Eglu cube or go up with 2m run

[jjmack]

Hi,

DD is 12 in a few weeks and her phone although only 18mths old, looks like a brick compared to todays! She is also on PAYG which she has managed really well. She pays for her credit, but obviously its not as cost effective as going onto a contract. She hasn't asked for anything, apart from a laptop and that is an absolute no no as we already have 3 computers in the house, so she will have to wait a few years for that, but thought a new phone would be a compromise.

 

I work for the NHS so can get 25% off an orange contract so am looking at the Dolphin 15 (100mins talk, unlimited texts and 250mb internet access). This is £15 less 25% so I think she could still manage the cost of this out of her pocket money - I will not pay for her credit / calls as i think she needs to understand that it is really a luxury (I know i am a grumpy old bird!)

 

But the vast array of phones are baffling me. She currently has a touch screen and seems happy with this, so will probably go for this rather than one with a keyboard (so that rules out the nokia and blackberry type etc). I am considering HTC wildfire (I will have to pay for this but she has some money in her phone fund and it could be her b'day pressie) or an Orange Sanfrancisco which is free ( I would then contribute to the monthly cost as her pressie).

 

Any views / experiences?

 

Thank you!

[UKMARCH]

Hi, I have the same situation so would be really interested to know what you decide to do. My daughter is also 12 and pays for her own calls too although she mainly texts so its not a huge amount. What she really wants is a HTC as she tells me thats what a lot of her friends have got and have a similar cost monthly contract and they use it for apps and play angry birds and similar on the bus on the way home. She has recently had her birthday so will have to wait for Christmas although at present she doesn't spend as much as a monthly contract would be but at this age they really want to be the same as their peers

[snowberry]

I have been through every phone imaginable (well, it feels like that!) I have gone from a BB, to an iphone 4 & now live in harmony with an HTC Desire Z. This is touchscreen & has a slide out keyboard; I thought I'd hate it but it's so much easier than the on-screen keyboard! Just in case you haven't seen it, Tesco have a good tariff (I think that must be what it is, it's certainly on-going) where you pay £10 & they top it up by another £20. This can be used for calls, texts or internet & photos, so it's very versatile.

[squiffs]

I think she could still manage the cost of this out of her pocket money - I will not pay for her credit / calls as i think she needs to understand that it is really a luxury (I know i am a grumpy old bird!)

 

LOL whaaat? that's not 'grumpy old bird'! I didn't get a contract til I was 18 and could pay for it myself out of my personal bank account (you can't get a contract in your name unless you're 18 anyway) - and I got £3 a week pocket money when I was 12, my dad would top my phone up a tenner every 2 months and I didn't have any free texts, calls or data allowance - kids these days have it MADE!

[Chucky Mama]

I hate to say that I don't agree with buying smart, expensive phones or getting contracts for 12 year olds. They are 12, who are they phoning? None of mine were allowed phones at primary school and being allowed a mobile was a right of passage when they went to secondary school. That was because they needed to be able to keep in touch with me. I would pay enough to cover any calls they had made to me, the rest was covered by their pocket money. Let's face it, they rarely have a phone charged when you actually need to contact them - or it is on silent, or has no credit My 15 year old had a contract as a Christmas present this year. Her Blackberry was my old one. Until then she was using a phone that she saved up and bought off eBay for 1/3 of the price she would have paid new. She used pretty much all of her pocket money on top ups, hence the very gratefully received Christmas gift. My 13 year old son's phone is my husbands old phone and is on PAYG. As with many 13 year old boys, he rarely uses the phone.

 

My children have learned to ignore the peer pressure that comes with 'I've got an iPhone 4, I've got a new Blackberry'. Many of my children's friends have bog standard £20 phones and they all think it's a laugh and quite cool. If you get an all singing all dancing phone and contract at 12 - what have you to aspire to? What is left for future birthdays and Christmases. I think that I am a bit of a Victorian mum in this area but feel exactly the same about people who buy their children brand new cars or near new cars when they pass their tests. I think it is all too much too soon.

