PREPAID VS POSTPAID

In my post I will use AT & T as some of my examples because that is what I am mostly familiar with. They have post paid plans which mean you will get a monthly bill starting at $39.99 not including taxes. This is pretty expensive for some seniors on a fixed income unless you are more fortunate. They only use their phones just a few times per month and do not need all of those minutes. I would suggest that you consider their prepaid services. You can get it and only spend a minimum of $15.00 per month. I'm not sure if AT & T did this deliberately but a few years ago they had a $19.99 plan and a $29.99 plan, which was great for senior citizens, but they totally eliminated these plans, thus cutting out part of their market base. Some other companies besides AT & T however have some smaller plans and seniors should consider them if you don't want to add the minutes on yourself. It takes about the same amount of time to add the minutes on, than it does to pay for your cell phone bill and put it in an envelope. You have a due date on your bill for postpaid, and you have an expiration date for prepaid, which means you need to add minutes on before that date or you lose them, but by adding more minutes on, the unused minutes will roll forward and you do not lose them, and extend your service until the next expiration date. A simple call to 611, which is a free call will tell you your account balance and expiration date. Children or baby boomers should consider getting their parents or grandparents one of these prepaid phones so that you know they are safe in case of emergency. Some seniors only have one phone per family and could very easily have two prepaid services at $30.00 per month as opposed to $69.99 per month for two postpaid plans. The simple plan rate is only $.25 per minute when you call, giving you 60 minutes per month.

CELL PHONES A WAY OF LIFE

What did we ever do without cell phones. The senior citizens and baby boomer's remember the days. We talked at home on our home phone, and we stopped at pay phones, which are now becoming a thing of the past. There is no money in pay phones so they are taking them all out. Almost everyone has a cellphone today, but a lot of senior citizens still do not have them, one reason is the cost per month to have one of these precious commodities. Living on a fixed income is hard when you have to buy medicine and food. For young people even land line phones are becoming a thing of the past. Older people continue to keep their home phone, while young people could care less if they have one, as long as their cellphone works.