What to do when your phone bill refuses to age gracefully
 | March 2, 2026 | 4 min read |
From the moment we’re born, we’re aging, though this doesn’t mean everyone likes the idea. Today there are myriad ways to avoid “aging gracefully,” or, as the poet Dylan Thomas urged nearly a century ago, to “not go gentle into that good night.” Even those whose skin is still dewy are drawn to Botox, lasers, supplements… all manner of creative ways to turn back the clock on our bodies.
But a phone bill that refuses to age gracefully? That’s a new wrinkle even Botox can’t iron out.
Should you pay your phone bill or invest in skincare?
Graceful aging formulas, like typical phone bills, are pricey. What are you supposed to do: choose between your skincare and your phone bill? You need both. Besides, your monthly phone bill has something in common with a supplement…sort of. Copper is an essential trace mineral popular in anti-aging formulas—and copper wire telephone lines have been in use since the days of the horse and buggy and oil lamps. Maybe this is what’s kept them functional for so long. Just kidding.
But the plain fact is, the more money you spend on a phone bill, the less you have to spend elsewhere. And copper does have limitations. If you’ve ever had a copper appliance, like a kettle, you know what happens if you neglect it over time: it oxidizes, turning a sickly shade of green. No one’s been helping old, worn out POTS lines to age gracefully. So it stands to reason that this copper sunset translates into soaring phone bills for landline users.
Whoever coined the saying, “talk is cheap” was probably living in the landline’s heyday…when many people still used a horse and buggy. Tethered horse, tethered phone. We get it. Today, though, it means an average phone bill could buy a lavish restaurant meal—with wine, dessert and a handsome tip!
If you want a phone bill to age gracefully, think VoIP.
Here’s how to lower your phone bill
How much is a phone bill per month? While you might be spending upwards of $70 on a traditional/copper landline phone, you can save a bundle by switching to VoIP phone service. This savings calculator shows that by switching to Ooma Telo®, talk isn’t merely cheap—it’s free! All you pay are taxes and applicable fees, which amount to less than the price of a sandwich—or even a fancy coffee.
Here are some smart cost saving tips, with no artificial ingredients:
- Pare it down. For some this is the era of excess, but for many it’s a time of belt-tightening—or simply living more simply. Start by taking a look at your phone bill. A phone bill for one person shouldn’t cost you the equivalent of a week’s groceries. Review the itemized charges carefully. Are you being charged extra for call waiting or caller ID? Do you even want some of the features listed, such as ringtone options? Ask your provider to remove what you don’t need or use.
- Bundle up! By the same token, see how you can combine the services you do use so everything is under one provider. Ooma offers lots of options here: for instance, there’s our fun Retro Phone Bundle (you want fries with that burger phone? Lips like Jagger?). Or if there’s a senior in your life, consider the senior phone bundle, which will keep your loved one safer as well as connected. This will help them relax, which reduces wrinkles. When you bundle your body in cold weather, you stay warmer (and your age is less discernable). When you bundle your phone services, your bills stay cooler. Life is all about balance.
- Stay close to home. These days, many twenty-somethings are living at home longer or moving back in with family to save money. So you don’t need an international calling plan anymore. Just holler down the hall. Or you can sign up for Ooma’s free home phone service, where all you pay are local taxes and fees—and international calling is next to nada.
- Grab onto a Lifeline. There are some benefits to growing older. You get to retire and spend your days doing what you want to do. Not sitting the grandkids all the time, of course, unless that’s your choice. But, while growing bolder may also mean a reduced income, you might be eligible for FCC Lifeline, a monthly discount program on phone or internet service for qualifying consumers.
- Say yes to VoIP. It’s like being a VIP for smarter phone service, at a much lower cost. If your average phone bill is stratospheric, bring it back down to Earth with the Ooma Basic phone plan. Our VoIP phone service is easy peasy to set up and use (something else we all appreciate as we age!) and just the best alternative to that pricey landline phone ever.
So don’t get annoyed, get actionable. Before the next excessive landline phone bill arrives and copper wires go dark for good, make the switch to VoIP phone service.
You’ll love the savings, which you can apply to your face. We hear castor oil is all the rage—and it’s been a cosmetic go-to for thousands of years. Apparently not going gentle into that good night is a quest in every era. People may not want to age gracefully without a little help, but it’s much easier when you have the means, thanks to a much lower phone bill.
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Husain Sumra is a former journalist who reported on the biggest companies in tech, from Apple to Amazon, covering cloud services, consumer technology and communication solutions. His journalism background has helped him bring a customer-first approach to content marketing, creating pieces of content aimed at helping people.
