"Holy Cheap Calls, Batman!"

One of the things we've had to get used to since our return has been the higher cost of living. Everytime I open my wallet, a minimum of $20 seems to disappear. Gas, food, taxes. So we've been trying to find ways to economize on our phone bill. We've pretty much decided to try and do everything online, since internet is provided at our apartment.

We have been using Skype for quite a while, which has been cool, especially when I was in Thailand. With Skype you can talk for free between computers when you're both online. And with SkypeOut, you can call almost any number for around 3 cents a minute. There are a few new options, though, that allow you to use your cell or landline without having to talk through your computer.

I was introduced to Jajah through Guy Kawasaki. You sign up for free, and give them your phone number. Go to the login window, enter the number you want to call. A few seconds later your phone rings. Answer it, and your call is patched through for less than 4 cents a minute. If you have a Blackberry or other mobile internet device, you can do this directly without using your computer at all. And calls between Jajah users are free.

Rebtel works a little differently. You sign up (again, for free) and enter your number. You then enter the number you wish to call. They assign a new local number to that contact, so every call is like a local call. So they give me a new number for my Dad, and I can call that number for 1.7 cents a minute. That's 4 hours, 37 minutes of talk time for $5! Rebtel also has a facebook application, for those of you who have been sucked into that vortex.

There are a few provisos. Both companies require you to pay up front for your calls with a credit card or possibly Paypal, and all calls made from a cell phone obviously use whatever minutes you have in your plan. But this still could save us all a boatload of money.

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