How much is your phone bill?

[trinket 30]

Wonder if i should change to Vonage.

Currently I call through my cell and home phone by calling a Reliance Global Call number and then wife's India number. Cost is $1.99 a minute.

I use up about $100 a month just on talking on the phone. Luckily though we use the internet/webcam quite a bit too.

That's pretty high, try looking into airtelcall home, the plan I use to call my family in India is No rental plan and I pay 1.6 cent/minute.

[celticstar 2]

I think the card should be a no brainer versus an $800 bill!?

Absolutely!

Both of us were shocked by the amount of the bill and have stopped talking on the phone for as long now but I miss hearing his voice

My mobile bill is over £200 which is more than 200% more than I was paying before meeting my fiancé

[Sayha or bust. 71]

I pay around $350 to $400 dollars a month to buy minutes on my calling card, not counting $175 a month for my cell phone plan. We talk close to 5,000 minutes. We also chat on Video Skype. I don't mind because her english has improved alot since we started talking more.

Edited April 6, 2010 by Sayha or bust.

[tharnsur 1]

MagicJack

Hey guys, so I have spend some time trying to figure out MagicJack.

Some of you are using it, so maybe you can help me out.

1) Do I understand that right, that one of the two conversation-partners has to be at home, online with a landline, not a cell. Or would a cell work, too?

2) How much is international calling? They make it sound like it is for free, but then they have the list with the prices?

3) Can you call any phone , or only landlines and no cells?

Hope somebody has the answers for me

To use magic jack you need the following:

1. A computer with internet conneciton (DSL/Cable/T1 ect...). This mean that you're most likely use magic jack at home or a place where you can hook your laptop/desktop to the internet.

2. Magic jack connect to the computer. You'll have a local number. You can take magic jack where ever you go (national/international) and you'll still have this local number and you can make/receive calls to this number and it's like a local call.

Hope that help.

[celticstar 2]

Does the other person need a magic jack as well or does it just work off one?

Is it only to another landline number? Or can you ring mobiles for cheap as well?

This is definitely worth considering!

[Neonred 3,564]

My wife is here now, but she calls to her daughter in Russia almost daily, as well as her friends in Germany and Australia. I was lucky to find a cell phone plan that allows unlimited calls to 60 countries including the ones I listed for $5 extra a month. Works out great as she can call anytime even when we are not home.

[tharnsur 1]

Does the other person need a magic jack as well or does it just work off one?

Is it only to another landline number? Or can you ring mobiles for cheap as well?

This is definitely worth considering!

Magic jack is just like a land line number. You can make call to cell numbers, other land line numbers at no cost. As a matter of fact you can replace your current land line with this or OOMA (another VOIP service) and eliminate your land line phone bill altogether. Plus with magic jack, any number you called in the US is just like a local call.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

MAGICJACK INFORMATION

Send one to your country of choice, in my case Australia. They cost $50 to buy, first year is free. Every year after that the subscription is $19.95 (unless you get a multi-year deal like someone mentioned above).

They install it on their computer. Computer must be on for it to work (unlike some skype phones). Voicemail is saved as a .wav file.

When they install it they select a US state (my family would select Iowa) so they get issued an AMERICAN cell phone number based on the state they selected (so my family an Iowa cell phone number).

This means that the American resident can call the MagicJack number (from their cell phone / home phone etc), just like calling a US cell phone. I haven't tried adding it to "friends and family" yet (through verizon) but all you will use are your phone minutes. Otherwise the call is free.

A friend of mine in the US has one as calling MagicJack to MagicJack (also because he uses it as his "landline"). His fiance in the UK has one as well, this way he doesn't use up his cell phone minutes. If the MagicJack user wants to call you they can call your cell phone as well, again using up minutes.

The reason they list international charges is because SOME people use the MagicJack to call overseas (like Australia calling the UK) like someone having a US landline would, as the rates are cheaper than a standard US landline and in some cases even phonecards. If you call another MagicJack it's free, even if it's overseas.

A few people I know have one in the US even though they don't have "overseas" to call as the rates are better than a standard US landline as any US number, ANYWHERE is a US local call.

Hope that helps.

Edited April 6, 2010 by Vanessa&Tony

[JuneFirst 1]

MAGICJACK INFORMATION

Send one to your country of choice, in my case Australia. They cost $50 to buy, first year is free. Every year after that the subscription is $19.95 (unless you get a multi-year deal like someone mentioned above).

They install it on their computer. Computer must be on for it to work (unlike some skype phones). Voicemail is saved as a .wav file.

When they install it they select a US state (my family would select Iowa) so they get issued an AMERICAN cell phone number based on the state they selected (so my family an Iowa cell phone number).

This means that the American resident can call the MagicJack number (from their cell phone / home phone etc), just like calling a US cell phone. I haven't tried adding it to "friends and family" yet (through verizon) but all you will use are your phone minutes. Otherwise the call is free.

