VENT: SO frustrated!!!

[London-FortCollins]

Aw sweetie I totally understand.

1) Even without crappy internet connection problems as a few people mentioned - Skype can be prone to having "off days" too which is of course beyond frustrating.

2) Families. Yech. I'm there with you 100% about them not understanding because they've never been in a long distance relationship. I'm 23 and still living at home because of money and now rather saving that money to see my SO than wasting it on higher rent. But it takes its toll and I'm hearing ya on that one big time!

In terms of potential solutions there are a lot of calling card companies out there. I have no idea which ones would be the best ones. But there are also mobile phone networks such as www.lebara.com which offer cheaper calling international plans. There are a couple of others whos names I cant think of right now, but they might be worth looking into?

There's also apps on the iphone such as Pennytalk where calls are 1penny (in English £'s anyway) a minute. your given £1 free trial and when I used it was excellent call quality. Although when I then tried to top up with my bank card it wouldnt let me but that may have been my banks fault. But I think there are a few other apps like it and presumably the equivalent in differnet countries.

Another suggestion might be to sit down and talk with your family. If there anything like mine I know that wont exactly be easy but try and have the sensible and mature (not saying your not - just as a descriptive term there) conversation where you each explain your sides and come to a compromise. Maybe you can increase the usage with your provider for an extra 5 a month or something and your willing to pay that?

I know these arnt the greatest tips in the world and stuff you may have already tried but hang in there. And as for the meaningful conversations...me and my SO got to know each other so well in the first few months by our PM chats. Although of course face to face or voice to voice is a million times better dont underestimate the value of messages that take 3 hours to write and are open and honest and heartelt and then the joy of getting a similar message back the next day. - Great for if your on differnet time zones, you can send it so your SO other has a "good morning" message waiting for them.

Best of luck to you.

PS: Close all other programmes when using Skype. Especially file up/down loads. Including other people in the house. Takes some compromising but worth it if it improves the skype chat and means less dropped calls.

[TristenLove]

Have you tried looking into other ways to talk?
Like for us, Mic found a program on his phone that lets us text free of charge on either end.
I know with Yahoo, you can set up your email to go to your phone in a text form. Maybe you could each get an account just for that reason, and not give it out to anyone else, so it's kind of like texting.
You can also get skype capable phones. It's a little more expensive, but being able to talk is worth the extra 10 bucks.
On my phone, I also have mobile IM and Mic and I have talked that way.
If he pays for skype, he can call your phone and it won't count as long distance. That's how Mic and I talk the most. and if you're worried about minutes, most carriers have a time frame that it doesn't cost minutes. For me, 9pm to 6 am on weekdays, and all day Saturday and Sunday is our free minutes, which is perfect for Mic and I.
It might be worth it to look into upping your cell plan so that you can have web access. I know it's not cheap, but like I said, that extra 10-20 dollars a month is so worth it to talk to your SO.