cell phones for teens

[squirrlygirl]

DS (13) currently has a trac fone, but he forgets to reload cards and runs out. I'd really like him to have a cell that I can get ahold of him on regularly. My concern, though, is that he'll run up a huge bill.

Are there plans/carriers/certain phones out there that you can limit the minutes so they can't go over? I'm not having much luck finding this info. I was planning on unlimited texts with whatever plan we get him-he seems to always be texting some girl

I can get reception here on Sprint, ATT, and I think Verizon.

 

[lovetoscrap]

I just got DD13 a Kajeet cell phone on the recommendation of another DISer. They have a plan right now for 150 minutes and unlimited texting for $20--it renews on my cc automatically each month. They also have it set up so you put the money in ahead of time and it stops working when they run out--but you can specifiy which numbers are paid out of 2 different accounts. For instance you have the kid pay for all his calls to friends and all calls to and from you are paid from your account.

You can also set the hours that the phone will work-- so hers is now turned off during bedtime hours and school hours, but she can actually still receive and make calls to us only during those times.

Hard to explain, but check out the website www.kajeet.com and look around. I think this is the perfect phone for tweens and teens!

 

[mjkacmom]

I pay $10 a month each for dd13 and ds11, my mom is also on my plan, and even with the lowest minimum of minutes plan we have, we never come close. My kids text, and we have unlimited - they rarely talk on the phones1

 

[MizTink]

we use metro pcs. around $35-$40 for unlimited EVERYTHING. local,long distance, and texting. can't run up extra charges with overages, downloads, etc. the bill stays the same month to month. and no contract to be locked into.

 

[squirrlygirl]

What happened to my fist answer? It's a Halloween ghost!


Metro pcs isn't available here. To add a line to my plan is $50 (I have a blackberry and it looks like the shared line has to have the same plan)

Kajeet looks interesting, but I'm finding several bad reviews with their customer service and problems with double charging. Lovetoscrap-how long have you had them? Have you had any trouble?

 

[lovetoscrap]

We just got it so I haven't had much experience with them. I did talk to another DISer that used them and had them for a while and was very happy.

 

[DawnCt1]

We have Verizon. I have five phones on my plan. I have 1400 shared minutes. We never go over. Most of their friends have Verizon so they aren't charged for minutes to their friends. Frequent land line calls go under "friends and family" and you can have unlimited minutes on up to ten of those. We have unlimited texting and block data usage.

 

[pls5286]

I have Verizon and with the parental safeguards I can lock my sons phone. He can only make calls during set hours which I pre-set, and currently his phone is "off" during bedtime hours and school hours. He can call or text only phones on the plan that I say he can or 911 during those hours. Unlimited calls to verizon customers and free nights and weekends. Unlimited texts. He never goes over.

 

[Ohiodislover]

We have a family plan from ATT. We have 850 shared minutes. I added unlimited texting for the family, and me and my 14 y.o. have internet. Our bill is $170/month. I like that our unused minutes roll over.

My 14 Y.O. uses her texting much much more than minutes. My 10 Y.O. talks more on hers.

 

[squirrlygirl]

Well, Kajeet was a bust. I placed my order Saturday, but they never processed it. I sent an email, but they didn't answer it. So I called and asked for them to cancel the order. And was told no! He said to just refuse the order when it came. I told him I didn't want the order processed at all since it had been sitting there for days untouched, but he said they don't have a way to do that, but would let order fulfillment know I didn't want it and I'd just have to see what happened. Today the order still says it hasn't been processed.

But I told my mom about the problem, and she was willing to add DS to her plan for $19.99 He'll have unlimited mobile to mobile, unlimited nights and weekends starting at 7, and unlimited messaging. Overkill for him but the cheapest way to do it! And my mom is thrilled, too, because now she can text her grandson (she's hard of hearing and can't talk on the phone easily)

 

[golfgal]

Get him a phone on your plan $10/month to add, add unlimited texting and you won't have to worry about going over minutes. I think my kids, the 3 of them combined, use MAYBE 20 minutes/month. They almost never talk on the phone they mostly just text. The rule in our house however is that if they DO go over our minutes they pay the extra.