Well? Is a cell phone a need or a luxury?

well its a necessity for dh and i, we don't have home phones!

Luxury.

We don't "need" on persay. We have one for emergencies when we go out but that is about it. People lived without them for hundreds of years....

I need one because we don't have a house phone. so in our case it is a need.

NEED!! But I don't have a home phone just my cell.

I need one because I dont have a house phone, and you can't get texts on your house phone and sometimes its the only way to communicate with DH.

luxury

Need. Its cheaper than a house phone for us.

we dont have a house phone & john & i share MY phone i got.. B/c Sprint screwed him over with his phone.. so its a necessity!!

ok well for me its all I have to keep in touch with where ever I am at and since i have a son and am divorced yup its a necessity for me ;)

we don't have a house phone. also - if something were to happen to my kids at daycare or elsewhere, i'd need to know

I need one because I dont have a house phone, and you can't get texts on your house phone and sometimes its the only way to communicate with DH.

yup

I feel like we need at least one, to take with us when we leave the house. If I were to break down somewhere I could probably flag down a stranger or something, but I feel like with 3 or 4 small children, that's not a safe idea, nor is walking down a major highway to the closest phone. So, for us, it is a need. We don't "need" the second one that we have, but we have it so that hubby can take one to work (I can not reach him on a regular landline and a lot of days he has our only form of transportation) and I can have one at the house in case the power goes out (we have VoIP so we don't have a phone if we lose power).

We have a very basic package though... the two phones together only run us $50 something bucks a month. So, we don't have frills, but we have a basic package that keeps us comfortable and safe in case of an emergency.

It's our only phone, my lifeline while he's deployed, and my planner. (I have a blackberry)
I'm insanely busy and I would never get anything done without it!

It is a need for me, because since I don't have a house phone it is the only way DF can get ahold of me.

we don't have a house phone. also - if something were to happen to my kids at daycare or elsewhere, i'd need to know

Exact same here...

It's also been handy for Ryan when we have had emergencies here.

We don't have a land line either.

need one because we dont have a house phone :D

need....no house phone and no desire for one anytime soon.

I think for the most part it is a luxury for us. The only time it isn;t is when we are apart from one another. Then I NEED it.

It became a need when dd was "running." It has been a life line between her school, counselors and whomever else became involved, even though I do have a home phone... Our home phone goes out ALL the time, due to crappy cable modem service.

I need one for peace of mind :D

Need. I have no house phone, I'm bad with directions, and it soothes me to have Andrew's emails always at my fingertips.

luxury i dont need one but i like having it for keeping in touch via text ect with everyone so busy all the time

A need for me. I have no landline.

we have a regular house phone but with so many people in the house we have 6 cell phones. i have teenagers so i require that they carry one whenever they leave the house. plus it free's the house phone . i have one but i normally only use it when i am at school or in the lab since we do not have a public phone available there. my husband has one because he gets confused sometimes when he goes out and so its needed to make sure he does not freak out. my brother has one obviously because he has kids and needs a way for them to contact him. and my brother in law has one in case of an emergency and to take with him when he goes to iraq later this year.

so it is a need instead of a want. i personally hate the thing.

I do not have a landline, so I have a cell phone.

I feel like we need at least one, to take with us when we leave the house. If I were to break down somewhere I could probably flag down a stranger or something, but I feel like with 3 or 4 small children, that's not a safe idea, nor is walking down a major highway to the closest phone. So, for us, it is a need. We don't "need" the second one that we have, but we have it so that hubby can take one to work (I can not reach him on a regular landline and a lot of days he has our only form of transportation) and I can have one at the house in case the power goes out (we have VoIP so we don't have a phone if we lose power).

We have a very basic package though... the two phones together only run us $50 something bucks a month. So, we don't have frills, but we have a basic package that keeps us comfortable and safe in case of an emergency.


