Who pays for your child's mobile phone?

[Lottie4]

Do you or your children pay for their mobile phone? We are looking into getting a mobile phone for when my daughter starts comprehensive school. We also need to look into the question of pocket money as well so have to decide whether we pay for phone or whether she had to pay out of her pocket money. She has a friend who gets £2 a week pocket money and has to pay for calls/texts out of her own money. I'm half looking at a £7.50 monthly contract and to give her £1.

It's your money, either way.

If "they pay" you're asking them to budget. This may be good or bad for them, it may make it less likely they'll have credit to ring you when you want them to.

So far I pay & don't ask DC to sort it out. I am still finding my way & may have different long-term opinions.
£1/week as spending money after phone costs sounds pretty mean to me.

I don't like contract phones because I hear too many stories about phones being bashed or lost. What happens to the contract, does anyone know, if the phone is lost-stolen-broken? Are there partial refunds?

my 11 year old gets 20 pounds per month. She has to keep credit on her phone to be allowed out without us. She also has to buy her own sanitary products and toiletries, (she is rather more restrained with the body spray if she's paying!) The rest is for fun.

I pay for the phone and have made sure the family are all on the same provider so that we can call each other cheaply. ATM I pay for all essential toiletries etc and they get £15 a month which goes directly into their bank accounts. They can access it with cash cards but I'm trying to get them to save a bit and this is more likely if I don't give them cash. I may up the amount a bit soon and make them pay for more things themselves.

We don't have contracts for any of our mobile phones, mainly because we don't use them enough. I don't use mine more than 1 or 2 times a week and the girls are the same. They mainly talk to their friends via Skype. When they got their phones they were told that the situation would be reviewed from time to time and if they were spending excessive amounts calling/texting friends, the mobiles would be taken away.

Me of course.

My DD gives me her £7.50 on the 1st of each month as thats her contracted charge day. I feel a little mean now!

We pay for our DCs' phones, books, clothes and toiletries. Pocket money is for socialising and saving.

We pay for her top up's and she gets £5.00 pocket money a week (if she's good lol)

Ds1 is 11 and has a contract phone, £7-ish a month. Way more minutes included than he'll ever use with the thirty second convos he has . He uses his data allowance well and doesn't go over, and has unlimited texts and he uses a lot. He is provided with money to use as he needs - generally around £4-5 in his pocket which I keep topped up in case of needing a bus / snack / lunch. He rarely uses much more than 50p

exH pays for the DDs' phones because he got a deal on a plan through his work. He also got them phones that enable him to check n their whereabouts. They love that so much that DD1 threw hers in the local river and now pays for her own.

Girls use phones a lot more than boys.

Ds has a basic phone, no internet and it's topped up with a tenner every term by me.

Every time I read this sort if thread I sigh....

Please don't get your child a contract phone. Yes it may e fine, but it your credit record and money on the line

Eg

forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4139355

Today's gem on my other favourite website.

Not only going abroad ( a £400 bill was run up by a 13yr old in dd2 year on a school trip) but the money sink that is spam texts that you " subscribe" to, or your mate sign up to...or lend / mislay it overnight ( umm left it my locker mum) to find is been used for sex chat / calls to far flung lands. Etc etc

A nice phone in the hands of a little kid is a mugger magnet too.

And most insurance only cover the phone in the personal pisession of the bill payer anyway.

I won't even mention cyber bullying, sexting, porn or all the other things our little darlings would never ever get involved in but actually crop surprisingly often on mumsnet with kids and mobiles.

Mine have fairly basic phones ( the 16yr old does Use his on wifi at home. The 13 yr I'd has no phone Internet access) and giffgaff £5/ month unlimited txt sims.

If ŷou must get a contract, or already have one, get it caped it you can, and block with the network, premium texts / numbers and data roaming if ou can gt them to agree.

DS (11) has just moved onto a contract at £10 per month, the deal is that I will pay £5 the rest comes out of his pocket money. He could have had a £7.50 contract but wanted the £10 one. The contract is capped so he can't go over it without topping it up.

I used to charge him £6 for each £10 top up when he had a payg phone. he topped up every couple of months. On principle I didn't want to pay for calls to mates but similarly I didn't want him to feel he was paying to phone me.

Pocket money was £10 per month into bank account and an extra £1 or so to buy sweets. In theory this should go down to £5 pm but I said he could do jobs and I wouldn't charge him the £5.

I think his pocket money needs upping now that he's starting senior school but haven't decided what to yet.

The extra £1 or so for sweets was weekly in cash not monthly!!