So I am currently living with my sister, and I am going to be looking at a small 1 bedroom place. For $400/month I get all bills paid, plus free cable TV. In a attempt to cut costs, I have been thinking about cutting my Road Runner high speed internet and cell phone with Sprint and going with SBC DSL and land line. I have used SBC in the past and it might hurt a bit going from 7MBPS to 3MBPS, but for about $40 a month for internet and phone, I'd be saving about $150.00 a month in bills.
Unfortunately I still got like a year to go on my Sprint contract. And they charge some crazy fees when you cancel early. I have had friends who have simply canceled and ignored Sprint and have never had a single problem in like, 4 or 5 years, besides getting a bum rap with Sprint, has anyone heard any horror stories about not paying your cellphone contract termination fee? I don't want to accumulate more debt, but paying them $250.00 for no longer using their service isn't something I can just fork over.
ID:278031
 Dec 30 2008, 7:10 am
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Dec 30 2008, 7:23 am
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Soldierman
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They could put a negative hit on your credit report.
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BAD IDEA! Phones bills of any type go on your utility credit record. Unpaid bills after 3-12 months go onto your credit score. If you ever went to open up anouther account with a utility company, say elecric, you might end up paying a deposit of $300 easy. Not to mention when you go to open anouther phone line, they will flag collections at Sprint and you can have legal issues then, and sooner or later might get forced to pay not only your bill, but intrest on it.
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For phone, I highly recommend getting Skype. For about 5 to 6 bucks a month, you can get unlimited calling in the US and Canada.
A skype phone can plug into your computer directly, or you can get a standalone phone that plugs directly into your router for about 100 bucks. It'll pay for itself after 6 months (considering a land line starts at 20/mo). I've been using skype nearly exclusively for almost 2 years and haven't thought of going back. You can also get a wifi skype phone, and talk at any wifi hotspot. (The PSP 2000 and 3000 offer skype). A safety concern to keep in mind, with skype you don't get emergency services, like 911. I'd recommend keeping a regular phone plugged into your phone jack. Under US law, phone companies are required to keep emergency services active even on an inactive phone line. Same goes for cell phones that don't have service, you can still access 911. | |
Isn't there some weird requirement, like, you need to call someone else who has Skype or it won't work or something? I've seen it before and I'd rather just have a land line.
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Google it. I read an article a couple of months ago on how to properly "cancel" your cell phone contract without actually having to pay cancellation fees (there was some cheap workaround, like having someone else take your contract and get your service instead of you). If it helps, it was one of Gamefaqs.com's partners/affiliates/whatever that it links to on every page near the top right hand corner.
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Trosh Kubyo wrote:
Isn't there some weird requirement, like, you need to call someone else who has Skype or it won't work or something? I've seen it before and I'd rather just have a land line. Skype to skype calls are free. You have to pay extra to make calls to landlines and receive calls from a regular phone. You get a local (depending on your area) phone number for like, 4 bucks a month. And then there's the outgoing call subscription which offers unlimited calling to the us and canada for 2.95/mo. Like I said, you need to use your computer, with speakers and a mic to call, unless you get a skype phone that connects directly to your router. You can get a phone like this: http://www.amazon.com/GE-Skype-Certified-Internet-Standard/ dp/B000HZICCG/ref=pd_bbs_sr_8?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1230 706750&sr=8-8 My uncle has a similar phone and likes it. He's used it for about 6 months and has had no issues. One thing to note, if you're uploading something, your calls quality can be sketchy. If your router offers QoS this isn't a problem (just set it up). Otherwise, don't be torrenting when you're on the phone :P | |