People in poverty generally have a hard time paying their bills. Any additional expenses would only put more strain on them. Because of this, owning a cell phone would be quite tough as it is quite expensive.
Even though cell phones are expensive, most people own a cell phone. It may seem as though cell phones are not really necessary, but in fact, cell phones can be very useful especially in emergency situations. The government feels that people should have free cell phones for those emergency situations.
Household income is the determining factor for whether or not you get a phone. The income level is set by the government and is different forth each state. If you are getting government assistance, then getting a phone should be no problem.
Although you are getting a free phone with free minutes, there is a cap on the amount of minutes you can use per month. Usually, it is about one hour depending on the state that you reside in. If you want to go above that limit, then you would have to buy more minutes.
Free cell phones will not be free anymore under one condition. Once you and your family are not considered low income anymore, then you cannot use the cell phones for free. The cell phone company has to check your income every year.
Find a cellular service provider in your area that offers free cell phones for low income families. Not all states have this program yet, so you will need to check it out.
Fill out the necessary applications for a free cell phone. You will need to provide pay stubs and W2s to show that you qualify as low income. You have to show this information each year before you sign their contract.
Be sure you keep track of your minutes used every month. You do not want to run out of minutes when you really need it most. Check the amount of minutes you use every month. If you save the minutes they roll over to the next month.
Jamie Smith works for a cell phone company. Her company gives people free phone service from the government. For more information please go to her website.