Here is what I currently pay monthly:
$31.35 landline
$121.37 Uverse & Internet
$167.21 Wireless - 2 lines unlimited + 2 new phones
With AT&T discounts does this seem correct or am I paying too much? Also, have other retirees kept their at&t service, or have they switched to less expensive competitive offerings?
Please serious comments only. Thanks!
As a management retiree 2018, I pay @ $7 in taxes for my landline. I have always used Spectrum for my internet because AT&T did not provide fiber in my area. I dropped AT&T Wireless when my contract was up because they ripped me off on a BOGO offer, and forced me to pay for both phones and would not refund the money after admitting I was billed wrong. I now use T-Mobile for wireless with much better customer service. I pay $55 for 2 lines and $40 a month towards 2 phones purchase. I had to drop DirecTV because the charge went from $10 to @ $130 a month, could not afford it. Now I just do antenna, Amazon Prime and Netflix for @ $270 a year and use an antenna DVR. I found the ATT retiree discounts had no significant savings, I do much better with competitors.
Are you sure you're even getting a discount? Those sound like regular consumer prices. You could probably do better with a competitor, discount or not.
Just wanted to show how US prices are high vs other countries charge for basic service. When I retired I canceled all my ATT services and paid a lot less with competitors. Now my wife and I are traveling the world. So far traveling for almost 3 years and stayed in 3 different counties that are much cheaper than US, but after traveling which is great but, there is no other place I would rather live than in USA because of Amazon, Costco, Chick-fil-A etc... Unless I have major medical issue that comes up and I am healthy enough to take a 14 hour plane ride overseas. I will be treated overseas because I do not want to be in debt like 80% of American seniors are to hospitals like my parents and friends are now dealing with hospital lawsuits and collection agencies.
This is what we pay staying for 6 months overseas staying at mother-in-law 2nd condo fully newly renovated American style for free because she refuses us paying her rent. Normal rent she was getting was $450 a month. I pay all normal expenses for her. But when we leave at the end my wife will deposit $6,000 for 6 months’ rent straight into her bank account.
$6 per month with no contract high speed internet service with a new router. Per speed test I get 97 Mbps download speed
$12 heating a month for winter months (6 to 7 months) only because the hot water used for the water heaters in the building is generated by 3 different water heating plants in the city.
$13 a month Similar to HOA fees pays for building upkeep but without many rules.
$10 a month in Electricity.
$1.10 a month trash removal
$2.25 a month in Gas for water heater & stove
$4.50 a month water
$4 annual tax amount (That is correct annual not monthly)
$5 a month cell phone 4 LTE up to 3 GB
Bus, Tram & Rail all the same price 26 cents anywhere in the city but I am a big time spender and spend $1 to $2 using Uber for rides under 7 miles. Unless if it is far away $3 to $5.
Average American style clean restaurants not fast food from $5 to $12 per meal.
Dentist, medical and medication is almost 90 to 95% cheaper than US with a lot less hassle and US standard care & equipment.
Retired managment 2017.
50mb Internet $20
AT&T TV Now streaming, $80
6 mobile lines $250.
Now if you are over 55 T-mobile has best deal, 2 lines unlimited everything, $70 including tax and fees.
Multiple streaming offers out there depending on what you want to watch. You Tube TV is popular.
with retiree discount all internet up to 100mb is $20/mo.
You get ripped off in the US regardless of supplier.
It's the handsets and their ties to the Internet package that screws you.
I have 2 x 5G SIM only deals (having always bought handsets). Free international roaming in 70 countries, unlimited data, 4GB tethering, unlimited minutes and text for $36 a month for both.
Home Internet $30 for 50MB
Netflix 11.99
Amazon Prime 7.00
Taxes included.
We dropped our landline before I retired. It'd become little more than an annoyance with 2-4 scam calls/robocalls a DAY. We get FAR fewer on the cell phones.
We also immediately moved our cell service to T-Mobile's over 55 years old plan at $70 a month plus another $14 a month for upgrading to two new iPhone SE's on a special offer. That beat what I was paying as an employee, let alone what I'd have had to pay as a retiree.
Not sure what to do about Uverse yet since Comcast is our only other option and the cost is no better and maybe higher.
If you like your landline, you can keep your landline....
Seriously - I get it. I've had my home phone number for 25+ years and family likes calling that number and also calling the house rather than someone's specific cell
1) get yourself an Obi200 (wow, they've raised the price recently): https://amzn.to/2LefBNF
2) Switch your home phone to a google voice number
3) Connect the google voice to the Obi200 (easy to do)
4) You now have a "free" home phone
Add-ons: About $12/year to Anveo to monitor 911 from the home phone (worth it). Install google voice on your cell phone(s). You can now have your home phone ring on the home phone and/or your cell phones. You will also get your home voicemails in the google voice app
IF you want to keep your home phone, this is an extremely economical solution that works BETTER than the POTS line's hanging in your home
Landline?
Seriously?
Other than the "always on" feature due to diesel generators and battery banks in your local Central Office - what is the point of landline anymore?
I don't know about your situation, but I gave up landline when the only calls were sales people and robo-calls for some election. Everyone I care about calls my cell phone.
TV and Internet - I get 25 Meg from Comcast for less than 50 bucks a month. Just the wife and I so she gets to watch FoodTV and Youtube and I stream the local news station and PBS for free.
Cell Phones - you are paying a lot their sir. My two lines with unlimited data from Verizon runs me about 130 a month. True, I am running an iPhone 6s and a Galaxy Note 5 but they work for us.
Bottom line - you can do better - shop around sir.
I was laid off prior to meeting the 75 rule to retire in April 2020 and that's exactly what I paid for couple months as a non-employee consumer before I moved service to Spectrum and T-Mobile. Look else where, there are much better deals to be had.
you can find better deals outside of att. just look around you don't need any att service. you will get better service guaranteed.
I had to keep a landline because I am too cheap to upgrade to cellular connection for my alarm system ( I was lucky that a VoIP line worked with my alarm).
TOO MUCH. Find your cheapest internet connection with 50MEGS minimum (50MEGS will leave you plenty of room for your smart phone connections). Then start looking at streaming services. For me it had to have Hallmark to make my wife happy. If you still want a land landline port your number to a VOIP service (voice over IP). Prices for VoIP lines vary but are cheaper than ATT. You may need to price around to find all the channels/packages you want but, you will come out cheaper. Go get a Amazon Fire Stick at Target. You can use this with ATT internet to help figure out which way you may want to go.
Recommend you drop landline.... we did 3 yrs ago and have not missed it at all.... your inverse/internet bundle is competitive. If you want to save more go ROCU/YouTube etc route.