Cell Phones Guide

Free Government Issued Cell Phones

2011-05-04T10:42:00.001-04:00

The other day I was driving to meet up with my friend. He lives in a rural area with few cars. While driving on one of the dirt roads, a rock struck my tire and blew it out. I did not have a spare tire to change it out. I would have been stranded there for awhile had I not had my free government issued cell phone. Hardly any cars pass through this area. I called up a tow truck to come and they helped me change out my tire.

When I got my friends place, I told him about what had happened to me while getting to his place. He was very thankful that I was able to call for help and he also wanted to know more about this free phone issued by the government. I told him that I had applied for it through Safelink Wireless. They had given me a free cell phone with free 250 voice minutes to use every month. The reason I was able to apply was because I met the federal limits on my income which would be 135% of the poverty level. My friend wanted to apply for this type of phone too. He is in the same position as I am financially. We are both poor. I told him to go check the website if he really wants to get a free phone.

I really like using this free phone because it keeps me safe. There have been other times that I have used this phone during times of emergency. For example, I used it to call the police one time because the neighbors were getting rowdy. Other times I use the phone to keep in touch with my family members. If I did not have this phone, nobody would know whether or was dead or alive.

Free Assurance Cell Phones

2011-04-29T16:28:00.001-04:00

My father had a stroke several years ago and he could not work after that. The stroke left him paralyzed in parts of his body. He stays at home most of the time collecting his disability checks. Since I live far away from him, I am not able to check up on him as often as I would like. I wanted him to get a cell phone so I could contact him or he could contact me. The problem was that he does not make much money and a cell phone would be out of the question for him.

I had recently heard from a friend that you could apply for a free cell phone from one of the wireless cell phone providers. I did a search online and found out about the free Assurance cell phones. The Assurance Wireless Lifeline program allows user a free phone with 250 free voice minutes every month. The minutes are added automatically every month. Also, if the 250 free minutes is not enough, you could pay 5 dollars which would add an extra 250 minutes. The good thing about this program is that there is no annual contract.

In order to qualify my dad has to be income eligible and also he needs to be in the state where Assurance wireless program is offered. On their website I was able to find our state. To be eligible my dad’s income had to be at or below 135% of the federal poverty guidelines. Also, he would qualify if he was participating in Medicaid, food stamps, SSI, or LIHEAP. We printed out the application, filled it out, and sent it in. Not long after that, my dad received his cell phone.

I am happy that he carries his cell phone around now. I can contact him or he can contact me. I feel very secure in knowing that he’s got a method of calling someone if he needs help.

T-Mobile Comet Prepaid Android Phone

2011-04-29T03:39:00.001-04:00

I not the type of person that uses the cell phone a lot but I do use it from time to time. That was why I did not like any of the cell phone plans because you are stuck paying a monthly payment no matter if you use your phone or not. So instead of getting a cell phone plan, I got a prepaid phone instead.

The phone that I bought was the T-Mobile Comet Prepaid Android Phone. Although this phone is not the best on the market, it is good enough for the price. The display on the phone did not have a high resolution but the pixels were large. The touchscreen interface was acceptable. It wasn’t as responsive as the iPhone but it was definitely better than some other phones that I have tried. Sound quality was about average. I called up some friends to test this out. The processing power of this phone is pretty good. I have never experienced any lags when using software so I can’t complain.

Overall, this is a good phone for the price. If you are not wanting to spend a lot of money on a touchscreen phone, then this is the phone to get.

Nokia X2 Prepaid Phone

2011-04-27T00:39:00.002-04:00

If you are like me, then you are sick of signing two year contracts with mobile phone companies. It is really inconvenient when you are stuck in a contract for a long period of time. I like to buy prepaid phones because there is no contract and I pay as I go. Also with prepaid services the wireless company does not check your credit. You just buy the amount of minutes you think you’ll need. When you run out you just buy more. It’s a really good deal for me because I don’t want to sign contracts and my credit is pretty bad anyways.

Recently I wanted to buy a new cell phone. The cell phone I had been looking at is the Nokia X2 Prepaid Phone. This is a new top notch Nokia phone which had a lot of functions that I want in a cell phone. One of the things that I like is the full QWERTY keyboard. This allows me to type emails pretty quickly. It’s a must have if you plan on using your phone for work. Some other features on this phone include a 2.4 in display, VGA camera with video capture, music player, FM radio, Bluetooth connectivity, and the airplane mode which allows you to listen to your music while leaving your connectivity off.

