jlh44music

I was wondering if anyone has had good experiences with pay-as-you-go
cell phones. I'm looking for recommendations for my 14 yo dd. We
don't want to add her to our Nextel account to start, I'd rather
purchase a set amount of minutes so that when they're used up, they're
done and not have her rack up a huge cell phone bill. Self control
and monitoring is something she struggles with and I think only giving
her a limited amount of minutes will help her learn to monitor her
usage.
Thanks!
Jann

Schafer Vanessa

Hi Jann,

We had Sprint cell phone service, but dropped it after
we were paying for 750 minutes, and only used about
200. We were paying over $90 a month for unused time,
but we were locked into a contract, and had to wait.

We are using t-mobile to go. I like it, it's much
more affordable, and you don't get charged for time
you aren't using. We bought a phone from Costco, to
try it, and ended up buying another one, so that I and
my hubby can both use them. We bought 1,000 minutes
for my phone, which is good for a year. You only need
to buy more minutes when your time is getting low.
With the tracphone, you have to keep adding units,
whether you have used them all or not. We've done
alot of researching, and some of the pay as you go
phones, charge you minutes/units just to turn on the
phone--t-mobile doesn't. I hope this helps. I know
that Target sells the phones, with minutes included in
the package. Good luck.

---Vanessa

--- jlh44music <jlh44music@...> wrote:

> I was wondering if anyone has had good experiences
> with pay-as-you-go
> cell phones. I'm looking for recommendations for my
> 14 yo dd. We
> don't want to add her to our Nextel account to
> start, I'd rather
> purchase a set amount of minutes so that when
> they're used up, they're
> done and not have her rack up a huge cell phone
> bill. Self control
> and monitoring is something she struggles with and I
> think only giving
> her a limited amount of minutes will help her learn
> to monitor her
> usage.
> Thanks!
> Jann
>
>
>
>
>


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

Joanne

Hi Jann,

I wanted to tell you how we handled this issue, because it came up this
past month.

My 11 year old daughter was talking about wanting to buy a cell phone
because her friend had just gotten the Firefly phone for her birthday
and she wanted one just like it. We looked into it, talked about it and
we came to the conclusion that they're rather expensive.

Then, my husband said he would look into a pay-as-you-go phone and also
how much it would be to add her on our plan. Before he had a chance to
do that, I came up with an idea.

I never use my cell phone on the weekends because my husband is usually
the only one that calls me, and he's home on Saturday & Sunday. So, I
thought to give her my phone on the weekends. It won't cost her
anything that way and it won't cost us any extra money either because
we have free weekends. She gets the phone on Friday night and she gives
it back to me Sunday, before she goes to bed.

She bought herself the cutest phone case, added in her friends phone
numbers and she's all set. :-)

What I think is really cute is the person she calls the MOST is me and
my mother. She calls me from the backyard all the time. LOL! My mother
lives next door but Shawna is always calling her to see if she needs
anything. :-)
Of course, she can use the phone during the week also but she likes
that it's ALL HER'S on the weekend.

As far as the pay-as-you-go phones...my mom just bought a Virgin Mobile
and likes it. You buy minutes over the phone but that's all I know
about it.

~ Joanne ~
Mom to Jacqueline (8), Shawna (11) & Cimion (13)
Adopted into our hearts October 2003
************************************
Unschooling Voices ~ Add Your Voice
www.foreverparents.com/UnschoolingVoices.html






--- In [email protected], "jlh44music" <jlh44music@...>
wrote:
>
> I was wondering if anyone has had good experiences with pay-as-you-go
> cell phones. I'm looking for recommendations for my 14 yo dd. We
> don't want to add her to our Nextel account to start, I'd rather
> purchase a set amount of minutes so that when they're used up,
they're
> done and not have her rack up a huge cell phone bill. Self control
> and monitoring is something she struggles with and I think only
giving
> her a limited amount of minutes will help her learn to monitor her
> usage.
> Thanks!
> Jann
>

jlh44music

Schafer Vanessa <psychomom95@...> wrote:
> We are using t-mobile to go. I like it, it's much more affordable,
and you don't get charged for time you aren't using......With the
tracphone, you have to keep adding units, whether you have used them
all or not. We've done alot of researching, and some of the pay as
you go phones, charge you minutes/units just to turn on the phone--t-
mobile doesn't. I hope this helps.>>

