Although I don’t consider myself cheap, I’m certainly aware of our monthly expenses and how our paycheck is being spent each month. We are a family of five on a single income and if we do not carefully budget our expenses and manage our spending, our bank account can get in a precarious position relatively quickly. Usually, on a quarterly basis, I’ll evaluate our monthly spending and try to identify areas where we can cut back on our expenses.
One area that has received some of my attention lately was our phone bill. I am fortunate that my cell phone expenses are covered by my work. My wife is currently locked in to a contract with AT&T and has the high monthly bill that is required of all iPhone enthusiasts. At one point we considered relying solely on our mobile phones and getting rid of our land line at home however, our cell coverage is spotty at best in our neighborhood so we’ve maintained a land line at home as well.
Back in 2006, we become Vonage customers and have been very happy with their VOIP service. At only $24.99 per month, it was less expensive than the traditional carriers and was certianly cheaper than the solution provided by our cable and broadband provider even if we did bundle it with our other products. Well, we recenly cancelled our Vonage service and have installed an Ooma Hub. You know the old saying that sometimes you have to spend money to save money? Well that is the approach that I have taken by adopting Ooma in place of Vonage for our Internet based phone service. For an upfront investment for the hardware (Ooma Hub), combined with your existing high-speed internet connection and home phones, you receive free calling within the U.S. as well as the other features I was accustomed to using with my Vonage service. Things like voicemail (including notifications sent via email and/or SMS messaging), caller ID, call forwarding, etc. Now here’s the beauty of it all; after you purchase the hardware, there are no monthly fees. That’s right. No more monthly phone bills. This means that for most people, the upfront cost of the device pays for itself in six to nine months. And after that, you are saving the equivalent of your monthly phone bill each month. Next year, we stand to save about $360 in phone expenses.
Although you can get the Ooma Hub directly from the vendor, I purchased mine from Amazon for a significant savings. It arrived in two days and I had it set up and working within about five minutes. It was really that easy. For an additional fee of $39.99, you can have your existing number ported over. It’s still too early to offer an unqualified recommendation but so far so good. After using it for a few months, I will offer a more comprehensive review. For now, I’m looking forward to not getting a phone bill next month. Now I need to figure out where to either spend or invest that extra $30 per month that will soon be available to us.
Are there any cost-saving measures or decisions that you have made lately that has had an impact on your family budget? Please share.
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