I’m old enough to remember the old phone boxes with buttons A and B and a shelf for telephone directories.
Calls were coppers (I think 4d, being thruppence and a penny), and if you pushed button B, sometimes you got some of your money back.
It’s not like that now, there is no phone book, and calls are fifty pence plus or you pay using a prepaid phone card or your bank card.
The only reason we have a landline is for a secure line for any private business and the internet. Few people know our number, and when asked, we always give the mobile as that’s the one we use most anyway. It’s a simple PAYG and I can send text messages too, keeping to a budget of around £10 every couple of months when I top up.
When we moved here, we signed on for a fixed term contract for eighteen months giving us unlimited broadband access and free weekend calls. The latter is now an extra ‘add on’ for a set price and as our contract is due to expire next month, we’ve been looking at alternatives……. well, thinking about it.
My monthly budget is £30 all in and apart from our current bill and two last year which were over by just pence, have kept well within it.
First stop was to ring our supplier and ask what they could offer us.
It was a cool move as reading between the lines of what was said, it is possible that something is in the wind for price increases, especially with the farce of BREXIT which will see everything shoot up whether related to the EU or not. Being on a fixed rate contract means that any price increase (or reduction for that matter, stop laughing, you never know!) won’t be applied to us for the duration.
So when our current fixed term contract expires, we will automatically be put on the new one agreed today which at £15 for line rental and unlimited broadband plus calls (22p connection as standard then 15p a minute) is actually cheaper overall than what we’re paying now. Therefore in theory, if we don’t make calls, we’re quids in.
As with any new contract, we have 14 days to change our mind and the paperwork is on its way for us to see exactly what we’re getting for our money.
Come October, our fixed rate contract for Gas and Electricity expires.
It’s already been announced that our supplier is hiking their prices by 12% putting them as the most expensive standard tariff on the market. We avoid ‘standard’ like the plague, and will be looking for a fixed term for two years or more in a few months.
According to the internet, we are already on the cheapest tariff available, so once again it will be a case of contacting our current supplier first to find out what’s on offer. Although not rated as one of the best for customer service, apart from the recent silly reduction in monthly payment which has successfully been reinstated, we haven’t had a problem and after the fiasco of the changeover from British Gas when we moved in, I’d rather stay with them than switch.
I have leeway for a 10% – 15% increase on what we’re paying now having over budgeted originally, so hopefully it should work out OK.
pensitivity101 
Funny spent the last 7 days trying to sort out my BT deal. 12 calls 15 different representatives and we have managed to completely mess up the system. As a sorry they have offered a few months of BT Sports, but have to wait 7 days for BT to activate it. Shambles. Our old red village phone box is now a library for second hand books
Our nearest phone box is still a phone box, but there are a lot of ‘libraries’ elsewhere.
We were with BT and our bills were horrendous. We’re with The Post Office if you wnted to give them a try.
Our phone box houses a defibrillator. Interesting blog. I am currently moving from a boat to a bungalow, and am trying to work through the maze of providers.
We are with the Post Office for or phone and broadband, and Npower for utility if it helps your research.
Thank you, I will check them out.
Good luck.