With all these great features in this phone, I think buying it was a really good choice. The fact that it’s a prepaid phone makes it all the more better for me. Since I bought the phone, it has been running smoothly with no hiccups. It's very light to which makes carrying it around not an issue for me. With all the features this phone comes with, I still cannot believe I paid such a small price for the phone. This is definitely a high quality phone for a very good price.

Free Cell Phones for Disabled People

2011-04-26T14:42:00.001-04:00

My dad was disabled on the job several years ago. He has since been out of work and has been collecting disability benefits. The disability benefits do not really provide much money so my dad had to cut back on a lot of expenses. For example, he had to get rid of his cell phone plan because it was too costly. The total cost was at least 50 dollars per month. Although I understand that he could not afford his cell phone plan, I did not think it was a good idea for him not to have a cell phone. His health has been failing for years and I fear that without a cell phone he could be putting himself in grave danger. I think he needed a cell phone so that he can call someone in case something was to happen to him.

My uneasiness with his situation motivated me to find a solution to the problem. After doing some searches online I came across something called free cell phones for disabled people. This was a program that was provided by companies such as Safelink, Assurance, and Reachout Wireless. Through this program, poor disabled people can get a free cell phone. They would need to present some kind of proof about their income though. Something like a pay stub would work. If you are getting other government assistance, you could show proof of that too. My father applied for the free phone and received it soon thereafter. With the free phone, he also gets about 250 free minutes every month. That is actually a good amount of minutes to use. I would imagine it is more than enough for a month’s worth of calls. He is not big on talking on the phone much anyways.

Since my dad carries his phone around, I am less worried about him. I know that he is only a phone call away. There is one other thing about the free cell phone program that you should note before you apply. This program is not available in all states yet. You should check with the wireless provider to see if it is available in the state that you are living in.

Prepaid Mobile Phones

2011-03-05T12:05:00.000-05:00

I recently bought some prepaid mobile phones for our family. You may know them as pay-as-you-go or prepaid wireless phones. I like this way of paying for cell phone service because our family cannot afford the traditional cell phone service plans. It is just too expensive. With these prepaid phones I only buy what I plan on using. We only use these phones for real emergencies. I tell my kids to only use the phone if absolutely necessary.

One time where this cell phone came in handy was when I was driving down a road with no other cars. I happened to hit a nail on the road which blew out my tire. Since there were no other cars on the road, I could not stop anyone to help me. Luckily at that time I had my prepaid phone with me which I used to call a tow truck. If I did not have that phone I would have had to walk 5 miles to the next town. These are the types of emergencies I tell my family members to use the cell phones for.

Other times my kids might call me from school to ask me to pick them up if they had to stay after school. Prepaid mobile phones is definitely the best way to go for families that do not have much money.

Free Cell Phones for Kids

2011-03-01T00:46:00.000-05:00

Our family is really poor and we do not have money to afford a cell phone. However, we do have a teenager who goes out often or stays after school. We wanted to give him a cell phone so that he could call or we could call him but our budget just would not allow it. Cell phone plans are really expensive. Just one phone would cost 50 dollars a month for the cheapest plan.

One day while surfing the internet, I happened upon an article that talked about free cell phones for kids. Basically, the cell phone is sponsored by the government for families living under the poverty line. I knew this was exactly what we needed. The article told us to try providers like Safelink Wireless, Assurance Wireless, or Reachout Wireless. I went to each of these companies and found that Safelink was best for us. To apply for the free phone I had to send them some information such as our household income. I asked them what that was for and they said that they needed to use that to determine if we are eligible. After they informed us that we are indeed eligible, they sent us the phone. Safelink told us that we only had a limited amount of minutes so we had to use it wisely. It amounted to no more than an hour of talk time per month. I figured this was probably enough for our child because he only needed to contact us when it was an emergency or we needed to find him.

When the free cell phone arrived, we gave it to our kid. We told him that he should use it to call us if he needed us to pick him up from after school programs or anytime he needed help. Safelink also told us that we could buy some more prepaid minutes if we needed them. We are really glad that this program is available for families who have no money.

Free Cell Phones for Senior Citizens

2011-02-21T20:07:00.001-05:00

My father is 70 years old and is currently living off of social security payments. He has no other source of income which means he lives fairly close to poverty. He has applied to many government assistance programs which really helps him to get on by in life. One program that I recently found out about was the free cell phones for senior citizens program. Under this program, my dad would be able to get a free cell phone which is paid for by the government. I was excited about this program because it would be great if my dad could carry a cell phone where ever he went. I could keep in contact with him and know that he is safe.

