Mobile phone plan for a 10-11 year old?

[ChristmasTidyings]

What data, call and sms allowances do you have on your DC's mobiles? We took the lowest for DD, she has a prepaid with 10 MB/month data. This is eaten up just by the basics of running the phone when she's out and about (system services), she hasn't been actively using her data and she's only taken her phone out a couple of times in the month. I've turned mobile data off for now.

She will soon start to go by bus alone to one of her clubs and I want (her) to be able to:
check the bus time table in the app
track where she is

i.e. I need to leave mobile data running when she's out and about. How much data do you think she would need for this?

The next prepaid plans are 40MB, 200MB, 400MB.

Check Uswitch and Moneysavingexpert for sim only deals. Lyca and Lebara usually have the best deals - v cheap.

Giff gaff has 35gb data for £15, 100gb for £20 or always on data (unlimited) for £25. All come with free calls and texts. You can cancel and swap plans each month if you like.

@Shitfather I'm not looking for recommendations for a deal, I'm asking for advice about data volume and how much is necessary to run a basic phone.

@AndyWarholsPiehole she doesn't need 35gb so I don't want to pay crazy amounts just yet.

My 11 year old has a plan that has 6gb and in the first month she used 0.7gb (using her phone when at friend's houses, or calling me on whatsapp when out of the house and whatever is used up by location tracking stuff) so I'd reckon 1gb would be enough for her if such a plan was available where we live.

We use Plusnet Mobile. DD has a 30 day SIM 5GB data and never uses it all. She's constantly watching YouTube on school bus with friends or playing games.

I'm paying £10 a month for giffgaff and never run out. I've got a code if you are interested for first month free

I have an EE sim only plan. It’s £10 a month and has 10gb a data. You need to shop around

That seems very excessive for a 10 year old. Can you check on her phone which apps are using the data. There may be apps that are running in the background and you need to change the settings so they only use mobile data when actively using the app.

During their early teens my two found that Voxi’s cheapest plan of 15gb of data was plenty and they used their phones far more than you say your Dd does.

Sorry I misread. 10mb is hardly anything. I thought you meant 10gb

Mine all have unlimited calls/data on either ID mobile or 3. Three offer an unlimited SIM for £10 a month which I'm on and the kids have phone contracts.

My 11 year old has unlimited minutes and texts and 3 Gig data with Asda mobile. He uses the data more than anything else, if he needs more I just choose the next one up the next month.

That seems very excessive for a 10 year old. Can you check on her phone which apps are using the data. There may be apps that are running in the background and you need to change the settings so they only use mobile data when actively using the app.

I've done this. It's "system services" that's using her data, not any apps she uses.
She has Music and Kindle but they're download on WiFi only. She doesn't have safari installed on the phone and she's not allowed YouTube yet.

I have 2gb on mine which is plenty for me but I wanted to get her one of the cheaper plans for now.

How much are you actually paying? We are looking for DD and found one with unlimited texts,calls and 4GB of data (same as me and I never use anywhere near that) for £6 a month.

I’d say she needs at least 1gb to run a tracking app and to use location based apps such as a bus timetable one.

Sim only deals are so cheap why would you scrimp on the data, as has been suggested use the comparison sites and find one for a fiver a monthish

10mb is also ridiculous, who has such a tiny amount nowadays?

Ds currently has 2mb for £7.50/month. He's year 7 with a long bus journey so does use the data a bit but even so, he's only hit his limit once since the summer and that was on a long day out. His contract is up for renewal so I'm going to give him more data now he knows how to sensibly budget it. I won't be looking at anything over 12gb though, he just doesn't need it. Realistically, he uses near 2gb per month so I'd be happy with 5 or 6gb as a good buffer.

^Ds currently has 2mb for £7.50/month^ should read 2gb of course.

EE family plan. You can gift and remove data amongst SIM cards and plans. It's also useful when they inevitably misbehave and you need to take data off them or control screen time.

Between us we have 25gb and never run out. Teach your kids to use WiFi where it's available.

My 11year old has Tesco mobile contract, £9 a month for 12gb data, unlimited text and calls.

My 11 yos have pay as you go and I’ve not topped up since August. They have mobile data off and use WiFi. Dd1 is 14 and has £6 sky deal with 6gb data a month which she rarely uses all of it (except when we went to London for a weekend). She’s on a family plan with dh (I control the contract as I set it up for Dd and added dh for Christmas to get him a new phone). The unused data gets pooled and I can share it out. Dh works from home so rarely uses data.

she doesn't need 35gb so I don't want to pay crazy amounts just yet

Sorry, I thought you'd put 10gb not 10mb.
Giffgaff have 2gb for £6. You can change the plan monthly and they also suggest higher or lower plans depending on your previous months use.

@NeedAHoliday2021 yes, so does DD at the moment. She rarely goes anywhere alone and when she does I drop her there so it's not an issue. But I want her to have it running once she starts to travel alone on the bus.

I also don't want her to get used to messing with her phone whilst she's travelling alone to start with. I'd rather she learnt to pay attention to what's going on around her.

My sons are y9 and y8. They have 2gb a month on Lebara. One uses it right to the limit, may run out last day or two. The other barely uses it so I could easily change to the 1gb version for him but tbh I can't be bothered for the small saving (£10 a year.)