leopardprint Posted April 12, 2006 Posted April 12, 2006 Just a silly little FYI for you LDRs out there who plan on being in one for awhile! After reading an article about a man who was (wrongly) billed a $218 TRILLION dollar phone bill in Mayalisa we started wondering how much our phone bill would be if we didn't have this Verizon Wireless In-Network calling plan. See, since we're in a LDR, we spend almost ALL our free time on the phone and/or webcam and phone, if we're near our computers. I mean ALL our free time. Even when I'm out grocery shopping, or he's driving to work, or we're eatting diner by ourselves, we're on the phone. We both have Verion cell phones, and any and ALL their plans come with In-Network calling, meaning, if either one of us calls ANY other Verizon Wireless user (ie. each other !), at any time, day or night, any where, it's completely free; it doesn't even waste normal minutes that your plan might have. Since he's had the same cell phone since we met, we were able to check the "Total Call Usage" time in the Call Timer menu on the phone. We have a total of about 1950 hrs, that's 117,000 minutes in two years! I don't know whether to be proud or embarassed! So I checked my home phone plan, and we calculated that if we used our home lines to talk at this rate, on a basic home phone plan ($0.07/min long distant charges), we would have spent about $8,190 on phone calls in the last two years! It seems crazy, but then I calculated how much we REALLY have spent, and even though we're only paying about $45/month for each of our cell phones, together, it comes out to about $2160 ($45 a month for our cell phone bills (basic packages) at 12 months a year, multiplied by two to include both of us), together, on cell phone bills for the past two years. I guess it never seemed so bad considering it's paid monthly and separately. In conclusion, if you're going to be in a LDR where talking on the phone is a must, then make sure you get a good phone plan!! I recommend Verizon Wireless cell phones with the CHEAPEST packages (I think there are some for like $25/month - mine is $45 because I added unnecessary sh*t like txting, pix messaging, and I'm always downloading games and ring tones), because they all included free In-Network calling. I don't really know about any other cell phone providers or phone companies, but I believe other's have it as well, like Cingular. Talking on the phone and webcaming has been SO important in keeping our relationship healthy and happy. Sometimes when we think back to certain memories, we forget half our conversations were on a phone and not in person. Being on the phone/webcam makes it feel less like we're apart and more like we're still in each others lives every day! (Background: My boyfriend (lives in AZ) and I (live in NYC)) have been in a LDR for two years. Our first year together we saw each other every 3 weeks (yeah, we had money back then... key word "had" cheaptickets.com is your friend!), but now we only see each other every 2 - 3 months or so.)
Recommended Posts