Best Pay-as-You-Go Phone for ds almost 12

[ELaurie]

Ds almost 12 would dearly love to have his own cell phone :tongue_smilie:

 

This is a purchase he would make himself; he will also be responsible for any associated fees.

 

He'll use it primarily to let me know he has arrived safely at his destination, or that he is headed home after leaving friend's house.

 

He would also like to have the ability to text.

 

ETA: We could add him to our family plan for $20 per month - but $240 a year is too expensive for his level of usage. I anticipate that there will be months when he has no phone calls at all; even in a high usage month, it's hard to imagine that he would have more than 4 or 5 phone calls or a dozen text messages.

Edited June 24, 2011 by ELaurie

[Dmmetler]

Virgin Mobile has a $25/month smartphone plan-300 minutes, plus unlimited data/text/e-mail. You have to buy the phone up front, though, which is about $150-$200 depending on the phone, but it might be a good option.

 

DH, who never uses his phone, has a t-mobile pay-as-you-go, which he likes because the minutes expire in 90 days vs 30, but it really is pay as you go-everything is subtracted from that account, every text, every call, every received message, and if you do any data at all, it costs you, so it might not be the best plan for a tween.

[Anita in NC]

I have Net10. You can get the phone with minutes at Target, it basically works out that the phone is free.

 

I pay $30 every 60 days for 300 minutes. Additional minutes are 10 cents per minute, texts are 5 cents.

[Krista in LA]

Virgin Mobile has a $25/month smartphone plan-300 minutes, plus unlimited data/text/e-mail. You have to buy the phone up front, though, which is about $150-$200 depending on the phone, but it might be a good option.

 

:iagree: We have this for my dd15 and it works great for her because she does a lot of texting. We'll be doing the same for ds when he starts high school. I got her phone on clearance at Target last summer for $35. I think they have a couple phones that are less than $100. If your son isn't going to use it a lot, you might be able to find cheaper, but I love that this has unlimited text and data.

[Scarlett]

Just got my dss14 straighttalk.com phone.

 

Phone was $10 (there are some that are free). $30 per month-1000 minutes/1000 texts and I think 30 MB of data. The part I like is no contract and when you are done you are done...no overages.

 

Edited to change data amount.

Edited June 24, 2011 by Scarlett

[ELaurie]

DH, who never uses his phone, has a t-mobile pay-as-you-go, which he likes because the minutes expire in 90 days vs 30, but it really is pay as you go-everything is subtracted from that account, every text, every call, every received message, and if you do any data at all, it costs you, so it might not be the best plan for a tween.

 

This could work for him. How much are the calls / text messages? What's the minimum number of minutes you can buy every 90 days?

[ELaurie]

I have Net10. You can get the phone with minutes at Target, it basically works out that the phone is free.

 

I pay $30 every 60 days for 300 minutes. Additional minutes are 10 cents per minute, texts are 5 cents.

 

Thanks Anita. This could work for him :)

Edited June 24, 2011 by ELaurie

[ELaurie]

Just got my dss14 straighttalk.com phone.

 

Phone was $10 (there are some that are free). $30 per month-1000 minutes/1000 texts and I think 30 MB of data. The part I like is no contract and when you are done you are done...no overages.

 

Edited to change data amount.

 

I like the idea of no contract too. We would prefer not to give him access to a data plan at this point, although the idea of being able to track where he is on my GPS is attractive (not that we are concerned that he won't be where he is supposed to be at this point).

[Cinder]

I have Virgin Mobile and pay $20 for 3 months service--each call and text is paid out of that. I think my phone was $20 at Target. I'm not a phone person so I never end up using all my $ each period.

[HiddenJewel]

I have Net10. You can get the phone with minutes at Target, it basically works out that the phone is free.

 

I pay $30 every 60 days for 300 minutes. Additional minutes are 10 cents per minute, texts are 5 cents.

 

This is what dh and I both use. Works great for us.

[aliya]

My 12 yr old has this phone ($30) and 100 minutes per month for $10 through Tracfone. It works great for him. The minutes roll over so he's got over 700 on his phone right now.

[ereks mom]

When EK was that age, we got her a Virgin Mobile phone. We paid $15 for the phone at Circuit City. There was no contract, and at that time, we paid $20 every 3 months to add minutes to her account. I think phone calls were 18 cents per minute, and texts were 5 cents each. She had the phone for a couple of years, and it was perfect for making a few calls a month and texting her friends occasionally. We allowed her to have the phone as a trial run to see if she could be responsible with it. She proved herself, and after a year or two, we added her to our family plan on Verizon.

[TrixieB]

I got a prepaid T-Mobile phone ($20, very basic model) and 1000 minutes ($100). Because I bought 1000 minutes, they last for a year. If you don't use them all, and add minutes before the year is over, then all of the unused minutes and the new minutes roll over for another entire year.

 

I don't use my phone much, and am coming up on the 2 year anniversary of my original purchase. I added $10 last year to roll over the existing balance. $110 for two years' worth of cell service isn't bad.

 

This isn't a data plan, just phone and text. Texts are 10c each.

[Liz CA]

I have Virgin Mobile and pay $20 for 3 months service--each call and text is paid out of that. I think my phone was $20 at Target. I'm not a phone person so I never end up using all my $ each period.

 

I am considering Net10 or StraightTalk for pay as you go phone as well. I don't use it much. Someone said that customer service for these companies is usually somewhere in South America and it's hard to understand the people.

[aliya]

I am considering Net10 or StraightTalk for pay as you go phone as well. I don't use it much. Someone said that customer service for these companies is usually somewhere in South America and it's hard to understand the people.

 

My phone is with Straight Talk and it's true - CS reps are VERY hard to understand. But once everything is working properly, the service is great.

[ELaurie]

My 12 yr old has this phone ($30) and 100 minutes per month for $10 through Tracfone. It works great for him. The minutes roll over so he's got over 700 on his phone right now.

This sounds perfect - Thank you!

[ELaurie]

I got a prepaid T-Mobile phone ($20, very basic model) and 1000 minutes ($100). Because I bought 1000 minutes, they last for a year. If you don't use them all, and add minutes before the year is over, then all of the unused minutes and the new minutes roll over for another entire year.

 

I don't use my phone much, and am coming up on the 2 year anniversary of my original purchase. I added $10 last year to roll over the existing balance. $110 for two years' worth of cell service isn't bad.

 

This isn't a data plan, just phone and text. Texts are 10c each.

 

This sounds great - Thank you!

[ELaurie]

When EK was that age, we got her a Virgin Mobile phone. We paid $15 for the phone at Circuit City. There was no contract, and at that time, we paid $20 every 3 months to add minutes to her account. I think phone calls were 18 cents per minute, and texts were 5 cents each. She had the phone for a couple of years, and it was perfect for making a few calls a month and texting her friends occasionally. We allowed her to have the phone as a trial run to see if she could be responsible with it. She proved herself, and after a year or two, we added her to our family plan on Verizon.

 

Lots of great suggestions here - thank you!

[Running the race]

We have an AT&T GoPhone. The phone was $25 and came with $25 credit. My ds doesn't use it much, so we just have the flat-rate 25 cents per minute or text. You have to renew every three months. If you do, your leftover money rolls over. Right now he has $90 on the phone because he hardly uses it. So we pay $25 every three months. We don't have any data on it.