A Few Things…
In our ongoing effort to simplify things and cut down on expences, we have made a few changes I wanted to let you know about. The first is that we are shutting off the phone and are getting rid of the dial-up internet. After doing some research, I found it much cheaper to have a prepaid cell phone than a landline. I know, I know, Scott the cell phone hater is advocating the use of cell phones. It comes down to choosing the technology that is easier to keep the servant and not your master. We very rarely use the phone. Nobody calls me, I very rarely call anybody. We kept it this long simply to keep Homesteader Life and Leah’s blog going. It costs quite a bit to have a phone that you don’t use and we are trying to get rid of unneeded expences. I figure the cell phone will cost half as much to have and be handier becouse you can take it with you. Anyone who calls us knows you ussually get a machine anyway. Another plus is this, getting rid of the phone means we have to cut off the internet which runs about $20 a month. For the time being, I will keep the blog going by using my inlaws computer. It might take a little longer to follow up on comments and such so please bear with me. I have a plan to put free internet in my house using my inlaws wireless signal. Its a work in progress and might take a little while. I’ll keep the aol email for a little while and will let everyone know what my new e-address is when I get one. In the mean time, if you need to get in touch with me you can call our new phone at 315-350-9740.
August 24th, 2007 at 11:33 pm
Well done Scott
Next month I’m dropping to a package of 25hrs a month internet that saves me enough so that the girls can start riding lessons.
Not a bad exchange ?
I agree with you , if we are going to have this cursed technology around us for a while we have to wound it to such a degree that it cant bite us. That said a muzzled dog can still be a great watchdog!
August 25th, 2007 at 10:24 am
I left a few messages on your land line over the last couple of years that never got returned. I wondered why but I guess this explains it. Please let us know your cell # so we can get in touch with you. I have found the cost of the internet to be a bargain for what it provides. I would probably be willing to pay ten times what it costs me now to keep it, but please don’t tell my internet provider that. Where I live, the local libraries provide free internet access and I would probably use that if I could no longer afford to have it in my home.
August 25th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
I would be careful before switching to a prepaid telephone. I have one so my kids can contact me when I am in class in case of an emergency, and at 40 cents a minute the cost adds up. You may want to keep a log of all ingoing and outgoing calls to your home for a few weeks before switching, to make sure you really will save money. You pay for all calls regardless of who dials with prepaid.
The nice thing is you can take it without, although if you travel far it is double the price when roaming. Kudos to you for being ready to take this step.
August 25th, 2007 at 5:18 pm
Hi Colin
Always good to hear from you.
Hey Joe
Your not the first person to tell me they left messages that I never got. There must have been something wrong with the machine, hope it wasn’t important. The number is in the post above. Feel free to call, evening is the best time to catch me.
Greetings to the Biscuit Queen
I LOVE good biscuits
The phone I got is only 10 cents a minute all the time with no other fees. I very seldom make many local calls and it cheaper than what my old long distance rate was. I’m also making it a point to not make local calls when its possible to just drive a mile down the road and talk face to face.
Another note…..
I wouldn’t expect much of a change here on the blog. I’ll post just as often as normal. The inlaws and I could hit each other with large stones, thats how close we live to them. And my folks, which don’t live much farther, also have the internet. I’m not sure everyone realizes that my kids can walk to both sets of grandparents houses just by crossing pasture land. Its real “multigenerational hillside” It just seems like we can get along sharing. Getting my inlaws wireless signal will happen soon, then we will have it back in our house for free. Some folks have expressed consern that Homesteader Life was going to be going away, its not going anywhere, christian agrarian cunterculture will continue here as it has in the past.
August 26th, 2007 at 5:04 am
That is the way my inlaws are. Aunts and uncles (14 of them), several live withing a mile of each other, one couple are homesteaders, although they do not think of themselves as anything but plain farmers. I would love to move down there but my husband’s job precludes this. I am adopted and I always joke I am the love child of one of his aunts-I fit in with the family better than my own.
What phone plan do you have? I would love to switch to something more reasonable.
I like the face to face idea. I wish I were better friends with our neighbors, I miss that.
August 26th, 2007 at 5:07 am
Dear Scott,
I don’t usually leave comments, but I thought I’d throw my thoughts into the ring…
We are RV’ing full time now, but before we moved out of our home earlier this year, we got rid of the landline and went strictly cell. We have a cell phone with prepaid/card minutes, strictly for emergencies. We also have two cells on a family plan, which we made sure all of our family and some friends were added to, which ends up costing us a fraction of the cost that the landline did!
We also are hooked up to wifi- using hotspots, hotels, libraries, etc… for internet service. A simple $25 booster and I get a signal here in the mountains, where the forest canopy prevents us using satellite.
Just a pat on the back about cellphones…I reluctantly switched over, but see that the technology is now serving us instead of the other way around…
I hope you’ll get the system hooked up soon and keep posting!
Shalom,
Carla Lynne Klimuk
August 27th, 2007 at 7:09 am
BQ
Its called Net Ten. Heres a link…. http://www.net10.com
As far as it being cheaper than a landline…..It works for us, but I guess we use the phone a lot less than most folks. It sure beats te 40 cent rate you have now. Hope it helps.
Carla
Thanks for the comments. I’ve been following your adventure, may the Lord bless and keep you all.