I told my dad about this program and he agreed with me that it would be a very good idea to apply for the senior citizen cell phone. So I went online and tried to find where we could apply. There are several companies that seem to offer this program. They include Safelink Wireless, Reachout Wireless, and Assurance Wireless. After much research we decided to go with Safelink Wireless because that was the only program that was available in our state. Each company has some presence in some states but not all states so you would have to see what is available where you live.

To apply from the cell phone through Safelink, we had to fill out some forms and also provided some information. For people that want to apply, you have to show your proof of income because that is what is used to determine whether you get free cell phones for the elderly. Since my dad was already on several other government assistance programs, all he had to do was show proof that he is participating in those programs in order to get a free cell phone.

My dad was able to get a free cell phone plus 60 free minutes each month. He was under no obligation and did not have to sign a contract. If he were to use up the free minutes each month, then he could chose to purchase additional minutes. So far he has not had to buy anymore minutes because the free minutes are enough for his purposes. He only makes a call when absolutely necessary. He does not enjoy talking on the phone much. I believe this is a great program for seniors and hope this program continues running forever.

Safelink Wireless for My Mom

2010-11-22T09:45:00.001-05:00

My mom retired several years ago. She only gets Social Security payments and has no other income. Because of this she has been forced to save as much money as possible. One way in which she trimmed cost was to get rid of her phone service. I was against this idea though. I told her that if she did not have a phone then I would not be able to call her and see if she was alright. Nevertheless, she still cancelled the phone service. I felt unease about this though. I talked to some of my friends about this problem and they suggested that I get her to apply for a free cell phone at Safelink Wireless.

My friends told me that Safelink would give her a free cell phone and airtime minutes. Granted, the minutes do not exactly amount to much but it was good enough for making calls every now and then. I figured this would be good for my mom because I would only need to call her once a week and only for a few short minutes of talking. I told my mom about this idea and she agreed. After all, she really had nothing to lose. The only thing required for her to apply for this program was that her income had to be within the limit set by the federal government. I think she would qualify since she is only living off of social security.

Now that my mom has a cell phone, I give her a call every weekend. We usually talk for a few minutes and I ask her how everything is going. I do not want to use up all of minutes so we keep the conversation short. I also reminded her not to make frivolous calls so as to waste her minutes.

Safelink Wireless

2010-11-16T22:30:00.001-05:00

Ever since my parents retired they have been slowly but surely canceling many services. First they got rid of their cable and now they are getting rid of their cell phone. When they got rid of the cell phone I told them that they probably should not do that. If they do not have a phone, how would I ever contact them? They are pretty old and I like to call them ever now and then just to see if they are ok. I told them that they could apply for a Safelink phone. By doing that they would get a free cell phone and free minutes.

I believe my parents would be eligible because of their low income. They are already on Medicaid so I figured that would probably help them get the free phone. I went to the Safelink Wireless website to find out more information. Luckily the program was operating within their state. My parents went to the website and applied. It was pretty easy. They only had to send in a copy of their forms proving they were on Medicaid. Then they got their free phone.

I told my parents to be careful with the minutes on their cell phone. They do not get that much minutes and it is easy to run out. I told them to make emergency calls only. They should not be using the phone to chat with their friends. They promised me that they would not do that. I am happy that they have a phone again. I now call them once a week and talk to them for 10 minutes. Since the plan offers 60 free minutes, they save up most of their minutes every month. Every since my parents signed up for the plan, their friends have all asked them about it and signed up themselves.

Free Safelink Phone

2010-11-04T18:26:00.001-04:00

I only make about 20K per year which is considered poverty by the government. I also have to support my wife and kids on this income. This makes living very difficult. I have to provide food and shelter and many times the money just comes up short. I have applied to several government programs to make life easier for our family. For example, I applied for the food stamps and a housing voucher. Recently, I also applied for a free Safelink phone.

Through this program, our family was able to get a free cell phone which is sponsored by the government. This Safelink phone service has been a blessing to our family. Our home currently does not have phone service so we are unable to make calls or get calls. This has been a problem for us because we are unable to conduct business. We could not even open a bank account because the application requires us to provide a home phone number.

We applied for the Safelink cell phones by going to the Safelink Wireless website. We searched to see whether our state has this program. Luckily it did. So we submitted an application. I had to provide documents proving our household income before I could get a phone. But other than that the Safelink phone application was easy enough.

