I cut my land line to bare bones service. I get 30 minutes of long distance included and a phone line for $24.95 a month.
We’re using a dial around (Onesuite) for long distance for $.02 per minute.
My older cell phone works, but it’s a dumb phone no contract for $.10 per minute. It costs about $9.00 a month and I can’t use all of the minutes.
They're a no-contract cell provider, been in business since '93, all calls ride Verizon's (huge) network w/o any other affiliation/obligation to Verizon (they're generally evil ;-).
Lots of different competitively priced 'plans' available (voice/text/data/etc), but I use the pay-as-you-go service:
* $10 = 100 minutes = .10/min
* $25 = 416 minutes = .06/min
* $50 = 1,000 minutes = .05/min
* text=10¢ ea .. pix=25¢ ea
You're only required to add minutes every 4 months, minimum of a $10 refill.
These days I rarely use the cell, so only spend ~$50/year .. if you're phone's mainly for emergencies, you could get by on the minimum $30/year.
They're based in OH .. the handful of times I've needed to contact them over the past three years, they've been prompt, courteous, and they've been Americans speaking English.
They'll also port your current # for free.
Along with printer ink, cell service strikes me as one of the great scams of the digital age .. this solution works for me, and I'm a satisfied customer.