There are a lot of people out there that have heard of free government phones, but do not have a very clear understanding of how it all works. They know that they have a need for a cell phone, especially if they have children but, with the rising costs of cellular plans, having even one cell phone in the house is becoming a little difficult to accomplish.
The free government phones are just like any other cell phone that you could get, but there will be some restrictions. For example, for the government cellular phones, you will be given a limited number of free talk and text minutes for every month. However, many free government plan providers allow you the option of purchasing some additional minutes at a reasonable rate. This would still work out to be an incredible amount of savings for low-income families that just want to make sure that they can be reached or have a way to call for help in the event of an emergency. Also, the program limits each household to just one phone. So, don't bother filling out an application for you, your spouse, and your kids.
You might think that this is nice but that you couldn't qualify for it. Generally, if you are on any type of government assistance, you automatically qualify. All you have to do is to actually apply for it through a local provider. Even if you're not on government assistance, you might still qualify. You won't know until you try and, at worst, you'll just get turned down. If you're not currently enrolled in a government assistance program like SNAP (food stamps) or Medicaid, you should check your states guidelines for poverty level based on income. Depending on your state, you could still qualify for a free government cell phone if you are at 150% of the poverty level!
So what are you waiting for? Just look up a local provider and fill out the application. You can easily find providers on the internet by searching for "free government phones" or "government cell phones". Many providers will let you fill out the application on-line. Once applied for, it usually takes about a week to receive your free handset in the mail. But when it arrives, it's ready to go.
Once you find a good provider and get your free phone, tell your family and friends how they can get one. You'll be a hero and, since you'll be on the same cellular network, you'll probably get unlimited minutes on calls to them!