There are a few things that aren’t needs, but will dramatically benefit your lifestyle. Most of these items are pay once, and then only when you need to replace them. There is a resource that you will have to pay annually, but it is worth it, and the annual price is very minimal. Another resource will add a monthly bill to you, but again – I feel that this will be beneficial to you as it will improve your presence on the Internet.
Cellular Smartphone
A smartphone is like having a computer in your pocket. This alone will allow you to do so much, and have a number of resources. If you have a SIP account, you can install a SIP client on your phone, and make/receive calls on your smartphone. If you do social networking, most social networks have a smartphone app. Depending on the capability of your smartphone, you can play games. And while I won’t recommend it, you can browse websites, and compose emails.
Obviously, your smartphone is a phone. Being on SSI, you should be able to qualify for Lifeline. Lifeline is a program where you would get free limited cellular phone service. For example, Assurance Wireless in Pennsylvania will give you 3000 minutes, and unlimited SMS. You also get 4.5GB of data. This could be a significant benefit if you are in need of free phone service. If Lifeline is not an option, and you can afford to pay for a year, then Mint will be an option. The cheapest plan will give you unlimited MMS/SMS/Voice capabilities with 5GB of high speed data for $180 (+taxes) per year. If you want a limited rate plan, and something that you can pay monthly, then Tello can be an option. Their most expensive plan is $25/month. While I have a Lifeline phone service, it is not my primary phone for a couple of reasons.
If you are stuck on what phone to get, here will be some of my advice. First, don’t get your “free” phone from your carrier. Free phones are usually low quality, especially if you go with Lifeline. They are not going to give you a $300 phone if you’re not paying for the service. Your phone will get frustrating slow in a few months. Another reason to not get your phone from the phone provider is they could have their bloatware, and “other” apps installed. I would recommend to only have the apps installed that you are going to use, or necessary for the features of the phone. With this said, you should buy directly from the manufacturer or an authorized reseller, and only buy unlocked phones. This way, if you need to, you can take your phone to another carrier, and use their service. If your have a locked phone, it will only work with the carrier you bought the phone from. Yes, you will be paying more for this, but it would be worth it. The phone manufacturers I would recommend will be Apple for iPhones, Google for their Pixel lineup, or Motorola. I would recommend buying the best you can afford, and make it last as long as possible. Keep in mind, the most expensive isn’t always the best.
Computer
To me, a computer is the ultimate media consumption, and creation machine. If you buy a desktop, you can decide the size of your screen (unless you get an all in one). You can also decide your keyboard and mouse. If you are into making your own websites, but you don’t know all of the web development technologies, WordPress will be right for you. It is how I develop my own websites, and all I need is a web browser, and an FTP client. The FTP client is to upload the WordPress platform, while the web browser helps in creating the content pages.
As a communication device, email is the ultimate capability. It is faster, and more reliable than postal mail, and you can keep your finances down. While I personally write postal mail to a few correspondents, I prefer email. If you have a printer, and your handwriting is poor, consider typing your letters. You can also use the printer to print envelopes with your return address, and the recipient’s address. Each person will get their own envelope file. I would suggest that you have a dedicated folder for everyone you write to, With that in mind, every folder will have an envelope file. As for the letters, I would recommend that you use the date as the filename for the letter you are typing.
If you were to buy a computer, you should weigh the benefits and flaws of both a desktop, and a notebook. A desktop is likely to have better specs than a notebook of the same price. If you are OK with a learning curve, you might be able to get away with a Linux computer. This will cost less since the manufacturer won’t have to buy a Windows license. In that regards, I heard great things about Zorin OS, and have it on a notebook PC I bought in early 2025.
Contact Profile
There are a couple of options to consider when deciding on a contact profile. The first option will be to create a web page with all of your public contact information in it. The page name should be Contact so people will know what the page is about. If you take my suggestion on a WordPress driven website, a contact page might be something like https://you.tld/contact/. Obviously, you would only want information that 8 Billion people will see.
The second option will be a dedicated contact website. Again, if you followed my suggestion with regards to a website, you could create https://contact.you.tld/. You would want an email address that people can reach you on. Email is much quicker, and more efficient than postal mail.
While some people might say a .TEL address will work just as well for a contact profile, I will agree. However, the past couple of times I tried to get support from TELnames, I got none. Because of this, I can never recommend a .TEL address even though I still have a couple. I promote cnt.fsp.ws as my contact site. I used to have a dedicated contact site, but this wasn’t financially wise. With that in mind, I just created a sub-domain on my main site, and promote that.
Tablet
The tablet is a good in between device. It is bigger than a smartphone, and smaller, and more handleable than a computer. However, if you can not afford a tablet, this is not a requisite. Tablets can be pricey for the role they serve. With that in mind, that is something you would want to weigh carefully. If you decide to get a tablet, I would recommend that you get one with a cellular capable option.
Website
This is for anyone who wants a better than Facebook internet presence. For example, it will be hard to have a site like this one on Facebook. However, this site provides valuable information, and might make one’s life easier. If I just had a Facebook presence, and nothing else – then this site will not exist. I personally use Dreamhost for my hosting needs. They cost less than $15/month, and cheaper per month if you are able to pay for a year or three years. Also, when hosting with them, you would get a free .com/.net/.org domain. If this will be a personal site, I would recommend a .com followed by .org, and then .net. If you are willing to pay more per year, you might be able to get all three, and have the other 2 redirect to your primary site. For shared hosting, Dreamhost offers 1 plan. This plan will give you unlimited domains and sub-domains.
Assuming you use Dreamhost for you website, you would want to create a MySQL database with your domain name as the name. For example, if you have fsp.ws, then your database might be fsp_ws. WordPress uses tables, so your table prefix for www.you.tld (your main site) will be www_. Even if you aren’t going to promote your primary site with the www, still used it with your database table. If you decide to add a new site (such as contact.you.tld), then your table prefix will be contact_. The WordPress engine will create the necessary tables, and with this method for your subdomains will make managing and editing your SQL database easier as well. If you decide to drop contact.fsp.ws, then you could go into your database and delete all of the tables that begin with contact_.