If you make a lot of long distance calls from home, rather than using up your cell phone minutes or waiting for the evening/weekend (where the minutes may not count), consider using the ultra cheap option: Skype. At the time of this writing, unlimited calling with the US and Canada are under $3 per month.

One of the great benefits of Skype is you can use your account from any machine connected to the Internet, so you can make calls from anywhere. I touched on using Skype in my working from home article as this is what I have been using since I started. The call quality is extremely clear and (knock on wood) the service never goes down. Additionally, you can add an external number (so people can call you) for $5-6 per month.

In my opinion you can’t beat the price when you compare to other VOIP services (such as Vonage), adding on to your cell plan or subscribing from your local phone company (compare $20+ per month to under $8-9). Additionally, you can get a phone number in any US area code (and over 20 countries around the World), so that when people call you, it could merely be a local call for them (ideal if you just moved or are working remotely for a company based in a different city).

Regardless, the Skype program is an absolute deal for long distance calling and would highly recommend it over just about any other option.