Do you pay teens phone contract?

[Ittakesavineyard]

14 yo wants a new iphone for Christmas. Until
now he’s always had one of our old ones and a £10 data pack.
He wants an older iPhone, preferably with the button or an 11, he’s not so fussed about the latest one.
We can’t decide if to get him a new iPhone with contract circa £40 a month for 2 years or let him choose and bug an older iPhone cash for circa £300-400 which is what he will get for Xmas and let him manage the data/call pack situation with his pocket money. This is what I used to do, and if I ran out of credit and pocket money it was tough. That said, this is unlikely to happen to him he’ll probably always have enough to keep it topped up.

What do you all do? Pay phone contracts or expect them to top up or pay monthly themselves?

Still pay for my 19 and 20 yr olds phones, I told him I would pay for them while they were a student then once they have a full time job they are on their own.

We buy second hand phones outright, and teen pays payg bundles.

Pay for both ds phones and always have. Older ds will finish uni next year and then we will stop.

We go halves with ours so we pay it as they are too young for a contract in their own name then they pay us half each month back. Seems to work well so far! They pay us back either with chores which we pay an hourly rate for or with money from birthday and Christmas etc. Or if it's a month their birthday or Christmas is in they can swap the phone cost for that month as a present if that makes sense

Pay for 17 & 15 year old on plans with unlimited data so they can always get hold of someone if they get stuck

I will pay for my dcs phones until they have finished their education and are earning money.

We buy androids at around the £200 mark which are replaced every few years when they don't work anymore and pay around £10 per month for a sim card.

How much is his pocket money? If you can't afford to buy the phone and pay credit or pay a contract then paying half seems a good idea

We buy them outright and then get a cheap sim only deal for £10 per month from EE

We pay for ours (17 and 14)., they’re too young to have contracts in their own names yet and aren’t earning regularly.

I also want to know that they’re contactable.

ds1 has just got a new contract with three - unlimited data, texts and calls with a iPhone 11 64GB on a 24 month contract for £24 a month. I don’t think that’s bad at all.

They get a phone (cheap/reconditioned) for Xmas every 2-3 years and I pay the £6 a month contract.

I pay for their sim only contract. Around £10 a month with unlimited calls and texts plus reasonable data (15gb per month).

This is on the basis that if they need to contact anyone, especially those moments when they need a parent for whatever reason they can without any problems. Data cannot be exceeded and is plenty for app communication out and about, they know not to stream on the move.

The phone is up to them - I initially provided a mid-range smart phone, if they want better they save up for it.

We bought both kids a new iPhone a couple of years ago and then pay a giffgaff monthly goody bag for them. We’ll but the phones outright again when needed but both kids are very happy with them still 2 years on.

I think the iPhone SE on a contract is perfect for your/his needs. It's a decent new phone but budget end of iPhones and has the button. You cousin easily get a good deal on a monthly contract with that handset.

Android phones bought outright by us, and SIM paid for by us - unlimited calls/texts but not unlimited data. Means they can always contact us.

I pay. My son is in a minimum wage job while training and my daughter is at school so neither could afford to pay for it themselves.

I will pay for a contract until they leave education. Luckily they are good at taking care of their iPhones so this has proved the right decision for my kids.

I paid for my children's phones whilst they were in full time education and stopped when they began uni. They had a set £10 per month contract, if they wanted more data etc they had to pay themselves.

Phones were upgraded for Christmas and birthdays.

£7 per month sim only contract. Refurbished phone bought outright from backmarket. DD wanted iPhone 12 and she paid half the cost. Other half was birthday present.

Same here - £8 a month GiffGaff sim only contract, and a refurbished iPhone as a birthday present. The refurbished phone is excellent value for money, so overall it worked out cheaper than getting a contract and DS got the phone he wanted.

Yes. Phones have been gifts (bought outright) and I pay the SIM and monthly charges

Yes I pay monthly contract. She uses her phone for lots of things and I want her to always be able to contact me. Pretty much an essential these days

We pay for our youngest’s (male, 19). See it as a safety issue.

My youngest is in university, the rest are independent adults now. We paid their mobile bills until they graduated, they were on capped contracts so couldn’t take the piss but had plenty in terms of texts, minutes and data.

How much pocket money do they get?

We bought phones outright. Not iPhones but decent androids circa £400. They have sim only with 3 mobile which we pay for. £12 a month for 100gb data, unlimited calls and texts. You can also use topcashback which essentially covers four months payments.