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Old 12-05-2016, 05:19 PM   #41
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A Tracfone with the 1st year of service purchased from HSN or QVC is in my opinion the best value if you don't use much data.

My mom paid $85 including tax for her LG smartphone and received 1200 minutes/1200 texts/1200 MB data.

Since service costs $125 for one year for 1500/1500/1500, she essentially got the smartphone for free and the service at 20% off.

Next year, to maintain the service, we are planning on buying 400 minutes/365 days for $100 + 1 GB data for $10.
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Old 12-05-2016, 09:46 PM   #42
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Nope. DD went off of our plan after she graduated college and began working full time (or "off the dole" as we refer to it within the family). Similar with DS... I don't remember the exact timing of his but I think it was when he moved out of the house.

DS bought a phone ($50 IIRC) and has a cheapo plan that meets his needs but is $50 every 4 months.

They can get their own plan from airvoicewireless (AT&T network MVNO) with unlimited talk and text and 100mb/month of data for $20/month or 1GB of data for $30/month. If they don't have a GSM cellphone they can buy one for $50-$700 depending on what they want.
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Old 12-05-2016, 09:48 PM   #43
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....DD is just turning 13 and I do not think needs a phone.... and I prove my point when I say I will buy her one like mine and she says 'no way'....
No 13 year old wants a flip phone.
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Old 12-05-2016, 11:08 PM   #44
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No 13 year old wants a flip phone.
It is not a flip phone.... but a small smart phone... but does not look 'sharp'... she wants an Apple, but I have told her she will never own an Apple while living here or getting money from me....



OH... BTW, Jerry Jones has a flip phone.... at least the last time he was on TV talking on his phone (which was last year when I saw it).... if it is good enough for a billionaire it should be good enough for a 13 YO...


Pick of my phone...




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Old 12-06-2016, 04:56 AM   #45
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I see nothing wrong with keeping a large family plan and splitting the costs. The plans are all structured to be vastly cheaper the more lines you add so having someone leave the plan just raises their costs. Tmobile for example had that buy 2 get 2 lines deal a few weeks back, cost for 4 lines was $120 or $30/line, cost for just 1 line with them is $70. Isn't it better to save everyone a little money than the view of independence? After all I thought money/early retirement websites were all about being smart with your money!
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Old 12-06-2016, 05:54 AM   #46
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I recently found out that DW and I are paying for youngest son's monthly phone bill. It's separate from our plan, and costing close to $80/ month. I was not pleased, as he is 26 and living in Brooklyn. It's not that we can't afford it, but I know that had I been involved in the decision making there would have been a few things included in the deal, such as an exit strategy, and perhaps finding cheaper options to provide the "necessary" options without any frills.
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Old 12-06-2016, 06:08 AM   #47
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We carry DD on our phone plan and her car on our insurance plan. She still has her packages delivered to our house. She is independent and doesn't "need" our support but we never saw a reason to dump her. She is a teacher and lives below her needs so why not send some extra her way? If all proceeds on plan we will start gifting both kids in 10-15 years. If all doesn't proceed on plan we will kick them to the curb
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Old 12-06-2016, 06:12 AM   #48
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I see nothing wrong with keeping a large family plan and splitting the costs. The plans are all structured to be vastly cheaper the more lines you add so having someone leave the plan just raises their costs. Tmobile for example had that buy 2 get 2 lines deal a few weeks back, cost for 4 lines was $120 or $30/line, cost for just 1 line with them is $70. Isn't it better to save everyone a little money than the view of independence? After all I thought money/early retirement websites were all about being smart with your money!
While family plans used to be more affordable, things have changed and that is no longer true. We pay $20/mo for unlimited calls and texts and 100 mb of data and there are less expensive plans out there if your needs are more modest. For a few years we paid $10/mo, but our needs changed so we upgraded to the $20/mo plan.
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Old 12-06-2016, 06:16 AM   #49
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Quote:
Originally Posted by donheff View Post
We carry DD on our phone plan and her car on our insurance plan. She still has her packages delivered to our house. She is independent and doesn't "need" our support but we never saw a reason to dump her. She is a teacher and lives below her needs so why not send some extra her way? If all proceeds on plan we will start gifting both kids in 10-15 years. If all doesn't proceed on plan we will kick them to the curb
Does she live in your home, these car insurance payments make me curious. Most polices say are they on your tax return, living in your home or going to school and/or driving your car? Just because they still let you pay her premium doesn't mean she would be covered in an accident. Having packages delivered to your home doesn't count as living there. You'd be surprised how many of these things slip thru the cracks until you have a problem. If it's cheaper for her to be on your insurance there is a reason for it..ie underwriting guidelines.
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Old 12-06-2016, 06:18 AM   #50
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Greencheese View Post
I see nothing wrong with keeping a large family plan and splitting the costs. The plans are all structured to be vastly cheaper the more lines you add so having someone leave the plan just raises their costs. Tmobile for example had that buy 2 get 2 lines deal a few weeks back, cost for 4 lines was $120 or $30/line, cost for just 1 line with them is $70. Isn't it better to save everyone a little money than the view of independence? After all I thought money/early retirement websites were all about being smart with your money!
The OP was paying the bill for all 3 kids,the question is not really how big is the bill, but who pays for their own phone.
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Old 12-06-2016, 06:31 AM   #51
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When my boys were about 13 and going places without us, I insisted that they have a cell phone for basic connectivity. The flip phones were $15 and it was $10 a month each to add them to our plan.

