Phoning Home - Just Want Normalcy

Hello!

Just breezing through the topic titles in this forum area has gotten me all depressed...again 

So, I've been 'fighting' with my DH for...well, years now....about finding a way to contact home more regularly.  All I get from him is: "use Skype.  It's free."  Fine, it is free.  And, so is Google+ hangouts.  I know how to use all the free ONLINE contact methods, but all mobile phone companies are tight-asses (sorry  ) with their data, so I can only use these when I have stable wifi. 

I only have 1GB a month, and that is NOT an acceptable amount to call home on using Skype when I'm out and about.  Maybe it's because I now live in a world of instant gratification, but I don't want to have to work within the parameters of my home's wifi.  When I get off work, I have a 40 min drive home - this is a great time to call friends and family with my swanky car phone (blu tooth, lol), or if I'm out shopping on the weekend.  My DH doesn't seem to understand that I'm extremely restricted in carrying on my normal relationships from home.  I see him take phone calls left, right and centre from friends and family, while I only really talk to him or his parents.  He doesn't see it, but every time he does this it's like a big slap in the face.  I just want to carry on my relationships, too...

So, now to the question: WHAT'S THE BEST/CHEAPEST WAY TO CALL HOME WITHOUT AN INTERNET CONNECTION?! ON MY MOBILE?!

I use Three as my mobile phone provider and have "all you can eat" data for £13 a month.  And when I go to the US, I can use my phone there without roaming charges.  It's pretty awesome.  Would that be an option for you?  I just use facetime as my family is all on Apple products.

What about an International Calling Add On for your mobile phone?

If I'm reading it correctly, it looks like EE offer a free add-on (at least I think it's free?), which gives you 5p a minute calls to the US: http://ee.co.uk/help/add-ons-benefits-and-plans/call-or-going-abroad/international-calling-abroad/calling-abroad-from-the-uk

Orange have a calling abroad bundle for £2 per month on pay monthly contracts, which seems to give 1p per minute calls to the US: http://ee.co.uk/help/add-ons-benefits-and-plans/call-or-going-abroad/international-calling-abroad/calling-abroad-from-the-uk#orange

T-mobile have a International Pass add on, which gives calls to the US for 5p per minute: http://ee.co.uk/help/add-ons-benefits-and-plans/call-or-going-abroad/international-calling-abroad/calling-abroad-from-the-uk#tmobile

O2 offer an International Favourites Bolt On for £10 a month, where you get 3000 minutes to a US landline, plus inclusive minutes to a mobile, to 3 favourite numbers: http://international.o2.co.uk/internationaltariffs/calling_abroad_from_uk#

3 is my mobile phone provider and I use a calling service which is 2p / minute to the US to either a landline or cell phone.  It's dead easy to use and my phone bill is only about £2 month more so that's not putting us in the poor house.  No connection charge.  I tend to speak to my family in little 10 - 20 minute snipets a few times a week.

My DH is always on about the free methods as well and I do try hangouts and skype but get tired of the "can you hear me" parts of the conversation.  When we had BT I'd call from our landline to the US landline or cell for 1p / minute but we got rid of BT recently.

My parents and sister use a calling card to call my landline and it cost them 1 or 2cents / minute.  They cannot call my mobile this way and are too lazy to look up cards which can.

I can relate to your want to contact your family and I have to say I'm a little bit jealous that they must be in a more Eastern area of the US that you can call them when you're out and about during the day! I'm 7+ hours different from all of my friends and family which pretty much leaves me the weekend late afternoon/evenings to chat. They're asleep when I get up at 7am and have been at work for an hour or so when I get off work at 5pm.

I know there are add ons to t-mobile and orange that cover US calls, I just didn't go with any of them because I have such crappy mobile service where I live. I can't even make normal phone calls half the time and my calls are dropped a lot so wifi Skype voice and video calling is the way to go for me.

When I have good 3G I just use Skype to do voice calls to US numbers, it's only 2 cents a minute. (I have unlimited data on my mobile and my bill is about 35 GPB a month)

Hi,

I have to make lots of phone calls to the USA and Canada to various numbers all over each countries time zones. For the last few years I've been using

http://www.yourcallworld.com/

Register a free account, top up £10 and that's 1000 minutes to call the USA at 1p/min anytime and from your mobile phone which you register the number with them for. My UK phone plan includes 2000 minutes and the UK access number is a 0121 geographical (Birmingham) number so is included in all UK tariffs. So far I've not found I need to purchase the higher topups but you do get more time included for the top up charge. Can call anytime and from wherever there's a mobile phone signal. I find the call quality for the international leg acceptable and clear and perhaps a handful of times it's not been as good.

Definitely a thumbs up from me if you need the flexibility to call any number over there!

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

Hi I use three also for my mobile. I pay  45pounds a month but that is with an international plan that allows me to call home. I get 3000 minutes a month to call the us

There's an option thru Skype that gives you a local number that you can call and then set up a call list to ring any US number you want. It only costs about £4/month and gives you about 400 minutes of calls. It's called SkypeToGo

Sometimes I will use voice calls through whatsapp. It uses data but not as much as skype or FaceTime.


Cheers, Erica

As mentioned above I have a toll free Skype number to use when I am not in range of wifi. By calling this number from my cell phone I can make calls to the UK that does not use any of my data plan but is charged at the Skype rate of 2.3c/minute.

I use the app Ringo.  It's free to download and free to call US mobiles (you have to pay to call landlines but even that is less than a penny/minute).  It converts the US number in to a local 03 UK number so it uses your plans minutes.  I've used it for almost a year now and it's been a lifesaver (and I've not had any fees on my phone bill either which I was skeptical of when I first tried it).

Great tip, kbee417, thank you.

I'm on three and use the unlimited data plan for £30 a month pre pay.  It has minutes and txts but I never really use them.  My phone is set up with a Google voice number from the US so I can there no problem.  I use my UK three number to call in the UK and receive calls without the other party paying a bundle to call my US number.
I have a few people I always talk to and I use Viber for that.  Much less messy than Google voice but both parties need to have it installed.  It uses almost no data.
I think in the op's situation spending a couple pounds more a month will solve all her problems.