Buy Insurance!

Last year my computer died and I lost a number of files and had to pay a couple hundred just to fix it. It was horrible but reminded me to do backups of my computer alot more often. It was an expensive lesson and I thought nothing could be as bad as that. I was wrong.
Last week I lost my phone. (Or had it stolen I never was able to figure out exactly which.) I have now been without a phone for a week and have just learned that I can pay $500 for a new phone, wait and buy one for slightly less in 2 weeks or take my chance and buy one off ebay. None are great choices.

 As a result I have some pointers/warnings for you.

1. Buy insurance-It would have saved me alot of money and they seem more willing to help when you have it.
2. Install a finders application on your cell. It is basically a program where you can find your phone when lost and in some cases wipe out the information if stolen. If your phone is turned off though it doesn't really do alot.
3. As soon as you've determined that you are not getting your phone back call your provider so that you can suspend your service and not be charged for any calls that others may make. Remember to try calling it first though.
4. Make sure that you have a pin lock on it. I was lazy and didn't so all I had to do to unlock it was swipe the lock open. If you have a pin lock then you also have to punch in your personal pin number. My information was accessible so if my phone was stolen they could get into my text messages, my email, my contacts and my photos. This is the part that made me particularly sick when I realized it was lost/stolen. It might be a pain to have to enter your pin but it will save you a world of hurt!
5. In either case (if you have a pin set up or not) I suggest trying to remember what apps you had on your phone and changing all the passwords. I don't do banking from my phone so didn't have to worry about that! I did change my email and 2 other services I subscribed to though. Just in case.
6. Lastly once again BACKUP YOUR INFO! Some of the previous finders apps do it automatically while some providers will also do it. I lost some great photos that I was waiting to email myself. Lesson learned...again.

So say a prayer for me and take a couple of minutes to take care of your phone. I'm not an avid cell phone user like some but now that I'm without one I do feel very lost and out of the loop. Oh well, only for a few more weeks hopefully.