To despair at understanding phone contracts

[tigerdriverII]

I am an intelligent person. I construe contracts every bloody day.

I need to sort a phone for DS(15). I just am baffled: he wants an iPhone and I'm happy to get him one. Am I best getting a PAYG ? I don't mind contracts for me but I can see him faffing around with upgrades and I've been burned before with having him on a package with me and then him using loads of data.

This ought to be simple!

New iphone over a grand

Ah - I don't mean the new version! I mean I don't think I'd get a refurbished one.

Look on eBay, I got a recon iPhone 5s for under £90. Depends on how much you want to spend. And really it's just as good as the later versions

Gift gaff is good. DH, DS and I are all on this and we pay around £30-35 month for all of us. DS had a £10 goody bag (paid by Direct debit) which seems to cover what he needs. If he gets a text saying his data is used up or his calls before the end of the month he can choose to top up with his own money (he has a bank card and a monthly allowance) or wait until the next DD goes out. Because we are all on Gift Gaff we can always call each other for free even if our minutes are used up in a month. That way if DS uses all his call minutes he can still call/text us in an emergency even if he chooses not to top up that month but to wait for the next direct debit payment to kick in.

If you don't want to fork out £££s on a new phone and go sim only I recommend looking at uswitch.co.uk or mobiles.co.uk it's like a comparison website (like compare the market) and they are usually cheaper than anywhere else.

DP just for the brand new Samsung with them with 20GB of data unlimited mins and texts for £35p.m. with no upfront cost.

When he asked his current provided about an upgrade to see if they could match that price the best they could do was £47 pm!

Giffgaff is a great way of mixing a contract phone with PAYG without tying you in. I've used it for years. You can always change your monthly package up or down depending on use as well.