Do your dc have mobile phones and how much do they cost you per month?

[Afternooninthepark]

Dd is 10 and has asked for a phone for Christmas.
All of her friends have iPhones but I can not afford to get her one so it will be some other smart phone.
If your dc have mobiles, how much are you paying per month and is it better to go pay as you go (she uses my phone atm on things like WhatsApp/tik tok) or a contract?

Mine has a moto 5, with giffgaff at 7.50 a month. I didn't want them to have anything too precious but it's an OK phone.

DD1 is 10 and has a refurb iPhone SE on giffgaff which costs £10 p/m. Could do it cheaper but she's a data fiend like me.

Dd is 12 and in year 7, she has an old iPhone 6 that was mine before I upgraded. I put a £10 Tesco mobile rocket pack on it every month and that’s plenty for her. I didn’t want a contract in case she loses the phone.

IMO the best way to get a phone is to buy a refurbished SIM free phone outright and get a cheap SIM deal elsewhere.

Thanks everyone, I think I’ll probably go sim free and find a cheap deal, will shop around.

My lot all have old iPhones that have been passed down, then they get a sim deal to chuck in it. We get a lot of years out of an iPhone, my youngest is using one that is about six years old.

Ds is 9 and has an IPhone SE. It costs £15 a month as he’s out of contract now. It was £35 before that. He wants an IPhone XR but he can wait til next year before he goes to high school.

Mine have cheap phones off ebay (x-bo I think; they were only £50 ish, two years ago). £5 gif-gaff pack thing each month.

They're likely getting slightly better phones for Christmas this year (dd1 quite likes my HTC One M8 that was £100 ish 2nd hand from Game) and will probably upgrade dd1's pack to the £7.50 one but not the youngests as she doesn't use it much.

DD has an old iPhone 5 til last week, I probably put £10 on it every 6 weeks. Battery life was poor so I got her an iPhone SE last week £180 upfront and £12 a month from Tesco - 12 month contract.

Mine have hand me down/refurbished iPhones and GiffGaff plans at about £7.50 - £10 a month.

Ds also 10 got a refurbished iPhone 5 for his birthday in the summer. He is really happy with it as most of his friends have similar handmedowns from parents.
He has a SIM only deal from ID mobile costs £5 per month for 1gB of data 500 minutes and unlimited texts.

Moto phones are good value, then Giffgaff gaff. Mind you, none of mine had them until senior school & they didn't have data for a while (this was a few years ago)

Refurbished iPhone here for 10 year old, £8 a month contract for a reasonable amount of data with a data cap on.

My teenager has an iPhone 6c (I think it's a c) and she pays £45 a month. She has tonnes of data with that though.

Personally I think her contract is an absolute rip off, but it's her money (maintenance). I'd hoped she would realise that if she had a cheaper contract she would have more money in her pocket, but no. The trendy phone is more important!

DustbinTails that’s a lot, is she still paying for the phone within that price? My Tesco deal is £12.50 for just the SIM and that’s 6 GB of data.

My two oldest are 14 and 15 and I paid £20 per month for 2 years for the phones plus 2 GB monthly data, then they got extra with a family deal. Now the phones are paid off it’s the same £12.50 a month as me. They have Samsung Galaxy something though.

Yes she got the phone on a 2 year contract and at the time I think it was the latest iPhone. Her contract ends in Feb and I was thinking of buying her a new phone (not the latest iPhone!) for her birthday and then going Sim only.

She has mega amounts of data, maybe 8/10gb. She streams music constantly when out of the house.

I wanted her to learn a lesson, but it doesn't appear to have worked!

DS1 has three SIM only at £18 per month for 25GB of data.

Ds10 has one of our old phones with a sim only deal...about £5 a month.

My son (11) has an old Samsung galaxy and I've just bought a Vodafone one - I forget what what it's called but was £35 + a £5 top up, its about similar size to an iPhone but runs android because they have kindles so he will know how to navigate it. Plus I refuse to pay out a lot because they have had new kindles every year for the past 3 because they are so bloody clumsy so no apple products until they are paying for their own! 😣

Sorry I got the Vodafone mobile from Sainsburys!

My son has my old iPhone on EE for £11 a month, unlimited calls and texts. I didn’t want him to be unable to contact me, especially if he was at his dads. Could have had a cheaper deal with limits on calls and texts but decided against that.

Same as several above. My 11yr old has s Motorola Moto5 then £7.50 a month with gift gaff.

In fact I have an older Motorola with a giff gaff £10 a month PAYG. I would highly recommend them.

I can't believe how many 10 year olds have iPhones 😲

I was thinking the same thing lol.

DD got a phone last year, a Samsung. She's 12. It costs £5 a month for a rolling contract - almost unlimited calls and texts and a good amount of data. She has a £10 a month cap, but it usually costs me £5 as she doesn't use it that much.