Through this Safelink phones service not only do we get a free cell phone, but we also get free minutes. Of course there is a limit on the minutes. We only get about an hour of airtime. I think this is plenty for what we need. Most of our calls are business related. We hardly ever use the phone to chit chat. I really appreciate this program though. One time our car broke down on the road and we had to call for help. With the cell phone it was easy to do. I shudder to think what would have happened had we not had the cell phone. For those who are on Medicaid like some of our friends, you get these Medicaid phones by showing them documents that prove you are on Medicaid.

Free Cell Phones for Medicaid Recipients

2010-10-28T14:39:00.002-04:00

My parents are currently on the Medicaid program. Since the Medicaid program is given to people living in poverty, I knew there were other federal programs that they could apply to as well. One of these programs is the free cell phones for Medicaid recipients. The free cell phone is for low income individuals and families just like the Medicaid program is too. In order to apply for the Medicaid phone, your income would have to be at or below the federal poverty level. I knew immediately that this program was for my parents. They already have a lot of expenses so getting a free phone would be a plus. In this way, I can keep in contact with them no matter where they go.

My parents seemed pretty happy to know about the free phone for Medicaid recipients so I told them to go Safelink Wireless to apply. First they had to figure out if the program operates in their state. After they got that figured out, they did the application online. They had to fill out some private information and also had to provide supporting documents showing their income. They also showed documentation showing that they are in the Medicaid program. A couple of weeks after they sent off their application, they got their free phone. I told them that they should be careful when they use their phone because I did not want them to use up all their limited minutes before the month is up. When you join the Medicaid cell phone program you only get a limited amount of minutes every month. Once you use up your minutes for the month then you cannot place anymore calls unless you are calling 911. Basically, my parents would have to keep their phone conversations short and to the point.

I really like the free Medicaid phones program because it really allows poor people to stay connected with the world. It has worked out for my parents and me because I can contact them whenever the need arises. Hopefully, this program will continue indefinitely.

Free Government Phone Service

2010-10-28T00:31:00.001-04:00

I have some friends that are pretty poor. They always complain about not having enough money and many times their electricity or water gets shut off because they do not pay the bills. I told them about some government programs that they can apply to which would definitely help them in their finances. One of these programs is the free government phone service. If you were part of this program, the government will provide to you a cell phone at no cost. The phones are provided through several wireless carriers like Safelink Wireless.

These free phones are distributed based on people’s household income. You have to be living at or below the poverty line in order to get a phone. Each state has their own definition of the poverty line so you should check to see what it is for your state. Once you have checked it out and you feel that you meet this criteria, you can then apply for the phone. You will need to send a copy of your past year’s W2 or pay stub which would be used to verify your income.

I told my friends to be cautious when using the free phone with free minutes because it is very easy to run out of minutes. You do not get a lot of free minutes. You would probably only get 60 minutes per month. That is barely enough to make any significantly long calls. Most of your calls would last only a few minutes and you would only make important calls. Even though there is a restriction to the amount of minutes that you get, it is still important to have this free phone. You can use it whenever you find yourself in a situation where a phone would be handy. One example would be if your car broke down in the middle of nowhere and you had to call a tow truck to come get you. I think that is the reason for the free government phone service.

Free Government Cell Phones

2010-10-27T00:35:00.003-04:00

My parents recently retired and their income dropped considerably. In fact, they are living only on social security payments which barely come out to a thousand dollars a month. Because of their low income, they have had to make an adjustment to their living standards. They cut a lot of bills like cable and phone. I told them that they still needed a phone because the phone is what they would use to contact the outside world. I needed to call them every now and them to make sure they are ok and if they do not have a phone it would be quite tough to do that. That is why I told them about the free government cell phones program

In this free cell phone program, you can get government phones with free minutes. The minutes are limited though. I think this is the perfect program for my parents because they would only use the phone to call me anyways. Plus, they are candidates for the program due to their low income. In order to get into the program, your income has to be at or below the poverty level set by your state. Every state has a different poverty level. This is become income levels varies throughout each state. The income of the west coast and northeast are usually higher than in the southern states. You can find out if your state participates by going to the Safelink Wireless website.

From the Safelink Wireless website, you can also apply for the free government cell phones. Each household is only allowed one phone though. What I like about this program is that my parents can keep the phone even if they decide not to continue participating. That way, when they do decide to participate again, they can just use the same phone. I told my parents that once they get the phone to be sure they do not make unnecessary calls. That is because I do not want them to waste their minutes. They have very limited minutes per month and it should only be used for real emergencies.