:yes Same here. Up until about 2 months ago we didn't even have a home phone (long story as to why I had to get one) so that's why we had cell phones before. We also don't have a bazillion minutes, unlimited text, internet, all that jazz, we have a SHARED 550 min/month and my husband's phone is the free line on my contract, so it's cheap.

We NEED one if we ever want to leave the house, since DH can be on standby for as long as they want him to. (Recently they had a col. threaten to put them on 6-ring standby, which means no drinking or going out unless they have a cell phone, as they have to answer the phone and be able to work in 6 rings of the phone or less, for SEVEN YEARS, until he retired or left the base)

I think it really varies from family to family.

For our family it is a luxury. I am a stay at home mom so I don't need a cell phone because I am always home. If/when I leave it's only for maybe an hour or two tops.

But I can see how a family where both parents work or are very busy would need one for emergency purposes.

ummmn i say a need for us cause if i am gone grocery shopping and my hubs is broken down and needs me hell be able to get in touch with me.. or when my son starts school and im gone from my home hell be able to get in touch with me.

For me,it's a need since I don't have a house phone.

It's a need for me. We don't have a house phone and it's much cheaper to have cell phones. I love the fact that if my hubby is out at the store and I forgot to tell him something to get, I can just call him up. So much easier!

Need. We don't have a home phone and I need to be able to be contacted while I'm at school and my daughter is in daycare, in case of an emergency.

need, especially w/o a house phone

When we got them we didn't have a house phone, so it was a need then. Now it is more luxury and security. I don't leave home without it.

I'll say its luxury because I'm always home so we could have a house phone but cell phones are so much easier for us. Our family can call us any time anywhere and it doesn't cost them extra. With having a cell phone I always have it in case of emergency when I go out during the day and the kids are in school.

It became a need when dd was "running." It has been a life line between her school, counselors and whomever else became involved, even though I do have a home phone... Our home phone goes out ALL the time, due to crappy cable modem service.

That would piss me off to no end. I HATE when my internet goes out. Your internet goes out when the phone does?

I definitely don't need a cell phone. I don't even particularly WANT a cell phone. I pretty much hate my particular cell phone. I just feel a lot better knowing that if Adam gets into a car accident, or someone needs something and I am not home to answer the phone, we can reach and be reached.

Luxury.

I think the landline is becoming obsolete as is long distance. The only thing you would need a landline for is faxing, but many people use scans/pdfs in there place.

A cell phone is only a luxury if you consider a phone a luxury.


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Need.

To us it's a luxury, because we ALWAYS have a landline phone.

I think the landline is becoming obsolete as is long distance. The only thing you would need a landline for is faxing, but many people use scans/pdfs in there place.

A cell phone is only a luxury if you consider a phone a luxury.


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I SO agree with this statement. I mean humans did without land line phones for centuries also. So why is a "home" phone any more of a necessity than a cell......a phone is a phone IMO:hehe

I don't really NEED one, but I feel more comfortable having one when I am out of the house and my kids are at school. That way someone can contact me in case of an emergency.

I SO agree with this statement. I mean humans did without land line phones for centuries also. So why is a "home" phone any more of a necessity than a cell......a phone is a phone IMO:hehe

My fam did not have a phone from my soph year thru my sr year of high school because it got disconnected due to nonpayment. Only way we got the phone back is cuz we moved into my mom's bf's house and he had a phone in his name. It has since been disconnected because when my mom left him she left him with a huge bill cuz she hadn't paid it.

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For me it is a need only when I am going to & from work- that hour drive on country back roads isn't the best & I feel a lot safer with it. For DB it is such a need that he has had to come home from work to get it. His position as platoon SGT means he is supossed to be accessible all the freakin' time so his 1st SGT is very particular about it. Makes me wonder what the Army did before cell phones!

Your mama is a class act Tonya. :wow

I depend upon my phone for everything. I talk w/ my future roomies all the time. Txting is a way of life now... a way to keep in contact. Also I am never home it is the best way to reach me. I always have my cell... idk never considered it a luxury

Need. I have used mine 2x in car accident situations.

