Exactly. I remember when we first got married and I had just graduated from college and hadn't landed a job yet. We had no phone period. There was still a pay phone at a nearby gas station and we would buy a calling card and use it when necessary. We also cut the cable and had no internet service. We turned on lamps and tried to save electricity. For entertainment we would buy VHS tapes and dvds on clearance when we could find them for buy three for $10 or something like that. Laundromat for clothes and dollar store for cleaning supplies. We scraped by and had money to put food on the table and keep the lights and water on. A few years of that until we were able to move and both get decent paying jobs.  A phone is not a necessity.