Thanks Vanessa - my dad has a Tracphone and it's a pain to use. He
only uses it when he travels a few times a year to visit friends in
case he needs it on the road. I don't like that you have to keep
adding units and I noticed that it uses some of the minutes just to
add more. He never used all the minutes he had and I think I'll
recommend he consider something else. I've heard of T-mobile and
will definitely check into that for both my dd and my dad.
Jann

Schafer Vanessa

Jann,

You are more than welcome. I hope you find what works
for your daughter and your dad. If there is anything
else you need help with, feel free to ask.

---Vanessa




--- jlh44music <jlh44music@...> wrote:

> Schafer Vanessa <psychomom95@...> wrote:
> > We are using t-mobile to go. I like it, it's much
> more affordable,
> and you don't get charged for time you aren't
> using......With the
> tracphone, you have to keep adding units, whether
> you have used them
> all or not. We've done alot of researching, and
> some of the pay as
> you go phones, charge you minutes/units just to turn
> on the phone--t-
> mobile doesn't. I hope this helps.>>
>
> Thanks Vanessa - my dad has a Tracphone and it's a
> pain to use. He
> only uses it when he travels a few times a year to
> visit friends in
> case he needs it on the road. I don't like that you
> have to keep
> adding units and I noticed that it uses some of the
> minutes just to
> add more. He never used all the minutes he had and
> I think I'll
> recommend he consider something else. I've heard
> of T-mobile and
> will definitely check into that for both my dd and
> my dad.
> Jann
>
>
>
>


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

Michelle Leifur Reid

On 10/9/06, jlh44music <jlh44music@...> wrote:
> I was wondering if anyone has had good experiences with pay-as-you-go
> cell phones. I'm looking for recommendations for my 14 yo dd. We
> don't want to add her to our Nextel account to start, I'd rather
> purchase a set amount of minutes so that when they're used up, they're
> done and not have her rack up a huge cell phone bill. Self control
> and monitoring is something she struggles with and I think only giving
> her a limited amount of minutes will help her learn to monitor her
> usage.

We have Cingular and we did add Emily (almost 14) to our plan. I
rarely if ever have used all my minutes that I pay for and always have
roll over minutes each month. We kept the same number of minutes
(lowest number for family sharing) but added her on to our "family
plan" We really like Cingular as we have mobile-to-mobile free calls
(anyone on the Cingular network is free) and free nights and weekends.
Fortunately her best friend also has Cingular and they can talk for
24 straight hours without using a single minute (and practically
have!)

We did have a problem when she first got the phone about over use of
her text messages (she has 100 a month which come free with her plan)
and she went triple over that. I showed her the bill and explained
how her texting cost us an additional $17. No penalties. Just
explained how much of a financial impact texting was when she could
just as easily call her friend instead. This month was much better.

I don't know why you feel you have to limit her phone use. Do you
really think that it is going to be a problem? What phone service do
her friends have? Do you have a "friends and family" plan where you
can add people to a "free call list"? I see limiting phone use not
much different from limiting food or tv or computer. And at 14 I
don't see why she wouldn't be able to understand the financial impact
of over usage. Before we got Emily a cell phone she was using mine
most of the time. I would only use it if I was leaving the house in
case of emergencies or so the kids could contact me if I wasn't there.
She would use it when she would go to the mall or other outings with
her friends or to the park with her siblings. And she would use it to
call her best friend (who was land line long distance, but free with
the phone.) Perhaps you could start that way and see just how much
she is using the phone. Maybe a lot at first (new toy) but taper off
to a reasonable amount after a while.

Michelle

Vickisue Gray

I ditto Michelle.

We used pay as you go then my daughter got the first cingular account as all of her friends used cingular and it's free mobile to mobile. We now have four on the account, including my eight year old. It works well for us.