Once in horrendous weather in the middle of the intersection. I could not have left my car to find a phone.

That would piss me off to no end. I HATE when my internet goes out. Your internet goes out when the phone does?

Our home phone is through AT&T, it's like a VoIP thing, similar to Vonage. Basically, if your power or internet go out, your home phone does also. The plus side to this is that the phone service costs significantly lower... so if you have a cell phone as a backup phone, it's really not a bad idea. However, if you have a phone like this, you definitely need a backup phone, IMO. Our power went out last week (happens weekly usually :lol ) for around 5 hours, hubby had the van and I had no way to get in touch with him if an emergency happened b/c I had forgotten to charge my cell phone. Not a good feeling, considering all of my neighbors work all day long...

These days it has become almost a necessity between travel, kids, etc. I know where my kids are all the time and have a way to keep in touch with them. We travel so much that we have something in case there is an emergency on the road as well.

For awhile we just had our cell phones so our families could call us on a local number and not pay for the long distance to call our house.

Now we need them because it's the only way to reach my husband while he's at work-through texting. And he needs it so his Marine's can contact him in the case of an emergency.

well its a necessity for dh and i, we don't have home phones!

what she said.

we don't have home phones.. we were trying to decide whether we wanted a house phone or cellphones, and we decided cellphones because i go out with my girlfriends a lot and he needs to be able to get a hold of me. :]

plus, he drives a reallly old car and i like him to call me when he gets to work so i know he got there safe.

I think it is both, but more so a luxury.
I need it incase anything happens to me, or my family needs me. I need it to keep in touch with DB.

Then on the other side, it's just great to have!

That would piss me off to no end. I HATE when my internet goes out. Your internet goes out when the phone does?

Yes, it is REAL pain in the ass.. The cable company says it is with their service provider and they are working on finding a new one.... I can hear whom ever is talking, but they can't hear me. This is our only choice where I live and the don't over DSL through the regular phone company in our area.

I don't NEED one but I like to have one cause you know when you don't have it you will need it when you less expect it :lol
We don't have long distance at home and talking with my family is included.

Pretty much a necessity. I'm not home all the time, I'm at work most of the day, but then I'm in and out of my office, so if anyone want to get in touch with me at all during the week, the only way is through my cell phone.

It's more of a Luxury for me because I do have a house phone, But I do most of my talkn on my cell phone...

I don't have a house phone because in the long run, there's no point to it. Hubs and I rarely GET calls other than his work and random friends for me. We text (unlimited text YAY) more than we actually talk.

Our phones are our only communication line between our works and we're both military, so if we didn't NEED phones, we wouldn't have them.

I need a cell phone because of my dd's health issues. I need to know that no matter where I am, her nurse can reach me if something happens. We have no home phone, we never used it after we got cell phones, so we got rid of it. It is so much cheaper to talk to dh or my family across the country with a cell phone.

no home phone, in case of emergency when out with the kids,etc.

it is a necessity for safety purposes for dh and me

It's a need for me. Every day I drive back and forth to work/daycare with 2 kids, GOD forbid something was to happen to us, at least I would have a cell phone to call either a towing truck, ambulance or husband.

I need my cell phone so if there is an emergency, I can get a hold of someone.

for me my cell phone is a need. i dont have a house phone so that's the only way for us to talk.

df turned his off while he is in iraq...

but for me im never home (work & school) so if i didn't have a cell df couldn't call me and it would ring up a high home phone bill since my parents live in a different state. we can call eachothers cells for free.

We don't have a home phone, they've become too expensive with all the long distance we'd be racking up.

Plus, DH has been smoked to HELL for his cell phone dying once, because someone who was halfway across the base needed him for something. I even asked him, "Are you guys REQUIRED to have cell phones? What about the guys who can't afford it on the measly salary and have a ton of kids?" He just shook his head and looked sad. "I have no idea what those guys do."

I would say they are needs in this house.

