Looking for an easy way to reduce your monthly budget in 2009? Consider dropping your landline and going cell phone only. About 1 in 5 Americans have disconnected their home phone, while an additional 13% say they have a home phone that they never use. That's about one-third of all Americans who are cell phone only or very near to it.

Whenever Clark discusses this issue, he hears from those people who say, "Well, what do I do after a natural disaster when my cell phone doesn't work?"

The consumer champion recalls doing medievac work down in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. There were no working cell phones. However, the cable operator was still working. Vonage saved the day for many people who would have been otherwise cut off. Today, many emergency personnel even have satellite phones in the event of an emergency.

Can you go cell phone only -- with a VoIP service like Skype as a backup -- and get rid of your home phone?

Another common objection to dropping the landline is that people say they need it for their burglar alarm system. But professional burglars will simply cut the phone line before going in. That's why security consultants routinely recommend wireless monitoring instead.

Remember, the typical local phone bill is between $30 and $50 each month. That could be $360 or $600 back in your pocket annually if you make the jump.