Be prepared for sticker shock too. I recently set up my MIL with a CenturyLink landline here in WA, and it's $60/month. I could save a couple bucks a month if I declined long distance, but not many afaik. My California landline was less than $15/month with taxes when I turned it off, that was with no long distance and metered local calling (which was fine for me, I mostly wanted it for incoming calls and calls to toll free customer service).