Have you been unable to keep up with your cell phone bills or even pay your landline? Cell phones are a practical necessity these days. Especially when there is an emergency, a cell phone can come in handy. However many senior citizens just cannot afford to pay for a cell phone. Senior citizens typically live off of social security which does not provide for much income. If seniors are having trouble paying for food and rent, a cell phone is probably the last thing on their mind to have. Fortunately though, the government has stepped in to help with free cell phones for senior citizens.

Free cell phones for the elderly are government funded phones that allow the elderly to make and receive calls for free. The program is not available in all states, but most states should have it. Contact SafeLink Wireless to find out if it's available in your state. The amount of free minutes that you get is also different for each state. Usually the amount of free minutes per month amounts to about an hour of talk time.

You can qualify for free cell phones for seniors if you are already on other social programs like food stamps or get SSI. You will need to show proof of your income in order to qualify. If you intend on continuing the program each year, your income will also need to be verified each year.

Since the amount of minutes you get each month for free is limited, you should use it for real emergencies. It's not meant to be used for daily chatting with your friends. If you save the unused minutes each month, it would rollover to the next month. However, if you need to use more minutes than you are limited to, you can buy prepaid minutes too. Each household is also only limited to one phone since its purpose is meant to be used as a family emergency phone.

To apply for free cell phones for senior citizens, just go to SafeLink Wireless and apply online. You can also call them and do it over the phone. Once they receive your information and have verified you, you should be good for a free phone.