Michelle Leifur Reid <pamperedmichelle@...> wrote:
On 10/9/06, jlh44music <jlh44music@...> wrote:
> I was wondering if anyone has had good experiences with pay-as-you-go
> cell phones. I'm looking for recommendations for my 14 yo dd. We
> don't want to add her to our Nextel account to start, I'd rather
> purchase a set amount of minutes so that when they're used up, they're
> done and not have her rack up a huge cell phone bill. Self control
> and monitoring is something she struggles with and I think only giving
> her a limited amount of minutes will help her learn to monitor her
> usage.

We have Cingular and we did add Emily (almost 14) to our plan. I
rarely if ever have used all my minutes that I pay for and always have
roll over minutes each month. We kept the same number of minutes
(lowest number for family sharing) but added her on to our "family
plan" We really like Cingular as we have mobile-to-mobile free calls
(anyone on the Cingular network is free) and free nights and weekends.
Fortunately her best friend also has Cingular and they can talk for
24 straight hours without using a single minute (and practically
have!)

We did have a problem when she first got the phone about over use of
her text messages (she has 100 a month which come free with her plan)
and she went triple over that. I showed her the bill and explained
how her texting cost us an additional $17. No penalties. Just
explained how much of a financial impact texting was when she could
just as easily call her friend instead. This month was much better.

I don't know why you feel you have to limit her phone use. Do you
really think that it is going to be a problem? What phone service do
her friends have? Do you have a "friends and family" plan where you
can add people to a "free call list"? I see limiting phone use not
much different from limiting food or tv or computer. And at 14 I
don't see why she wouldn't be able to understand the financial impact
of over usage. Before we got Emily a cell phone she was using mine
most of the time. I would only use it if I was leaving the house in
case of emergencies or so the kids could contact me if I wasn't there.
She would use it when she would go to the mall or other outings with
her friends or to the park with her siblings. And she would use it to
call her best friend (who was land line long distance, but free with
the phone.) Perhaps you could start that way and see just how much
she is using the phone. Maybe a lot at first (new toy) but taper off
to a reasonable amount after a while.

Michelle





---------------------------------
Stay in the know. Pulse on the new Yahoo.com. Check it out.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

jlh44music

"Michelle Leifur Reid" <pamperedmichelle@...> wrote:
> I don't know why you feel you have to limit her phone use. Do you
really think that it is going to be a problem? What phone service do
her friends have? Do you have a "friends and family" plan where you
can add people to a "free call list"?>

She has no friends that have cell phones. I only mentioned limiting
the number of hours available because of her history of talking on
the phone at home for hours with her only IRL friend. I'm serious,
she only has ONE. I don't have a problem with her talking at all, I
totally understand how important that is. This friend doesn't have
a cell phone (she lives with her dad and finances are tight, they
don't have internet access or cable). So there's really NO ONE she
would call other than this friend (or us). I was thinking
initially if we did get her a phone it might be less expensive to
have a pay as you go plan because there isn't anyone for her to call
(except us or this friend, IF she happened to be home). We have
Nextel (direct connect), dh uses it also at work.

She's talked about having a cell phone and we also discussed the
reasons to get one. IF she were out and about doing things, away
from home for periods of time without us, at school, at camp,
whatever the reason is, then I feel that's a good reason to have a
phone. But for a child who is almost always home and has access to
the home phone (with free nationwide coverage) then I don't see the
need for a cell phone. Also, if she were older and working and
wanted to pay for one, no problem.

She's also considering going back to school next year (technical
high school, I've posted about this before), I think she's really
feeling the isolation and would like to meet more teens. Also,
this IRL friend is going there (only 2 months older but a freshman)
and she hears about her experiences with friends etc and I think
part of her would like to have those opportunities. I told her if
she DID decide to go, then that would be a perfect reason to have
her own cell phone.

