If we disconnect service, the line is disconnected from up the street, not from our house. Basically, this makes our home line dead. It is useless. We also discussed this with the phone company one time when we were considering disconnecting. Our local firemen came to a homeschool meeting to discuss safety and shared the same information. Around here people need a landline if they want 911 to trace their call in an emergency. If we were able to call 911 by simply plugging in a phone to the jack, I would do it in a heartbeat.
Ours is about $280 for a family of four. I coupon, and shop the sales, so it is easier than it sounds. (And yes, this includes soaps, household items, and paper products.)
I spend around $200-$250 a week on groceries for 6 of us (my MIL lives with us). I do try to use coupons and shop at Aldi, but Trader Joe's gets more of my food budget than I care to admit!
The more I read this thread, the more I am convinced that I am living in the wrong state. lol My monthly food "budget", which I already shared I do not have, doesn't even include our gas. I guess in the end, it is all relevant.
That's funny! If this is the case, my budget comes with A LOT of gas. As long as Handsome is around town, there is no getting around it! lol
About 1000 dollars a month, Canadian... so, 250 a week? We don't eat out much, and I look for sales. I'm typically feeding 5 or 6, depending on who's living with us at the moment. That's just food and household stuff, not gas or anything like that.
For the 5 of us (2 adults, 2 teens, 1 tween) it's $400. I've recently decided to up that to $600, though. I want to start buying lots more healthy snacks, more organic stuff, and more whatever-we're-in-the-mood-for without worrying. I put $300 in the grocery envelope every 2 weeks and try to spend only $150/week.
We spend approximately $250 per week for a family of four. This includes all toiletries and household products, just about everything except gas. I know that I could cut that down alot if I were to not buy nonessential items (such as fruit-roll ups, granola bars, etc..). We are on the road most of the time so I can't stock pile like I do at home so I do tend to spend a little more. Patty - Other than Winco we would go to Grocery Outlet when in Ca. They often had great deals. We loved the ice cream that we could get for $1.50 for Dreyers. They don't have everything but it is a great place to stock up on the items I normally wouldn't buy because they were out of the budget. I'm not sure if they are by you, we went to one alot in Visalia and we missed it then when we moved to Acton - none there.
I never heard of Grocery Outlet. We do not have any around us. I usually shop at Winco. I really like that I can buy in bulk.
Yeah, I think that's true everywhere, but there are other 'emergencies' that bother me. Like my elderly parents being able to get a hold of me, or me being able to get them. My mom drives late at night sometimes and my dad drives a delivery truck 5 days a week, so I worry about them being in a wreck, etc... You can also dial 911 from cell phones that don't have service as well. I know this for a fact because my son was playing with an old cell phone, hadn't had service for MONTHS. It was charged up though and I had no idea, he accidentally called 911 from it! LOL
Rachael babysat for a family without a land line. They actually bought a cheap TracPhone for her, because they didn't want her there without a phone in case of an emergency. They bought just enough minutes to make it useable, and then when she finished babysitting, they told her she could keep it and add minutes to it when they ran out. That worked well, because she had just begun to drive, and I was telling Carl we needed a second TracPhone for her to use driving, etc.
When Ems starts driving we will get her a TracPhone. I think it is needed in this day and age. I just read an article that said that no California home without a landline can call 911. This is why the CPUC funds the program known as The California LifeLine. It offers low cost monthly payments, or actually helps to fund landlines for people who qualify. One of the other reasons I like having a landline is for reverse calling. I know some areas allow cells to sign up to receive emergency texts but it isn't everywhere. We recently had an armed criminal up the street and the police were chasing him on foot. We received a reverse call from 911 letting us know to stay indoors and lockup all the doors and windows. It does come in handy. But, yes, it is an extra expense. I guess people have to weigh whether they feel it is necessary or not.
Never heard of the reverse 911 call before. I'll have to look into that. Thanks for posting. We bought our kids each a Tracfone and we put a few minutes on it and they buy the rest. The have learned a lot about budgeting, let me tell ya. :lol:
You are welcome. It really is a neat system. I guess 911 can punch in a certain area from a portion of the city to just a few houses and only the houses in that area will receive the call. Usually it is a recording. Only once, that I can remember, it was an actual dispatcher. She asked us please check our out buildings. They were looking for a little boy that was last seen next to our house.
