How I Reduced My Phone Costs To Less Than $200 per Year

Yes it is possible to pay less than $200 a year for phone usage- and it's completely legal and practical. Notice I didn't write "cell" phone usage. That's because I use a combination of my cell phone and Skype to make this work.

Here's how it works: For $2.95 a month you can call anyone in the US (both cell phones and land lines) and talk as much as you want. There is a limit on the minutes but it's something like thousands of minutes- no way I could ever talk that much. For a small additional fee they give you a permanent phone number with the area code of your choice and you get voicemail just like a normal phone. The calls go through your computer so the computer must be on and your internet must be on too. If you miss a call while the computer was off or you were away, it lets you know when you get back online. I bought a headset and I call and accept calls like a regular phone when I'm home. I jumped on this opportunity because $2.95 a month is super cheap for practically unlimited phone use. And if I'm home, my computer and internet is always on so it's not like I have to take any extra steps to use the phone.
The second part of my plan was to significantly drop my cell phone minutes. Because I've always done the majority of my talking and long phone conversations at home, I could now just use Skype for most of the minutes I use. But I still needed a cell phone for the convenience of calling someone if I needed to while I was on the road, or if someone needed to call or text me about something, Plus I wanted a cell phone for the security aspect of having 911 available at my fingertips anywhere I am. After looking at all my options with T-mobile, I found the perfect plan. It's the prepaid minutes plan. I purchased 1000 minutes for $100 and got an extra 15% because I spent $100 and I have an entire year to use up those minutes. 1000 minutes divided by 12 months is 83 minutes every month. Of course I don't have to use 83 minutes every month and I won't get charged extra for going over that amount but that's the calculation I do to give myself an idea of how many minutes I should be using monthly. 83 minutes every month doesn't sound like much but remember, I do most of my talking at home anyway. When I'm not home is when I do most of my texting (which isn't much) and quick calls to verify addresses of places I'm meeting people or stuff like that.

If used the way I intend, my phone use will cost $135.40 a year (this doesn't include the small start-up fee for my Skype phone number and voicemail, it was something like $30). I've been using more than 83 minutes per month but not by much. Even if I have to renew my cell phone minutes a few months earlier than the year mark, I'll still be spending under $200 a year for phone use. I know this plan isn't right for everyone. Obviously, if you are addicted to texting or your friends are addicted to texting you (like some of mine are), then you will run through your cell minutes quickly. And if you have a smart phone and use it to go online, then this won't work either. But for those who don't need the internet on the go and don't need to text all day every day, this plan works great and can help you save tons.

(photo: david.nikonvscanon, flickr) 

Little Things Add Up

In our efforts to spend less and save more, we have started to limit our consumption and waste. I'm not sure how much these little steps have actually saved us but I have no doubt that they add up. Here are some of the things we're doing:

1) We make our own laundry detergent. I know I could probably get great deals on store-bought laundry detergent but I seriously doubt I'll ever pay around $0.50 for 16 loads of laundry. Plus home-made detergent is a lot less toxic than store-bought and since we re-using the same gallon sized Gatorade as our detergent container, we don't go through multiple plastic containers from store-bought detergent. It works really well and doesn't have an annoying scent. Here's the recipe I use modified from the one at this website: http://tipnut.com/10-homemade-laundry-soap-detergent-recipes/
1 gallons Water (hot)
1/2bar Soap (grated)
1 cup Baking soda

1 cup Borax

• Melt grated soap in a saucepan with enough hot water to cover. Cook on medium-low heat, stirring frequently until soap is melted.
• In a large pail, pour 1 gallon hot water. Add melted soap, stir well.
• Then add the baking soda and borax, stir well again.
• Use 1/2 cup per full load, 1 cup per very soiled load.

2) We reuse plastic baggies. I have just recently started doing this about 2 weeks ago after reading about it in a book but my boyfriend's mom introduced me to it years ago. I used to think it was kind of gross but I just realized it's not. I turn the baggies inside out and use a soapy sponge to scrub it, I rinse it then let it dry inside out. Then after it's dry I flip it right side in and throw it in the drawer. I'm not sure how long I'll wash the same baggie but so far they're doing just fine.

3) We make beans from scratch. It does not take any actual knowledge to make beans from scratch, you just follow the instructions on the bag. It's not labor intensive at all. You empty the bag into a big bowl of water and I usually cover them and let them sit over night. Then I'll rinse them and throw them in a pot full of water and cook them on low for a few hours. If you have a crock pot then you can leave them in there while you go to work. Sometimes if I'm feeling like I want gourmet beans I'll throw in a couple cloves of crushed garlic and salt but usually I don't add anything at all. Then we'll eat the beans for dinner and whatever's left over (usually a lot), we'll throw in little Tupperware containers with water and freeze them. When I know we're going to have beans for dinner, I'll take out the beans in the morning or throw them in the microwave to thaw them out. It's so easy and soooo much cheaper than buying canned beans.

4) I use the dryer to dry 2 loads at once. we just moved into a new apartment that doesn't have a washer and dryer. So we have to use the machines in the building. At first I noticed that the dryer was pretty powerful because one load came out super dry- much better than my last dryer. So I tried 2 loads and it dried those well too. Then I pushed my luck and tried 3 loads- this failed miserably. Almost everything was still wet. So now I know, 2 loads for the dryer. This saves us $1.25 each week. It doesn't sound like a lot, but remember, it's the little things...

(photo: the green field blog, flickr)