Turning Off the Cell Phone

[HCMBirdie]

When did you guys turn off their cell phone? He still gets calls, mostly commercial calls, but its expensive. I've been thinking about just turning off the data on his phone... but keeping it in case he gets calls or texts? I've been carrying his phone since the day he died, but I can't/shouldn't continue to pay for two cells.

[jeudi]

Birdie-

 

For most widows, there will likely be many such decisions to make. For me, anything that made solid sense financially I did first. Not everything will end up being about money.

 

Unless you are completely flush with extra $, (you mention it is expensive like a person who has a need to watch their funds) go ahead and turn it off. If you like the comfort of carrying his phone because it was his consider that he carried it nevertheless and you can still keep it in your purse or pocket even if it no longer has service.

[daysofelijah]

I ended up keeping his and turning mine off soon after he died. This was five years ago though, when I wasn't very attached to a cell phone. He had the better phone, so it made sense.

[HCMBirdie]

When did you guys turn off their cell phone? He still gets calls, mostly commercial calls, but its expensive. I've been thinking about just turning off the data on his phone... but keeping it in case he gets calls or texts? I've been carrying his phone since the day he died, but I can't/shouldn't continue to pay for two cells.

 

Did you switch your numbers or start using his?

[Portside]

I cancelled my late wife's cell about a week or two after she passed.

 

For me, it was just another item on the list to take care of. That, calling all her medical providers to settle up, cancelling magazine subscriptions, etc. It was more comforting to turn off those things, if you will, than to hold on to them.

 

Best wishes - Mike

[Bunny]

As for me, I am excellent at procrastinating- widowhood did nothing to change this. I was also pretty darn ambivalent about things that first year; lacking in motivation to do anything beyond the absolute musts. I’m guessing it took me at least a year, I honestly can’t remember. But then, we were on a family plan and his was a flip phone that didn’t receive texts- so it was a rather cheap indulgence.

 

If it’s a big financial drain, definitely sooner is better than later. Is all the info on there saved somewhere separate, like in the cloud, in case you want to look at or hear something you think of later? Would you be willing to deal with the annoyance of changing your number to his in order to not miss any incoming calls/texts he might some day receive?

 

In the end, it almost all becomes just stuff. But, in the beginning, certain things can feel like the most precious artifacts and are hard to part with, even a phone plan.