cell phones for kids?

[LivingAlmostLarge]

When did you guys get your kids cell phones? When did you stop paying for their cell phones? How did you give them a cell phone? Your old phone? Cheap phone? Bought themselves? When do you stop?

[disneysteve]

We got DD her first phone when she was 11 and was starting to do activities where she didn't always have adult supervision. The main one was that she was going to a Girl Scout weekend event at the Jersey shore where she would not be directly supervised. The girls would go off in small groups without an adult and had to check in with the chaperones regularly.

We didn't give her hand me downs because we keep our phones until they die. We don't upgrade every year or two just for the heck of it. DD didn't start paying for her phone service until she graduated college. She hasn't bought a new phone for a while. When she does, we'll have a conversation about her at least sharing the cost with us.

[rennigade]

When did you guys get your kids cell phones? When did you stop paying for their cell phones? How did you give them a cell phone? Your old phone? Cheap phone? Bought themselves? When do you stop?

I have friends who are 35 years old and still on a family plan. Thats how cheap they are. Absolutely no way would I want to split a cell phone tab to save what amounts to very little. Some people need to grow up.

[ua_guy]

No kids, but my sister has two. Both of them had phones by age 10. At first that was old phones, which were quickly destroyed. Then I think they went with cheaper Android devices, which quickly turned into the slower/smaller of the Apple offerings for a generation or two. The parents pay. One kid is turning 18 this year and no doubt they will pay for the phones and bills through college. I remember thinking that was excessive, the kids are spoiled, etc. But my views have changed. The kids are dang smart and I'm glad they are growing up with technology and have the nicest/newest stuff. They face a competitive world. And in the same way my parents coddled my sister and I, it was known that someday we would fly on our own. We did OK when the time came, and her kids will too.

[moneybags]

I have friends who are 35 years old and still on a family plan. Thats how cheap they are. Absolutely no way would I want to split a cell phone tab to save what amounts to very little. Some people need to grow up.

For us it is worth the savings to keep the family plan. I just have the adult kids pay set up autopay to pay me each month. Super easy process and we all save.

[kork13]

I have friends who are 35 years old and still on a family plan. Thats how cheap they are. Absolutely no way would I want to split a cell phone tab to save what amounts to very little. Some people need to grow up.

I do this with my brothers & our wives. We're 34-26 y/o. Doing the family plan is an easy $10-$15/mo per line savings. We're all perfectly comfortable with this arrangement. Funny enough, we all had independent plans through college & such, and we've only done this for the last 4ish years.

To the original question, my boys aren't old enough yet to be a factor (3 & 5 y/o), but our thought is to give them a basic phone for checking in & emergencies once they get old enough to start doing stuff independently, NLT when they start driving. Probably will work out some sort of cost sharing arrangement for teaching purposes, but TBD.

[disneysteve]

I have friends who are 35 years old and still on a family plan.

Same here. The family plans are so much cheaper it doesn't make sense to do it any other way. There are 5 of us on our plan: me, my wife, our daughter, my mother, and my cousin in Florida. Having everyone split off on their own would cost a lot more. I just have our daughter pay a portion of the bill for her line.

[riverwed070707]

I was the parent that said my kid wouldn't have a phone until she was 16... and then when she started staying home alone I realized with not having home phones anymore it really wasn't feasible. She started doing short stays home alone and I'd leave her my personal phone and take my work cell with me but as the stays got longer it just didn't make sense. Since her dad and I are divorced, getting a land line at both houses didn't make sense and would have cost more than an extra cell line. A coworker had an old iphone they weren't using and she got her first phone at 10. It quit working last year and I upgraded her. She has a newer phone than me, but its not a high end model. Since she's only 12 I pay the bill and the cost of the phone. Not sure when we'll transfer that responsibility to her.

[rennigade]

I do this with my brothers & our wives. We're 34-26 y/o. Doing the family plan is an easy $10-$15/mo per line savings .

That still wouldnt be enough savings for me to deal with a shared bill. Also, all of the people I know who are on family plans are also on att, verizon or sprint. Most people havent figured out that there are other players in the game with much cheaper plans. Straight talk, mint, google fi, etc etc. They piggy back off the major networks, but are almost always cheaper. It also goes back to the fact that people prefer a certain carrier over another, for whatever reason. I used to work for a major carrier. When I hear someone say a certain network is better than the other, I cringe.

[disneysteve]

That still wouldnt be enough savings for me to deal with a shared bill.

At least for us, a shared bill is no big deal. My cousin has an auto-payment set up from his account to me every month to pay for his share and my mom's share. Our daughter pays us a monthly amount that covers her phone, auto insurance, and health insurance. It's not like we have to break down the itemized charges every month. And I have the bill auto charged to my credit card. It's very simple. I don't have to do a thing really.

[sblatner]

Our boys are 25 and 22. Both got cell phones in 8th grade (and along with a few other kids, the last in their grades to get them). They started reimbursing us for their service when they got paying jobs. $20 per month. I think their plans are probably $22 or 25 but we only ask for $20. Both have looked at getting their own plans and it is much more expensive. Maybe when they get married, they will go on their own.

[moneybags]

That still wouldnt be enough savings for me to deal with a shared bill. Also, all of the people I know who are on family plans are also on att, verizon or sprint. Most people havent figured out that there are other players in the game with much cheaper plans. Straight talk, mint, google fi, etc etc. They piggy back off the major networks, but are almost always cheaper. It also goes back to the fact that people prefer a certain carrier over another, for whatever reason. I used to work for a major carrier. When I hear someone say a certain network is better than the other, I cringe.

I had a problem with a certain network; it just would not work in my house. I switched networks and never had a problem again.

[rennigade]

I had a problem with a certain network; it just would not work in my house. I switched networks and never had a problem again.

Yep, you could be in a dead zone on that network. You could go a mile down the road and be in area that has service. Doesn't mean one is better than the other. I have almost no service on any network at our house. We have to use wifi calling.

[Snicks]

We have always bought phones for our kids. I mean, my kids are now adults, 24, 22, and 18. But, when they were younger I did buy them phones as I wanted to keep up on technology and wanted them to as well. So, we paid for those. For my oldest son , he is launched, pays his own bills. My other 2 are in college so we are paying for those. They have Verizon prepaid.

[Drake3287]

Our 3 got them in Jr. High or so if I remember right, back when getting a new iPhone cost little money with a new contract. Currently all of us are still on our Verizon family plan but the 3 kids now pay me each month for their share. I paid their cell service until they got out of college and found a job. Keeping everyone on a family plan certainly saves them money.