The few times she's gone someplace without one of us, I give her my
cell phone and she's fine with that.
Jann

jlh44music

"Joanne" <billyandjoanne@...> wrote:
> I never use my cell phone on the weekends because my husband is
usually the only one that calls me, and he's home on Saturday &
Sunday. So, I thought to give her my phone on the weekends. It won't
cost her anything that way and it won't cost us any extra money
either because we have free weekends. She gets the phone on Friday
night and she gives it back to me Sunday, before she goes to bed. >>

That's a great idea, I too, hardly use my phone (and probably should
use my free nights and weekend more, it's just so uncomfortable to
talk on the cell!) except when on the road and I need to contact dh
etc. Although some weekends I'm out (I'm a musician and might be
at a rehearsal or gig and need to have the phone with me).

>She bought herself the cutest phone case, added in her friends
phone numbers and she's all set. :-) >>>

That would be fine with me, except she only has one friend IRL (and
she doesn't have a cell phone.....if she's not at home where my dd
could possibly reach her, then she's out of the house with friends).

I do give her mine if she goes someplace without one of us - she
says it's a good way for her to try out having one. I told her to
call me anytime (if I'm home, which I usually am, since I don't have
a cell phone!), which she has or her dad. She's only started doing
this lately.
Jann

Joyce Fetteroll

On Oct 9, 2006, at 12:41 PM, jlh44music wrote:

> I was wondering if anyone has had good experiences with pay-as-you-go
> cell phones.

We have a T-Mobile To-Go phone from Walmart.

My husband calculated it out that if you buy the most minutes (which
are cheapest and last the longest (200 minutes that last 3 months
maybe?) -- they don't roll over) it costs about $100/year.

Obviously if she's going to talk for more than 200 min over 3 months
it will cost more ;-)

Joyce

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Schafer Vanessa

Jann,

I just talked to my husband, and asked him if t-mobile
minutes roll over, and he said they do, as long as you
purchase more minutes before the other ones expire.
So if you bought 90 minutes, and they are good for 3
months, as long as you buy more minutes before the 3
month time period is over, the minutes will roll over.
All of this is information you can find on the
internet. From all of our research, t-mobile was the
only one that we could find that don't charge you
minutes/units to turn on the phone, even before you
use it. I don't know if this extra information helps
or not, but all I can tell you is research pay as you
go phones. Everyone is going to have different
opinions. It's best to try and figure out what works
best for you.

----Vanessa



--- jlh44music <jlh44music@...> wrote:

> "Michelle Leifur Reid" <pamperedmichelle@...> wrote:
> > I don't know why you feel you have to limit her
> phone use. Do you
> really think that it is going to be a problem? What
> phone service do
> her friends have? Do you have a "friends and
> family" plan where you
> can add people to a "free call list"?>
>
> She has no friends that have cell phones. I only
> mentioned limiting
> the number of hours available because of her history
> of talking on
> the phone at home for hours with her only IRL
> friend. I'm serious,
> she only has ONE. I don't have a problem with her
> talking at all, I
> totally understand how important that is. This
> friend doesn't have
> a cell phone (she lives with her dad and finances
> are tight, they
> don't have internet access or cable). So there's
> really NO ONE she
> would call other than this friend (or us). I was
> thinking
> initially if we did get her a phone it might be less
> expensive to
> have a pay as you go plan because there isn't anyone
> for her to call
> (except us or this friend, IF she happened to be
> home). We have
> Nextel (direct connect), dh uses it also at work.
>
> She's talked about having a cell phone and we also
> discussed the
> reasons to get one. IF she were out and about
> doing things, away
> from home for periods of time without us, at school,
> at camp,
> whatever the reason is, then I feel that's a good
> reason to have a
> phone. But for a child who is almost always home
> and has access to
> the home phone (with free nationwide coverage) then
> I don't see the
> need for a cell phone. Also, if she were older and
> working and
> wanted to pay for one, no problem.
>
> She's also considering going back to school next
> year (technical
> high school, I've posted about this before), I think
> she's really
> feeling the isolation and would like to meet more
> teens. Also,
> this IRL friend is going there (only 2 months older
> but a freshman)
> and she hears about her experiences with friends etc
> and I think
> part of her would like to have those opportunities.
> I told her if
> she DID decide to go, then that would be a perfect
> reason to have
> her own cell phone.
>
> The few times she's gone someplace without one of
> us, I give her my
> cell phone and she's fine with that.
> Jann
>
>
>
>


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com