Am I a meanie mum?

[primula]

Do you think I am being mean? My soon to be 16yr old daughter suggested that we buy her a phone for her birthday, ok with that.. then she said I can get it this particular phone on a contract for only 20.00 a month for 2 years Hello 960.00 quid!!! apart from that I dont want to be tied to a contract otherwise i would have one myself! So poor little hard done by daughter has gone to school with a face on!!

[rosebud]

Of course you're not mean. If you don't want a contract for yourself then why would you pay for one for her! If she wants a phone on a contract then she needs to pay for it herself - a good way of teaching her to manage money. Stop feeling guilty!

[wendywu]

Quite agree with you, £20 pound per month is far too much to pay

[mama2three]

DS2 asked constantly for a contract but I wouldnt and couldnt get tied in to another monthly expense. we bought ds a blackberry for his birthday - then as a reward for outstanding gcse grades we relented and took out a contract for him. Its a rolling 30 day contract with Tesco , capped , and he knows I will and can cancel it at any time . Its £15 a month but to be fair thats no more than I was topping up for him on PAYG.

[Mollymop]

It depends on you but I don't think £20 a month is too bad, over 2 years it equals £480 not £960! lol But that is a lot to pay out for a birthday.
In that price of £20 a month will include the price of the phone and her phone calls, broadband etc. I wouldn't mind paying if it meant I had peace of mind, while she is out with friends etc she is easily contactable.
We pay £15 a month for our 13 yr old, this includes the price of the phone and 200 mins and unlimited txt - he also got a free ps3 with it.
Can your dd pay half of the price per month herself out of her pocket money maybe?

[Mouse]

All my children have contract phones as it actually worked out cheaper than the amount we were paying on top ups, but if you've decided not to do that then your daughter has to learn to accept it.

You can get good deals and phones for less than £20 a month, so maybe compromise. Tell her how much you are willing to pay and let her find a contract within that price range. Or tell her how much you are willing to pay & let her find the rest.

[caz3007]

My 16 year old dd wanted a contract phone and I wouldnt do it, she got a friend of her dads to get it for her and then run up huge bills way over the minimum payment, mind you it was 6 years ago and they werent so generous with minutes etc. I did find out after that cos she was the only one of her friends with a contract phone she was letting all her friends use it. I did see Tesco were doing capped contracts now and that would possibly suit a teenager

[FussyElmo]

It depends on you but I don't think £20 a month is too bad, over 2 years it equals £480 not £960! lol But that is a lot to pay out for a birthday.
In that price of £20 a month will include the price of the phone and her phone calls, broadband etc. I wouldn't mind paying if it meant I had peace of mind, while she is out with friends etc she is easily contactable.
We pay £15 a month for our 13 yr old, this includes the price of the phone and 200 mins and unlimited txt - he also got a free ps3 with it.
Can your dd pay half of the price per month herself out of her pocket money maybe?

I agree I dont see the issue we looked at this for my dd 12 but at the min we only top up a 10 a month so just got a second hand phone

[Mouse]

My 16 year old dd wanted a contract phone and I wouldnt do it, she got a friend of her dads to get it for her and then run up huge bills way over the minimum payment, mind you it was 6 years ago and they werent so generous with minutes etc. I did find out after that cos she was the only one of her friends with a contract phone she was letting all her friends use it. I did see Tesco were doing capped contracts now and that would possibly suit a teenager

We've capped all our children's contracts & none of them are with Tesco. We just set the credit limit at £0, so they can't spend on anything other than what's included in the contract.

[JCrakers]

All 4 of us have contract phones as they do work out a lot cheaper as PAYG. We all get free unlimited texts and free minutes. I think £20 is a good price as if a text is 10p and calls are more then for unlimited thats a good price.
My ds has a £25 contract but with that we got a free laptop. dd is £15, mines £25 but I use mine a lot and dont use the house phone at all.

I was paying £38 to BT plus £30 for calls so now dont use my house phone at all and use my free minutes.
There are some good deals out there where you can get money back too. Weve just got a cheque for £70 as we signed a 2yr contract.

[singingcactus]

My two teens (15) have contract phones too. To be honest I don't see 480 as a 16th birthday pressie as too much BUT it does depend on whether you can or cannot afford it.

My parents gave me a new motorbike and all the gear to go with it for my 16th....so maybe asking for a phone is not so bad lol.

[EmmaReed84]

After working for T-Mobile for over 6 years I can tell you there are so many other options than a full on contracts. If you are worried about bills there are contracts that you can get that will stop calling out as soon as the minutes have gone and it turns in to pay as you go, so if she wants to use she would have to top it up.

Also there are loads of pay as you go deals including topping up and getting rewards such as internet, free texts etc. To be fair £20 a month is not THAT much especially got a 16 year old, does she get pocket money? A lot of parents used to get the child to pay half and they pay half... perhaps you could reach a compromise x

[Ripeberry]

If she is going to be using internet on her phone, then a contract is MUCH cheaper than PAYG. Maybe suggest to her that she should pay her pocket money each month towards the monthly charge, if she wants it that much

[Playmate]

All of my teenagers (12 -19) have contract phones. They all have unlimitted texts and internet usage. I got fed up with them not having any credit and topping up just so they had some in an emergency. It is hard if on limited budget though. At least they get a new phone every 18mths to 2years and every time it goes wrong (which seems to be frequent ) we just take it in to be repaired or replaced.

[LOOPYLISA]

We got dd a new phone for xmas, not contract as me and hubby both have iphone contracts and it works out expensive, she has £20 a month pocket money go into her bank and tops up when she needs, i look at it as her £20 child benefit we get for her goes on her as in pocket money

At the end of the day its up to you x

[Rio123]

I always have a contract, but have one which gives cash back. My current contract with T mobile is only £1.99 per month by redemption, this inculdes 300 texts, 300 minutes plus data. You have to pay month by month,but then every 3 months or so you get a cash back cheque. The only down side is you have to remember to send in your bills to get the cash back, can't imagine a 16 year old being too on the ball with that one, so you would probably have to do it. When I get to the end of a contract, I just go with another provider with another cash back offer.

[The Juggler]

my ds has got a basic phone and we got him a sim card with calls and texts - no internet, on a contrat that is stil £7/month so for a fancy phone that is not too bad.

However, I totally disagree with fancy phones for school - for reasons of them being mugged for them, having them stolen etc, etc. so I'd have said no but for different reasons

[MAWI]

My DD had a contract phone at 14( hubby's decision not mine) and it was £25 a month. My DD has to do chores and earn the contract but when we received the itemised bill one month for £150 extra one month it stopped. We continued to pay the contract but took the phone off her as a lesson. She went 3 months without a phone and it was hell bt she needed to learn.
Needless to say, she is now on pay as you go and only gets top ups if she has done all her chores etc... It actually only costs £10 for unlimited texts which suits her. We're all happy and a lesson learnt for all of us.

She has asked for an IPhone because hubby and I have one. I think you can guess the answer to that one.

[gigglinggoblin]

I cant believe how much you all pay for kids contracts, I am absolutely the meanest of all! Ds (11) has a cheap phone without internet and I pay £1 a month for a contract, I think its with carphone warehouse. 50 minutes and 50 texts free. I dont want them to have internet on their phones as I limit it at home and I want to know what they are watching. Their dad bought them posh smart phones for Xmas with £10 credit, no contract. They lasted less than a week and he hasnt topped them up since!

[primula]

Thanks for all your replies. I am bit of a dinosaur when it comes to phones and one thing I have taken from your replies is that there are some deals to be had I like the Tesco capped idea! will check that out, more clubcard points! Rubbish at maths