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Least expensive way to give a teenager a phone? Prepaid??


TheReader
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Anyone know the best/cheapest way to do this?

 

Without giving details, a teenager in our life (but not one of my children) needs a means of contact/communication. Ideally, we would like to supply this teenager with an old-school call & text only phone, mainly because most of the prepaid smart phones, i can't find a way to have the prepaid minutes be usable for talk/text only vs. data, and I suspect the teen would use up the allotted time on data and defeat the purpose of us supplying the phone. 

 

I was planning to go visit some stores in my area today to try and figure this out, but our area is having flash flooding, so I'm staying home and asking The Hive instead. :)

 

Do non-smart phones still exist, or do prepaid versions exist where the prepaid minutes can't be used for data? (and the teen could buy data minutes on their own if so desired, but we don't prefer to fund that at this time). 

 

I'll also look into going through our carrier and adding a line, but any tips/suggestions/place to start looking would be appreciated. 

 

Thanks very much! 

 

(also, if anyone is the praying sort, prayers for this teen would be appreciated, even though I can't share details). 

Edited by TheReader
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We use tracfone. Minutes are applied to calls, text, and data separately--so, if you buy a 40 minute card, you get 40 minutes of call time, 40 texts, AND a small amount of data; using data will not use up the call or text minutes. Many phones automatically double or triple the number of minutes of airtime added (so a 40 minute card actually adds 120 minutes)

 

I usually get a year card, if you buy your minutes online there are promotional rates.

 

https://get.tracfone.com/smartphone-plans/

 

We get the pay as you go plans. They have some really inexpensive basic smartphones.

Edited by maize
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We use tracfone. Minutes are applied to calls, text, and data separately--so, if you buy a 40 minute card, you get 40 minutes of call time, 40 texts, AND a small amount of data; using data will not use up the call or text minutes. Many phones automatically double or triple the number of minutes of airtime added (so a 40 minute card actually adds 120 minutes)

 

I usually get a year card, if you buy your minutes online there are promotional rates.

 

https://get.tracfone.com/smartphone-plans/

 

We get the pay as you go plans. They have some really inexpensive basic smartphones.

 

Oh, perfect! Thank you for this. I could NOT for the life of me figure it out when looking online. This helps. Thank you!!

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We have two 'teen' phones.

 

One is an old slider. You can usually buy one fairly cheaply on Craigslist (or your local equivalent). We have $12 for 1200 minutes per month via pageplus on that phone.

 

We bought a Moto G Play for $70 at Walmart for our teen who is on sports teams to carry with him. I did a no contract Verizon plan for that phone. $30 per month for unlimited talk & text, no data. He can access wifi on the phone, though.

 

Best wishes.

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We thought a prepaid simple flip phone would be the cheapest option, as well. but if your child is going to use it for sending pictures or heavy texting it winds up being more expensive that way. for us, the cheapest option in the long run was to buy an unlocked phone with minutes you add every so often. Cost more upfront for the smartphone, but in the end it was a better and cheaper option.

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Tracfone -- look on the box of the phone you buy and make sure it says "double minutes for life" (or triple minutes).  That way any phone card you buy will double the minutes.

 

Most cards are good for 90 days but if you run out of minutes before you can purchase more.

 

If you are buying minutes online make sure to check online for coupon codes.  Sometimes there will be a code.  Buy a certain number minute card and get free minutes.

 

Ds has a tracfone flip phone I got for $5.  Normally $10 but was on sale.  He has been using the cheap phones for years. 

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Another vote for TracFone.  I've had one for a couple of years and love it.  I have an iPhone 4s and an iPhone SE on Tracfone.  I plan to move my kids to it later this year when their Verizon contracts expire.

--You can use their "bring your own phone" program if you have an old phone that works on their network - most Verizon phones work, and some newer AT&T phones.  
--If you are using a smart phone, their app makes it easy to see how much you have left of data/minutes/texts.  I think a "dumb phone" can do this by sending a text.  Either way, it makes it easy for the teen to see what they have left, and ration themselves accordingly.  Much better, IMHO, than an unlimited plan, as they learn budgeting skills.
--TracFone is incredibly easy to work with (as opposed to Verizon, with whom we also have phones, where everything is complicated).
--Minutes, texts, and data carry over - once you buy them, they don't expire.  And you can buy texts and data separate from minutes.

--Hint - the last few times I've bought online, I've gotten an offer for a full year of service for $50.  Since I don't use a lot of minutes, that's a great deal for me.  
--The cheapest all around way to go is the 60-day card, which works out to about $13/month.  Very reasonable.  And if you don't use a lot of minutes or texts, you can combine that with the $50/year card to make it even cheaper.
 
Search the boards - there are a lot of TracFone threads with more info.

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my college age boys did the research.  ting.com.  you buy your own phone (they have a place they can buy phones used for a whole lot less.), and only pay for what you use.  they have a shared plan.  if they don't use it much, it's less than $10 for each of them in a month.

 

ting uses  sprint. 

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Tracfone. had one for years.

 

You can also have prepaid smart phones (I have a Nokia windows phone that was $25), and you don't have to purchase a data plan. That way, they can only use internet when they have wifi and that's free. Mine is AT&T.

 

Edited by regentrude
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Tracfone.

You can get a NOT-smart phone for around $10. Check Family Dollar or Dollar General, or Walmart.

 

A smartphone will be capable of accessing the internet over wifi even without any data available. If you have concerns about access, don't provide a smartphone.

 

Two of my girls have unlocked older iPhones that use ATT GoPhone pre-paid plans, cheapest is $40/month for unlimited talk and text and limited data. These two needed that because texting was costing more on the Tracfone.

