Saving Money by Eliminating Duplicate Payments on Phone and Internet

I finally did it.  I cancelled my home phone and internet for a savings of about $94 per month.  People might ask why I kept it so long and some may still need to keep theirs.  This adjustment to save on expenses is not for every household.

There are many reasons people would keep their home phone and not be able to make this move.  Families with someone at home every day would certainly have to think twice about not having a home phone available for emergencies.  When kids are grown or they all have their own cell phones, then things might look different.

Many people also consider the fact that they will not have 911 services in an emergency to be critical for their situation and will keep a home phone for that reason as well.  This would require a thoughtful review of your household needs to determine the best option for you.

For a single person who has an empty house when they are not home and who have both phone and internet with them through a smart phone or other mobile gadgets, the expense of a home phone and internet become duplicate expenses and may be unnecessary.  For couples who have grown children, having both mobile and home phone and internet may also be a duplicate.  The catch for couples or couples with grown children becomes a question of how to handle the expense of data plans and text messaging for the family as a whole.  Data plans will be looked at in a future post next month.

The key to removing the duplicate expense for a household is in addressing the need for internet at home since email, movies, games, television and a host of other services may rely on internet.  Paying $65 a month for internet for the home becomes a duplicate expense if your mobile internet can be made available for your home devices with no increase in cost or a small increase relative to the cost of the home internet.

For example, a mobile Wi-Fi unit from T-Mobile allows for unlimited data usage and provides internet for up to 5 devices at a time.  That would cover 2 cell phones at home, and 2 computers and still have room for 1 e-reader, Wii device, or other gadget.

Two Cautions and Considerations:

1. Data Usage Levels

Mobile Wi-Fi units can be limited in the monthly data usage allowed or unlimited.  In the case of the T-Mobile unit, the data usage is unlimited so there are never any overage charges.  However, the speed of the data is reduced after reaching data usage of 2Gig or on a more expensive package 4Gig or more.  The lower speed will not likely affect your email or internet browsing, but may cause some slowness to streaming television or movies.

1. Internet Needs away from home

Mobile Wi-Fi units can replace home internet and be taken on the road.  This is a great benefit when removing the duplicate expense, but can be a problem if the Wi-Fi is shared between members of your household who need to take their own Wi-Fi internet with them away from the house.  A small data plan on the smart phone maybe sufficient to resolve this, but you will need to evaluate the usage of all of your internet devices as a whole.  In some cases, two mobile Wi-Fi units will still be cheaper than home internet and data plans on mobile phones and gadgets.

Savings:

$46 for removing the home phone and using only a cell phone

$48 for removing the home DSL internet and using T-Mobile Wi-Fi at home and away from home

Mobile Phone Security – Internet Scan Codes

You have probably seen those new black boxes that look like a square black and white maze on magazine ads, soda cans and any number of other product packaging.     These funny little boxes are called QR Codes and they allow someone with a smartphone to scan the code with code reader application that uses the camera phone to automatically pull up web sites on their phone.  So for example, as you drink your soda, you notice one of these boxes on the can.  You can take your phone and use a code reader application to use the camera phone to scan the box and allow your phone will automatically pull up the website using your web browser on your phone (such as Safari on iPhones, or MS Bing, or other web browser.) I even saw one on the back of a pick-up truck.  I question the wisdom of encouraging someone driving behind you to take out their cell phone and get close enough to your tailgate to take a picture of your QR code, but that would be another blog posts.

These codes are wonderful to use since they take you directly to the site without having to read and type those long URL website addresses.  Even nonprofit organizations, churches and schools are using them. While the are a great invention for ease of use, unfortunately they are also ways for some unscrupulous people and companies to take you to websites you do not want to go to and to also gain access to information on your phone.  There are always those who use technology in sneaky ways to take what is not theirs to have.

Norton Internet Security is a group of products produced by Symantec, Inc. for many years and they are one of the best known companies in the field of personal security for your computers. So of course, when it comes to protecting you from sneaky code readers — Thankfully, There’s an app for that!

Norton now has a QR Reader application for your smartphone that is FREE and will protect you from QR codes that may take you to unwanted sites that Norton considers dangerous.  This new application will block unwanted sites from being assessed on your mobile phone.

How To:

On your smartphone:  Go to your App Store and search for ” Norton Snap QR Code Reader “

The application is FREE and should have the Norton logo and company name ‘Symantec’ listed in the application information.

Install the FREE application on your phone through the application store as you do all other applications for this device.

Use: When you see a QR Code, go to the installed application on your phone and follow the directions to scan the code.  If the code is acceptable, the browser will automatically open and you will go directly to the site.  If the code is suspicious, you will receive a warning indicating the severity of the concern with additional options for you to consider.

You are the driver on your mobile internet highway.  Drive Safe out there!

There are other companies with similar applications that may work just as well.  I use Norton Internet Security on all of my devices and they have served me well for many years.  I do not receive any promotional benefit for mentioning this product.  Please feel free to leave comments and information of other similar products you have used and found helpful on this subject.