For the last 3 months I have paid to put minutes on my phone but haven't received any phone calls. This month I decided not to put money into that dead horse.

I have email, three messengers(with audio) and skype. Most of my time is spent at home and my computer is always on from waking to bedtime.

Years ago, when I was dating regularly if I had a phone it was hard wired to my wall. Most of the time, I didn't have a phone and I was able to date.

I enjoy a good phone conversation once in awhile but I'm wondering just how important a phone is to dating?

Could you do without your phone for a month?
Could you date someone that doesn't have a phone?

Granted a lot of people conduct business with their phones and couldn't maintain their jobs without one but I am talking about having a phone as a matter of being able to date or establish a relationship.

Is there anyone that dates that doesn't have a phone?
I'm not saying you have no way to contact or be contacted, just not by phone? Email, messenger and skype are still an option.

Good luck with the the no phone thing...

No phone no social life.. I do everything with my phone and I mean everything..wink.wink.

I remember when I was around 16 we didn't have a land line, mobile phones (cell ) were for space men and I'd walk up the road to the phone box! Arrange to meet in town on Saturday ! Bad thing about was you had to spend the time of the date talking to each other and not texting!

I suppose ya gotta have a phone to arrange dates and just chat now and then. But if she's constantly gotta have a phone stuck in her ear and be in constant contact with me about all the minutiae of her day, she gets the hook.

I have a land phone and a cell phone but no dates.

for some it may be no big deal
can use messenger or maybe skype

for me? it is a big deal
there are some things you just cannot hear
unless you speak to someone
the tone and timbre of his voice
his laughter
does he just ramble on and on about himself
or does he ask you questions about your life, your dreams, likes etc
does he pause to listen to you or interupt
everytime you speak
is he enthusiastic, animated, does his voice show interest in you?
is he paying attention?
cannot wait to call you again?
hates having to say good bye

these are a thing a woman looks for in a man

Interesting, thanx for the responses.

I remember dating before I had a phone.
It involved letters and notes, lots of planning and sticking to the plans. Friends delivering messages.

I know it CAN be done because I have done it before.
I met a woman that thought she needed to call me every hour to tell me what she was doing or ask me what I was doing. It got really old, really fast.

Having a phone can be a good thing. I'm not so sure that constant communication is one of them.

If I set up a date with someone by email I consider it a plan. I am not one to break my plans for any old thing. The date is important to me. Phone or not, I will not break it unless something really important takes over. Having a constant phone connection creates the ability to become wishy-washy with commitments. I have been called at the last minute to break a date. Sometimes the reason was justified and sometimes it was a bunch of crap.

I've watched people sit and call number after number just to chat.
Never really saying anything of importance. I have seen people have arguments and get really mad on the phone, literally yelling at it, in a store.
If I want to just chat with someone, I go and SEE them. If I call someone, I actually have something to tell them and hang up when I am done.
How is 'getting to know someone' now, phone required?
I think its better to actually be face to face when getting to know someone.

During my online dating messages I always get a request for a phone conversation. I am looking to meet someone in person not have a talk on the phone. If they want to know I am me, we can skype but even that is trumped by face to face.
I can't count the number of women that stop responding when I tell them I don't want to use a phone as first contact. This month, two have stopped responding when I told them I have no phone service but I can go buy some minutes.

Are people so addicted to phones they can't function without them?
Is the idea of no phone so strange it puts them off?

I understand what you are saying TMommy
But...

the tone and timbre of his voice
his laughter
does he just ramble on and on about himself
or does he ask you questions about your life, your dreams, likes etc
does he pause to listen to you or interrupt
everytime you speak
is he enthusiastic, animated, does he show interest in you?
is he paying attention?
cannot wait to SEE you again?
hates having to say good bye

All those things are important but are better when experiencing them face to face. Plus, face to face you can see things that can't be transmitted by mic and speaker.
You can see why he paused or became distracted.

I have met women for a date that I had no phone conversation with.
Virginia Beach in the 1980's, nobody was carrying a phone around with them yet I was able to date. We 'interacted' with each other.

I go to the beach now, granted, its not the 80s and its not Virginia Beach but its the beach. Nearly everyone is on their phones or with someone that is on their phone. For me, its rude to interrupt someone on a phone, reading a book, watching a movie or engaged in conversation. If they are not actively talking to someone it seems they are playing a game or doing something else with their phones.

How is it better to be on top of the world if you are lost to your immediate surroundings?

Of course in our day phone sex was a quick bonk in a phone booth or box, now it's straining your eyes on a 2 inch square screen!

though I agree this 'hooked on my cellphone'has become an epidemic and many have forgotten the art of conversation..

you first have to get her there right? this face to face contact..

women are social creatures..they like to be courted

I agree, I would much rather hear his voice than to read the words all the time.

I recently went without a phone for 4 days due to a bank error, and it was okay....I don't have any dates right now. But it was a pain when I needed to make business calls.

Messaging, emailing, and those other tools are nice, but what happens when you are running late or an emergency comes up...having a phone to call that person is kind of important. I wouldn't want to get an email saying, "Hey, I'm running a little late".

call me

what about you calling me?

I understand how convenient phones are and how they can be life savers when you really need to communicate.

I'm asking if it is possible to date without one?

I'm asking how important to the dating process is it to have a phone and could you consider entering into a dating or personal relationship with someone that does not have a phone?

I have a phone. I can put minutes on it anytime. If I do get a date, I will probably put minutes on it. I am not against using phones, I am against needing a phone to date. The requirement that seems to be set by everyone, to even consider dating, you must have a phone.

I have nothing against LDR where phones are needed and possibly the only intimate encounter possible but dating is face to face interactions that happen in your local vicinity. If you are dating someone, chances are you are close by one another.

If I meet a woman in my own small town (I have) and we decide during our messages to meet, I don't ask her for her phone number till I meet her and decide if we have a connection. We decide a meet location and time and then we go meet. The phone becomes a connection based on personal experiences. Conversations on the phone after a meet are accompanied by a visual representation of your memory of that person, not your imagination of a voice source.

If I meet someone and we set a date to meet again we work out the details of that next meet. Time, place, etc...
To me, the date is set. I will be at that place at that time for the date that we agreed upon.
Calling me to let me know you are "On Your Way" indicates that you may not hold your word and that I need to be reassured that you will. That alone puts trust in jeopardy.

I believe it's possible, but would be challenging.

When you are together, you can prearrange your next date, making it possible to not have to call to set up a date. You can keep in touch through email if you want to chat in between.

As far as possibly needing to call if something's holding you up....I agree with what you said. If I make plans with someone, it puts the trust in jeopardy if they do not show up on time.

However, sometimes things happen like an accident in the road that prevents you from passing. That's what I was referring to when I mentioned if they needed to call to say they are on their way. Or maybe you weren't able to get out of work on time due to some unforeseen reason.

Love it! So do I - all the men on here
only seem to want to do is text, when I tell them I don't text
& don't have a smart phone & don't do social media I never hear from them again!