller ID etc... come free of charge. They do charge extra for international calling but at a very reasonable rate (2 cents per min. to Canada). Your account is manageable online so you can set up the $3 monthly fee to automatically charge your credit card. Best of all, your address remains on file for 911 calls, meaning phone companies now have no advantage over Voice Over IP systems. I was skeptical at first that so much could be offered for so little of a cost but believe me, we've had it for 6 months now and it is as good as it sounds. I found out about Ooma through Consumer Reports and several of my friends and relatives now have their own Ooma systems too.

Some Cons: It cost $200 and it was kind of a pain to hook up and get my number ported. If you use multiple handsets I recommend getting a phone that has a main base and comes with other hand sets that only require being plugged into a regular wall outlet. Also, they do a kind of sneaky thing when you set up your account by automatically starting you with their "Ooma Premier" package that gives you additional features you don't really need at an extra $10 per month. I had to opt out to make sure I was not being charged for "Ooma Premier". This being said, I feel the pros of Ooma definitely out way the cons. We've had it hooked up for 6 months now and only pay $3 per month for a pretty rocking home phone setup. 

2.) We've also changed our cell phone provider. We had been paying US Cellular for 2 lines at about $42 per line. After getting sick of that we got Tracfones which are pre-paid cell phones. We have been using our Tracfones for 4 years now with pretty decent results. While they seem under-equipped when compared directly to a smart phone, they get the job done and only cost $10 a month per line. For that we've been getting 100 minutes for each line monthly. More minutes can be added anytime if you run low and Tracfone does support text messaging as well as some really basic web browsing and e-mail. The phones themselves only cost $10 to $40 depending on the model you choose and can be purchased at Target (qwerty keyboard and touchscreen phones are available).

We found that having Tracfones in conjunction with a land line (Ooma), worked pretty well. It has forced us to be conscious of the amount of time we are on our cell phones and the savings is really phenomenal compared to what we had been paying US Cellular. The drawback to Tracfone for us has been the lack of apps and that the web browsing and e-mail are very limited. To accommodate for these shortcomings, I purchased an i-touch and after installing a couple "telephone/texting" apps, I found I was basically able to use my touch as a smart phone when connected to a hot spot. So, for two years now, I have been using my i-touch in conjunction with my Tracfone to essentially have a smart phone at very low cost. This unfortunately means I do have to carry two devices and have two numbers but I have found it really isn't too bad. I just think of the money I'm saving and it seems worth it.

Now, the really awesome cell phone savings to report! Jenny and I have be watching a start up company called Republic Wireless since early 2011. They offer a smart phone that prioritizes using a wireless internet connection when it is available instead of cell towers ($19 per month / $200 to buy the phone).

Calls are made and received via VOIP while supporting e-mail, web browsing, text messaging ect. just like a normal smart phone. When you move outside of a hot spot, your phone automatically connects to their towers (they contract with, and use Sprint's towers). Here is the really amazing part, they don't limit your usage. Unlimited calls, data and text! They do however encourage their users to be aware of how they use their phones and ask that you prioritize hot spot use. Because their phones are able to use hot spots when available they can charge WAY less than the average smart phone plan. They do not require a contract, you can keep your old number and cancel anytime. So Republic Wireless let's you do exactly what I'm doing with my touch and Tracfone but with one device and one number. Jenny just received hers and has been enjoying it quite a bit. I will be getting one soon.

The Cons: The upfront cost of $200 is a little tough to stomach. Also, this concept is still in Beta so you're kind of left on your own if you run into trouble. The good news is that they have a very informative website and usually any questions you have can be answered if you're willing to dig a little. They do have a 30 day cancellation policy, so you can try it risk free.

So there it is. We were paying over $100 per month for our phone services and now we pay about $40 per month. That's $720 of savings a year! I could buy a rocking banjo with those savings, or find another worthy cause to be giving it to!

Thanks for reading.