Free Cell Phones for Low Income Families

2009-11-30T11:48:00.002-05:00

Many families nowadays are not able to afford cell phone plans. A typical family plan could cost at least $60 per month. Even the cheapest cell phone plans are at least $50 per month. Low income families are already struggling to pay for rent and food, let alone having to pay for cell phones. However, cell phones can be really useful. Cell phones let family members contact one another in case of emergency. For example if your car were to break down in the middle of nowhere, a cell phone would certainly come in handy. Other uses are if your child has to stay after school for any reason and may need to call you to pick them up. Having a cell phone is almost a necessity.

There are companies now that are offering free cell phones for low income families. These cell phone plans are for families and people making a low income. Typically, you would get a certain fixed amount of minutes each month free to use. The minutes could range from 60 to 80 minutes depending on what the company offers. However, if you need to use more than the allotted minutes each month, you can purchase additional minutes. If you and your family qualify for cell phones for low income families, the company will send you a cell phone for free. 911 calls however are free and unlimited.

In order to apply for cell phones for low income families, you have to submit documentation supporting the fact that you and your family are making low income. Such documentation would include pay stubs and W2 forms. You would also have to prove your eligibility every year in order to continue using the free cell phones. Contact the cellular service offering free cell phones for low income families in your state to get started.

The cell phones for low income families would come with nearly the same features of regular priced cell phones. The phones would include voicemail, text, caller ID, call waiting, etc.

Low Income Cell Phones

2009-11-01T13:01:00.001-05:00

Low income cell phones are gaining in popularity these days. Most Americans already have cell phones but a smaller portion of the population still do not. These are low income families that cannot afford expensive plans. If you want a low income cell phone, you have to meet federal guidelines that qualify you as low income. If you are receiving food stamps or living in subsidized housing, then you can probably qualify. Like all the other subsidy programs, the government subsidizes the cell phone plans.

In order to get your free cell phone, you can search online for a carrier that provides it. Some of the carriers include Safelink Wireless and Assurance Wireless. Some states still do not have this kind of service as states are the ones who decide whether to subsidize cell phones. But if you’ve seen commercials in your state for free cell phones, then that means it’s approved in your state. A free phone service usually has a set number of minutes each month that the user can use for free. If you wanted more minutes, then you have to buy prepaid minutes. Users typically sign up for a year and they have to prove that they are eligible. Every year users have to show proof of eligibility. If users do not qualify in a particular year, then the user would just become a regular paying customer.

Free cell phones can be particularly useful for people. Many low income families do not have phone service. Sometimes people need to call emergency or get in touch with families members. By having free cell phones, people can make emergency calls if they ever get into problems. People should not use the cell phones for talking to friends and then running down their minutes. If there ever was an emergency, you would be in trouble.

Privacy Policy

2009-11-01T13:00:00.003-05:00

This website/blog uses third-party advertising companies to serve ads when visiting this site. These third parties may collect and use information (but not your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you.

If you wish to opt out of Advertising companies tracking and tailoring advertisements to your surfing patterns you may do so at Network Advertising Initiative.

Privacy

I respect your privacy and I am committed to safeguarding your privacy while online at this site. The following discloses how I gather and disseminate information for this Blog.

RSS Feeds and Email Updates

If a user wishes to subscribe to my RSS Feeds or Email Updates (powered by Feedburner), I ask for contact information such as name and email address. Users may opt-out of these communications at any time. Your personal information will never be sold or given to a third party. (You will never be spammed by me - ever)

Log Files and Stats

Like most blogging platforms I use log files, in this case Statcounter. This stores information such as internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring, exit and visited pages, platform used, date/time stamp, track user’s movement in the whole, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. IP addresses etc. are not linked to personally identifiable information.

Cookies

A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user’s computer tied to information about the user. This blog doesn't use cookies. However, some of my business partners use cookies on this site (for example - advertisers). I can't access or control these cookies once the advertisers have set them.

Links

This Blog contains links to other sites. Please be aware that I am not responsible for the privacy practices of these other sites. I suggest my users to be aware of this when they leave this blog and to read the privacy statements of each and every site that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this Blog.

Advertisers

I use outside ad companies to display ads on this blog. These ads may contain cookies and are collected by the advertising companies and I do not have access to this information. I work with the following advertising companies: Infolinks. Please check the advertisers websites for respective privacy policies.