Later the older pushed for a smart phone, he bought and paid for a discontinued HTC for $99, told him his entertainment is his responsibility, he paid for the added data plan, I continued paying the $10 per month.

When each turned 16, we gave them a $300 credit to go buy the smart phone of their choice (they spent under $400). We continue to pay the $10 basic connectivity, they pay all other usage charges.

Since then we moved to a Cricket plan (the older boy did the research and porting over) where we have four phones for $100 a month. We still pay the $10 per month, each boy pays us $15 per month.

The younger one dropped his phone in a sink full of water. Turned it into a tablet...everything works except cellular radio. So he replaced his phone with his own money.

I'm still willing to support the initial agreement for connectivity at $10 per month, everything else is their responsibility. Even have a old flip phone that we can resurrect if need be.

I intend to continue until they finish college.
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Paying for kid's cell phones
Old 12-06-2016, 06:34 AM   #52
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Paying for kid's cell phones

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Originally Posted by pb4uski View Post
While family plans used to be more affordable, things have changed and that is no longer true. We pay $20/mo for unlimited calls and texts and 100 mb of data and there are less expensive plans out there if your needs are more modest. For a few years we paid $10/mo, but our needs changed so we upgraded to the $20/mo plan.

It depends how the phones are used. All four of us on the family plan have smart phones. We share 15 GB of data per month. I just checked our current usage, halfway through our billing period. Collectively we have used almost 3 GB of data. DH has used hardly any, so he would be ok on a plan with only 100 Mb of data. The rest of us are well over 100 MB, so the cheap $20/ month plan wouldn't work for us. The service/fees/taxes on our family plan total $213/month, or $53 each. I don't think we could get the same amount of data for less on individual accounts.

Edit to correct: upon closer inspection of our latest bill, only $160/month for service/fees/taxes. $40 per line.
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Old 12-06-2016, 06:58 AM   #53
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I have one friend who still pays for his daughter's cell phone service even though she is 25 and married. He even bought her a $700 phone not long ago. He's 64, about to go through another divorce and is paying for another daughters college education. And just has an average paying job(salesman at my old company) and thinks he will be able to retire at 66. I hope his daughters are off the payroll in 2 years because he will be in for a surprise if not.
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Old 12-06-2016, 07:27 AM   #54
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It depends how the phones are used. All four of us on the family plan have smart phones. We share 15 GB of data per month. I just checked our current usage, halfway through our billing period. Collectively we have used almost 3 GB of data. DH has used hardly any, so he would be ok on a plan with only 100 Mb of data. The rest of us are well over 100 MB, so the cheap $20/ month plan wouldn't work for us. The service/fees/taxes on our family plan total $213/month, or $53 each. I don't think we could get the same amount of data for less on individual accounts.

