As we find ourselves getting older we always look back and say “I remember when…”, sounding like our grandparents did to us when they would say they would have to walk to and from school in three feet of snow, making note of how easy we had it compared to them. Our kids have it even easier than us when it comes to items that we used to have to pay for that are free now.
Current Events
I was actually kind of sad when I cancelled my newspaper subscription. My whole life since I was a kid I have known the newspaper to be part of the morning, and even when I didn’t read the paper, could look forward to the Sunday sale papers. Now, I find myself reading it every day now, but online, for free. I even remember having the newspaper at the library attached to those sticks. Let’s hope the website ads are helping to pay for the lost subscriptions, otherwise I will feel really bad.
Checking Your Credit Report
These days you are entitled to one free copy of your credit report once a year from each of the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. Much like anything you have to enter your personal information, especially your social security number, so you will want to make sure it is a legit site, so if you are not clicking a link off their sites, AnnualCreditReport.com is a trusted site. The credit score is not included, that will be an additional charge, but with most credit card companies giving your score on monthly statements, you should not have to shell out the extra money.
Every Song at Your Fingertips
This is not talking about downloading songs from pirate sites, that is free and illegal, but something that is free to use and legal (for now), and always a topic of conversation around the industry, is streaming songs. With sites like YouTube, you can find literally any song to listen to, and with music streaming site such as Spotify and Pandora, as long as you don’t mind a few ads, you are able to listen to stations, genres, and artists of your choosing.
Making Long-Distance Calls
Probably most of you reading this article does not remember having to dial a (1) and then the area code when having to make a long-distance call from your landlines, but I bet your parents remember getting the phone bill in the mail with the outrageous charges and screaming when they see what the damage is. Now I suppose parents could yell over minutes and data usage.
Directions
It is not only the gas station maps that we used to have to pay for, but I thought it was the greatest when I got my Garmin GPS as a gift, but even those are obsolete a decade later now that we have the free map app on our smart phones, only using the data we have included in the plan. The other plus is that the app can refresh when maps are updated, giving you the latest possible info.
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