I like the emergency aspect of it. There are too many freak shows out there to not trust.

its a new world...

i think we should do away with house phones...if you have cel phones why do you need a house phone? The cel goes with you.. the house doesn't...

Dh has a lot of TDYs... so whenever he leaves we use our cels... Its not a luxury. Its practical. We don't have a house phone, our families call our cels...

its a need for me, since I live with my parents and their house phone just gets calls from operations and collection agencies....everyone in my family has their own cell.....and mostly i need it because DF in Iraq.

I think for us it's somewhere between the need and a luxury.
We have a house phone, so we don't need it for that, but I feel like I need the cell phone for emergency and safety purposes when I am out, like if the car broke down or something.

Plus, I need to be able to be reached when my son is in school.

I think I consider it a need, honestly. But then, I consider the internet a need too. :lol

In the states it wasn't a luxury because we didn't have a landline. We only had one cell phone and we used it for everything. Here in Germany we have a home phone so the cell phone is more of a luxury. I could do without it. I don't use it much so it doesn't matter either way.

We don't have a home phone. I have health issues and if I need help on the go, I HAVE to have the ability to call for help. Also, I have 4 children and I will NOT be caught stranded with them. :shame It was a luxury that with time a cost effectiveness has become a need.

I havent been able to have a home phone in 6 years because I move soo much and it was too much of a hassle. plus my friends didnt have long distance and neither does my mom so I got a local number so that no matter what they could call me in emergency.

definitely a need. we don't have a home phone, dh needs his for work, etc.

well its a necessity for dh and i, we don't have home phones!

Ditto

It is a need for us. I do a LOT of driving, and so if I broke down, I need a way to get help because I would probably end up hiding under my seat if someone tried to stop and help me. It is also a way that I can keep in touch with my family and they can reach me incase anything happens or they need something

We don't have a house phone either. If I'm going to pay for a phone, might as well pick one that goes everywhere with me.

Plus it helps a lot with travel for my job and work... it's a need to me. I'd go crazy without one and lose a lot of production (and possibly be lost all the time).

Need, It does double duty as my home phone and my work phone.
Wish I could get rid of it, ,and go back to a alpha-numeric pager, and NO phone.

we NEED one, we do not have a house phone because we honestly never used it once we all got cell phones

Need. We do not have a landphone because A) for a while, cell phones were the ONLY way to talk with each other B) it makes it easier to call home to family and C) we never have to worry about communication... Andrew can still keep in touch during the day at work, either to let me know when he will be home or to ask if he needs to bring anything home... or just to say he is going crazy :giggle

I am sure we could survive without our cell phones, but it would make life a lot more stressful so I am saying it is a need :)

I NEED my cell. People lived for hundreds of years with out indoor plumbing and i would would think that most would agree that it is a necessity.

We do have a house phone. I have 2 cell phones, a blackberry for work which is necessary since I'm client based and don't have a reachable landline and i kept my other one when i got the blackberry for personal. The personal one is a luxury since i could use my blackberry for emergencies. Just didn't want to tell everyone a new number. laziness is a luxury.

NEED! No house phone for us

I don't have one so evidently I don't need one. They do make life a little easier, though.

I don't have a house phone so it is more of a need for us in case DD's school or the youth center needs to reach me. I also use it for work related contact between employees and myself (we all have cingular mobile to mobile so calls are free)

Its the only phone me and DH have. I "need" it for when he is deployed, or car brakes down etc..

But I hate talking on the phone!

it's a necessity. It's the only phone I have, the only way to reach me half of the time...

We dont have a home line....

necessity. i live with my mom so i need my own phone line. 1 month down only 5 left till i move back to tennessee!

total need!! i run bands and hold concerts so im constantly incontact with people.

I would say it's a bit of both. It's a luxury to some extent, but as a mother of a two year old, I would feel completely lost going out without a cell phone. I feel like I need one in case anything were to happen and I were to break down or something. I would not want to have to get my son out in the 100 degree Oklahoma heat and walk.