Edit to correct: upon closer inspection of our latest bill, only $160/month for service/fees/taxes. $40 per line.
I agree that it depends on how the phones are used, and we both have smartphones too. My point was that for many people there are more affordable individual plans out there that would fit their needs as good or better than a family plan and those more affordable individual plans were not available a few years ago... I recall looking at plans when DD was moving to her own plan and the minimum was $50/mo... in those days family plans were much more practical.
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Old 12-06-2016, 09:31 AM   #55
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We told our kids they could have cell phones when they could afford to pay for them.

We paid for most tuition and room and board with the understanding that there was a minimum GPA required (which was well within their abilities).

They had to pay for one semester of tuition. They also got their spending money by working.

Come to think of it, eldest flunked one class the last semester and had to retake same class - a requirement class she disliked (and thus had to pay for retaking the class).

I just about caved in on the phone thing when the youngest went to college in a big metropolis.

But it wasn't long until the fledgling decided to get a cell phone.

Can you spell parent r-e-l-i-e-f-?!
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Old 12-06-2016, 08:13 PM   #56
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We are currently paying the monthly add on for phones for 2 of our kids, but they will soon start reimbursing us.

But, they are different situations.

DD - Recently started her first full time working. She does not have a drivers license and takes the bus. A smartphone is good for her because it helps her to be able to check bus schedules. She gets off late enough at night that the bus doesn't run to where she lives so she takes the bus to as close as she can get and then uses Uber to get home. In a month or so, she will start reimbursing us for the additional cost of her phone (about $26 a month).

DS - College student and we have been paying his monthly cost. He recently upgraded his phone and took out a contract at Apple that he is solely responsible for. He is about to graduate. Once he does and is supporting himself, he plans to move his phone to a plan paid for by him. That said, I have no objection to his staying on our plan and reimbursing us.

If he were to stay on our plan and if DD stays on our plan we would probably start charging them an amount equal to the extra data we are getting that we wouldn't have if they weren't on the plan.

Oh, they have both had phones for years and generally they have paid out of their allowance for their own phones once they wanted smartphones. My daughter once lost her iphone when she was in early high school and it was $700 to replace it. We fronted the money but deducted it from her allowance until it was paid. Also, if they broke a screen they paid for it.
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Old 12-07-2016, 05:41 AM   #57
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One of the issues is that usually family plans are a lot cheaper than 3 individual plans. I'm booting older son off as soon as our contract is up. Honorable son #2 is a college kid doing minimum wage so I'll cover him for av while.
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Old 12-07-2016, 06:23 AM   #58
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To have DD on our family plan is $9.99/month for that extra line. I would have to pay for the unlimited data anyway. What's the point in making her go out and get her own plan?

There's frugal and there's cheap...

And as for "I didn't have one of those when I was young", that can be applied to a lot of things going back... TV, CAR, REFRIGERATOR. Just depends on which generation.
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Old 12-07-2016, 06:41 AM   #59
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I also hate to say it, but we have our DS and his wife (33 and 31) on our family plan. They pay their part. Up until recently we also bought them new phones. That stopped, but we did it because we could and it would have been hard for them financially to upgrade. Now they still pay their part and any overages in data or minutes they incur. DW and I are grandfathered in with unlimited data, so the plan stays. They've complained about data limits, (They are not unlimited) but my response has always been, you go over the plan you pay, don't like it, get a plan on your own. That stops the complaining since it's much cheaper to be on our limited plan than to get one of their own.
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Old 12-07-2016, 06:56 AM   #60
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.............
There's frugal and there's cheap...

And as for "I didn't have one of those when I was young", that can be applied to a lot of things going back... TV, CAR, REFRIGERATOR. Just depends on which generation.
To each, his own. I think that an important part of parenting is teaching independence. And buying luxuries for young adults doesn't meet that definition for me. But, they are your kids, spend away as you like.
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