Assuming i never had to call anyone more than a few miles from me anyway, how practical would it be to stop having a phone altogether and just use MeshCore or Meshtastic for short range communication? What troubles would i run into from not having a phone?
I figure i could even buy radios for people i need to talk to and with no phone bill this would pay for itself in about a year.

There isn’t one, i’m pretty sure i’m the second person in my city to use this stuff. If i can replace my phone it won’t happen overnight.
Well you need 2 compagnios ,and 2 solar repeaters , there about +100 hardware devices, check the freq. Before you buy you’re hardware