>>>Um, ticket prices are lower (inflation-adjusted) than they ever were. Ditto for a bunch of other stuff. My kids can't remember when you waited for nights and weekends to make long-distance phone calls because it's always been cheap for them.
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>>Can I ask what phone plan you have? I have a cell phone plan for the girls and me (Verizon) that works exactly that way -- calls between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. and on weekends are "free" (included in the monthly charge) and the rest count towards your minutes, with an overage rate of something like 50 cents/minute.
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>Yeah, cell phones work that way now, but land lines don't. I remember my parents waiting for the weekend to call their siblings. We were taught never to make a long-distance call during the business day. Now I pay 5 cents a minute around the clock.
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>My cell like yours is "free" nights and weekends. Hmm, maybe "uncounted" is a better term for it, though they do actually count. I have a family plan for me, the boys and my parents (who I wanted to have cells for emergencies). We share 1000 minutes, which would never work out if not for the nights and weekends. Nathaniel uses his cell as his primary phone.
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I may have the same plan you do for the land line. It's 5 cents/minute from MCI. I also have a calling card which has an anytime rate of less than 3 cents/minute, but don't use it that often because it's a pain entering so many digits.

The cell plan the girls and I have includes, like yours, 1000 minutes a month (7 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays). As you might guess, Allie, the 16 year old, is the one who wears it out. Her typical usage is 700 or 800 minutes that count toward the 1000 and between 1500 and 2000 minutes off-peak and in-network. We haven't gone over yet -- which kicks in the delightful rate of 40 cents/minute -- but I have to monitor it. Fortunately, Emily and I are light users.