Vonage...

Ok, so, any of you ever open your phone bill and gasp in disgust? Maybe it's just me... but it seemed to me that it shouldn't cost me $40 a month to have a home phone. That's just for local, with a couple of long distance calls thrown in when the rechargeable phone card went on the fritz. Our long distance calls were probably running about $10 a month on top of that amount. We considered cutting the land line and going all cellular, but at this point, that's more expensive than a land line, and I'm at home a lot, so no real cell phone needed.

We have a friend who has Vonage and loves it. I was skeptical. The people that I knew that had Vonage in the past had big problems with their phones. I would call them, and Vonage would regularly hang up on me in the middle of calls. Or the reception would be terrible. Or both. But it's been a few years since then, and my friend insisted that Vonage had definitely improved.

Oh my yes, they have. I am really pleased with this service. We got to keep our phone number, the router was very easy to install, and we have call waiting and caller ID included. We're moving into the 2oth century, baby! =) The reception is not quite as good as it was with AT&T, I won't lie, but its still good. For HALF of what AT&T was charging, I am perfectly fine with it. Something else chopped in our monthly bill!

One thing that David and are learning in our quest for more frugal living is that it's important to look at the fixed costs that you have every month and see if you can find a way to lower them. We did it with the car insurance, and that saved a bundle, and we did it again with cable internet, and now with the phone.

There may be something on your monthly bill that you wish you could pay less for. I challenge you, dear reader, to find it. And when you do, and you find a cheaper solution, comment and let me know about it. It may be something that I need to lower myself that I haven't thought of, but whether it is or not, I'd love to rejoice in your frugal victory! =)