A friend of mine in the US has one as calling MagicJack to MagicJack (also because he uses it as his "landline"). His fiance in the UK has one as well, this way he doesn't use up his cell phone minutes. If the MagicJack user wants to call you they can call your cell phone as well, again using up minutes.

The reason they list international charges is because SOME people use the MagicJack to call overseas (like Australia calling the UK) like someone having a US landline would, as the rates are cheaper than a standard US landline and in some cases even phonecards. If you call another MagicJack it's free, even if it's overseas.

A few people I know have one in the US even though they don't have "overseas" to call as the rates are better than a standard US landline as any US number, ANYWHERE is a US local call.

Hope that helps.

Thanks.

Is it possible for my american husband to call me on my cell phone from his cellphone (still dont get it, i guess). Him being online and me being out and about?

You are saying the "foreigner" would have an american number, too. But I already have a phone number?

2nd cell phone?

Edited April 6, 2010 by JuneFirst

[OctaneGuy 0]

Just create a Skype account and load $10 in it to start with and you can talk for a VERY long time. Now your American husband can call a local US phone number that he chooses and can simply press a speed dial number that dials whatever phone he wants..could be your cell phone or home phone. Rates to home phones are a bit better than to cell phones but still talking pennies a minute.

The net effect is that you can both be talking on cell phones but using Skype rates and there are no monthly or yearly subscription fees, no contracts, etc.. To the phone company he will be dialing a local number.

Richard

Thanks.

Is it possible for my american husband to call me on my cell phone from his cellphone (still dont get it, i guess).

You are saying the "foreigner" would have an american number, too. But I already have a phone number?

2nd cell phone?

[gundas 1]

Wonder if i should change to Vonage.

Currently I call through my cell and home phone by calling a Reliance Global Call number and then wife's India number. Cost is $1.99 a minute.

I use up about $100 a month just on talking on the phone. Luckily though we use the internet/webcam quite a bit too.

Use Vonage, only 15 a month for first 6 months then 25 a month. Unlimited calling to india (landline and cell) and many other countries.

[JuneFirst 1]

You can make call to cell numbers, other land line numbers at no cost.

Is "you" the USC, the foreigner or both?

It seems like the non-USC has to be online?

Help, I just dont get it

[Christi and Ian 24]

Hey CR1-Filers,

so I was wondering how much you/your spouse spends on phone bills a month?

How many hours to you talk on the phone?

And since we are talking about "communication":

how much time a day do you spend talking/skyping/texting/emailing etc with your spouse?

I spend $8.00/month in order to call land lines & cell phones in the U.S. via Skype.

Since my husband has Skype on his computer / iPod, it's free to call him in the U.K.

The interesting thing is being @ work, with my iPod and calling him in England on his iPod - all via Skype.

[road417king 7]

Haha what a question !

I use two services, one on my cell phone and one at home. The one on my cell phone charges by the minute, and in the past has cost as much as $50 in one month.

At home I primarily use Vonage to call India and spend only about $32 per month on that. I heard of a new promo offer from Vonage, so I will try to call and get a lower price. :-)

We usually talk twice a day - once when she wakes up and I am going to bed, and again when I wake up and she is going to bed.

We very rarely talk on email or use text chatting, it is usually on the phone.

Hey Bobby, That's pretty much what I do with my wife as well, except that I have the Vonage box at her apartment in Hiroshima, which makes all phone calls local..

Call to say goodnight and chat, call to wake her up and chat, etc. When she finally gets here, we're going to put the Vonage box at her parents home so that they won't have to deal with long distance calls (just a 16 hour timezone difference) to talk with their oldest daughter...

Oh, and I keep a calling card in my wallet so I can call her cellphone without paying an arm and a leg for those.

When I printed out the Vonage phone records for my I-130 app, I made sure to show that they go all the way back to 2005 so NSCIS was happy... <grin>

Mike

[Jetson 0]

Hey CR1-Filers,

so I was wondering how much you/your spouse spends on phone bills a month?

How many hours to you talk on the phone?

And since we are talking about "communication":

how much time a day do you spend talking/skyping/texting/emailing etc with your spouse?

Here is what I do:

I travel quite extensively outside the US and have a smart phone (Iphone). I downloaded two particular applications and installed them in the phone. They allow me to call for free from just about anywhere overseas as long as I can connect via WI-FI with the phone.

1) Skype: as many of you know, as long as the recipient of the call has skype on, you can call them for free. This also includes if they have Skype installed in their smartphone, but remember they must also be connected via wi-fi.

2) Vonage: you can download this free app for the iphone and create an account. Subscribe ONLY to "pay as you go" type of account. Do not call using 3G; call any phone (landline or cellular) in the US for free as long as you are connected via WI-FI !!!!

With the above apps, if you call using anything else other than wi-fi connection, you will end up paying for calls at the rate offered by the respective providers (Skype/Vonage), which is still a lot cheaper than the cellular provider.

By the way, always remember to turn off "data roaming" on the Iphone (even when using Skype or Vonage), unless you want to pay exuberant rates for data use overseas. Be forewarned!

I hope this helps.