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my college age boys did the research.  ting.com.  you buy your own phone (they have a place they can buy phones used for a whole lot less.), and only pay for what you use.  they have a shared plan.  if they don't use it much, it's less than $10 for each of them in a month.

 

ting uses  sprint. 

Tello also uses Sprint. My child pays $6.40 a month for unlimited text and 100 call minutes. They also have data plans but he just uses wifi. You build your service based on how many minutes, data, and text you want. We've been happy with them.

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We have older iPhones, one on ATT, one on T-Mobile. Not sure about T-Mobile (we wanted data on that), but for the ATT we get phone/text only, prepaid by the month.

 

If you don't want internet access over public or home wifi, for an iPhone, you can enable restrictions, removing access to the browser and not allowing new apps.

 

I'd be careful about a flip phone. Teens can feel very self conscious about their phones, ime.

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My youngest two use tracfones, but check on the coverage in your area. The southern part of our state is a dead zone. These phones don't roam; they are useless bricks in the dead zone. So when traveling south, we have to make sure there is a phone with coverage along for the trip.

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My younger teens babysit and because most families no longer have a house phone, they need a cell phone.  We use an old school style flip phone.  It can call and text, but it is painful.  Think back to the days when you had to push the buttons 3-4 times to get the correct letter.  It is $30 every other month through net10.  

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Tracfone. 

 

Check HSN online for phones that come with a year of service. We paid about $80 shipped for a phone with 1200 minutes and year of service. That's about the same price as 400 minutes and one year of service on the Tracfone site, and we got the phone and case as well. Thanks to my 80-yr-old dad for finding us that bargain, lol. 

 

Each text message is about one-third of a minute. Calls are by actual time. Phone comes with triple minutes for life (when you buy more minutes). Her data and minutes show up separately, but the data is mostly 'just in case' - most of the Tracfones are not awesome fun to surf with. Including the one we just bought, which at least looks considerably more like a real phone than the last one did. Last one cost $25 for phone, which lasted about 2 1/2 years, and about $7 per month for minutes. We used them mainly so the kids can text us when to be picked up and so on. 

 

This is the one we bought, there are others. Read the details on each one to make sure you get the year of service, not just minutes alone. If you haven't bought from HSN before, you can sign up for their newsletter and get a 15% off coupon. 

 

https://www.hsn.com/products/lg-rebel-45-4g-lte-android-tracfone-w1200-minutes/8242507?variant=8242512

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Hsn has some tracfones that are under $100 WITH a year of service and 1200 minutes/1200 texts/1200MB of data. If you are concerned about online activity, install qustodio. It has worked great for us. It will block what you choose and monitor what you do allow. 

 

Great minds post alike!

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Thanks everyone!

 

I am not terribly concerned about the teen accessing the Internet, just using up the data/talk time. Now that I have learned many of these or some of these split the talk time separate from the data time, we will go that route and get a basic smart phone. I did see some on the tracfone site for $30 plus the year of service.

 

I assume you can then add extra minutes to the phone, to allow more minutes even though the year isn't up yet.

 

This has been very helpful!

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I do suggest replacing the case if you go with one of the HSN deals. The only phone we've ever had a screen break on was one of the HSN Tracfones, and I think it was simply that the case provided no protection for the screen, but only covered the back. Most of the other cases, even the snap on ones, extend a little above so if the phone hits the ground, the impact is on the case, not the screen.

 

And be aware that if you get an HSN deal phone and it breaks before the year is up, the plan cannot be transferred to a new phone. It wasn't a big deal, but DD lost about 6 months of service due to that.

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And be aware that if you get an HSN deal phone and it breaks before the year is up, the plan cannot be transferred to a new phone. It wasn't a big deal, but DD lost about 6 months of service due to that.

I have one child who is careless, so I was adamant about monthly service only. One nice thing is that the carriers we have used let you hold onto your number even if you have a break of several months. Edited by Alessandra
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Thanks everyone!

 

I am not terribly concerned about the teen accessing the Internet, just using up the data/talk time. Now that I have learned many of these or some of these split the talk time separate from the data time, we will go that route and get a basic smart phone. I did see some on the tracfone site for $30 plus the year of service.

 

I assume you can then add extra minutes to the phone, to allow more minutes even though the year isn't up yet.

 

This has been very helpful!

 

Yes, you can add more minutes whenever you want, either online or by buying a card.  Smartphones get triple minutes from non-smart-phone cards.  Generally, minutes also come with service time, so factor that in when you decide how to get started.  I did a spreadsheet and found that for my use, the 60-day card that costs about $30 gave me the best ongoing price; I then augmented that with the $50 for a year of service that popped up when I bought online, as I won't use all the minutes in 60 days.  If I need more data or texts, sometimes I just buy another 60 day card (which comes with some minutes/data/texts) and sometimes I buy just data or just texts, depending on my needs.  It is a really customizable way to go - just buy what you need.  And SO much cheaper than, say, Verizon if you are not using it a ton.  (Verizon wants $15 for 1GB of data that expires in a month or two whether you use it or not; TracFone wants $10 for 1GB of data that never expires.  My line fee with Verizon is $40; Tracfone is about $15.)

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Do non-smart phones still exist, or do prepaid versions exist where the prepaid minutes can't be used for data? (and the teen could buy data minutes on their own if so desired, but we don't prefer to fund that at this time). 

 

 

Absolutely, but those phones are awful for texting if that matters.

 

We have three dumb phones. One gets used by the kids as needed.  It's from Tracphone. 

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