Comments on: Money Poll #16: Telecommunications Spending

By: Murano

Murano — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 13:04:20 +0000

In the UK companies are starting to lump together packages ie. mobile, tv, landline and internet all from the same service provider. It cuts down the cost on heck of a lot and is worth finding out about in your area.

By: Jerry Kindall

Jerry Kindall — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 22:39:48 +0000

Cell phone (Virgin Mobile prepaid): $5
Landline (SunRocket): $17
Satellite (DirecTV with TiVo): $50
Comcast Business Internet: $160

(I do get $50 a month from people for whom I host Web sites, so it’s a net of $110 for Internet.) So, $182.

The Internet connection is admittedly a luxury. I could easily get by with their 6/768 connection rather than their 10/1 service, which would save me a good $60 a month. Or I could host the sites somewhere else and drop down to consumer-grade Internet and save even more. But I like it the way it is, and it’s one of the few things I really splurge on.

By: Shawn Levasseur

Shawn Levasseur — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 15:02:51 +0000

If you aren’t using the cell phones a lot, you may want to look into Tracfone.

Most “prepaid” plans aren’t much better than regular cell-phone service. But tracfone tends to be a genuine deal.

Figure out what the tracfone would cost you over a year (because the best value involves the double minute/1year service card), and compare that to your cell bill now.

If you can live with cell phones that are just phones (no cameras or pda’s or other fancy gadgets, just a cheap $20 to $50 phone.) trackfone may be a better deal.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 22:32:43 +0000

Two cell phones-one’s a Blackberry (Tmobile), basic cable and cable modem (Comcast)= $200 a month. We don’t need a land line and we don’t want a million tv channels.

By: Debt Free

Debt Free — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 12:32:22 +0000

Many people get cell phones provided by their job, or else they would add 1 or two of those to the mix. Figure $50 per, and you get over $200/ month.

By: Miller

Miller — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 23:03:57 +0000

It might be good to distinguish answering for a household, family, or individual. I put my individual expenditure (60-80), but I have 2 other roommates who cut the cable/internet with me. And obviously, I think many people answered as couples…

Good idea for a pole, though!

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 21:17:41 +0000

It is interesting to me that so far the largest percentages fall into the $81-$100 and over $200 categories. I can understand the over $200 when you have cable, cell phones and dsl. But I am curious why so many fall into the other category.

By: Blaine Moore

Blaine Moore — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 13:48:29 +0000

Two cell phones: $50-$60/mo (a bit higher these past few months as I had to make a few international calls and some roaming calls)

Internet: $43/mo

No land line, no cable television bills.