 

...also new phones often end up going through the washing machine or get left behind on the school bus

[squiffs]

I hate to say that I don't agree with buying smart, expensive phones or getting contracts for 12 year olds. They are 12, who are they phoning? None of mine were allowed phones at primary school and being allowed a mobile was a right of passage when they went to secondary school. That was because they needed to be able to keep in touch with me. I would pay enough to cover any calls they had made to me, the rest was covered by their pocket money. Let's face it, they rarely have a phone charged when you actually need to contact them - or it is on silent, or has no credit My 15 year old had a contract as a Christmas present this year. Her Blackberry was my old one. Until then she was using a phone that she saved up and bought off eBay for 1/3 of the price she would have paid new. She used pretty much all of her pocket money on top ups, hence the very gratefully received Christmas gift. My 13 year old son's phone is my husbands old phone and is on PAYG. As with many 13 year old boys, he rarely uses the phone.

 

My children have learned to ignore the peer pressure that comes with 'I've got an iPhone 4, I've got a new Blackberry'. Many of my children's friends have bog standard £20 phones and they all think it's a laugh and quite cool. If you get an all singing all dancing phone and contract at 12 - what have you to aspire to? What is left for future birthdays and Christmases. I think that I am a bit of a Victorian mum in this area but feel exactly the same about people who buy their children brand new cars or near new cars when they pass their tests. I think it is all too much too soon.

 

...also new phones often end up going through the washing machine or get left behind on the school bus

 

 

I completely agree - I got a new phone when my parents split up so my dad had a way of contacting me when I was taking myself to and from school on my own (aged 11), and then from then on I got the cast offs my parents upgraded from until I was 18! I think it's ridiculous that my younger cousins have phones that cost almost as much as mine! Plenty of Pay and Go sims have deals on texts and minutes depending on what you top up - there's no need to have a contract.

[The Dogmother]

I'm a grumpy mum too then as Rosie has my old (4 year old) phone and won't be getting a new one. She briefly had a friend's old phone which was rather snazzy, but promptly lost it, hence my reluctance to give her anything else... it still works so she keeps it. R used to have £5 to top up her credit every month on the understanding that she used it only to contact me if she needed to, for her birthday this year, I relaxed that slightly and added a cheap £10 contract to my account which allows her 300 mins and unlimited texts. Internet access on her phone is banned. I don't agree with computer games, Nintendos or satellite TV but she has an ipod (my old one again).

[snowberry]

BTW the Tesco offer I mentioned above is PAYG; it just seems like a good offer as it lasts my daughter ages

[squiffs]

Another thing to note - my first year in high school (Year a girl in my form had a contract phone. Our first school trip everyone was mucking about on her phone because she could do all these flashy things on the internet that their phones couldn't do because the internet was so expensive on PAYG - they ran up a HUGE bill and she got the biggest telling off EVER.

[The Dogmother]

You can get it barred on any SIM - Rosie's is... best choice in case some eejit gets hold of it.

[squiffs]

You can get it barred on any SIM - Rosie's is... best choice in case some eejit gets hold of it.

 

 

Can you bar/limit everything on a contract though? My problem with it is there is no 'restriction' on how many texts or calls one can make - so people can go over the limit very easily, whereas with PAYG once the credit is gone, it's gone and the phone can't do much. Had that girl been on PAYG, maybe her £10 of credit would have been gone, but that's infinitely better than say £200 phonebill at the end of the month.

[The Dogmother]

I'm not sure, you'd have to check with your provider.

[TheGirlsMum]

With you on this as a grumpy old Mum. ED bought her own phone, not flashy, we put £10 on a month PAYG if I remember.....so she has unlimited texts

[UKMARCH]

I agree thats why I just nod when ED tells me a lot of her friends have one! She does have a basic phone which we got her one Christmas when she started going out on her own and into town more for our benefit so we can know she can contact us if there is a problem. She has used it since she has been at High School and its handy for us to contact each other. She doesn't use it for calls much and doesn't need to top up often and she pays for this out of her pocket money which is £5 a week. If they go out much on their own £5 doesn't really seem to last long! I agree about the chance of them losing, washing, dropping etc but also think that although there is a mixture of children at her High School a lot come from private schools and have all the latest gadgets and designer clothes and a lot of the phones are hand me downs as a lot of people now use Blackberrys, Iphones or HTC and do regularly upgrade or don't have the worry about affording a new one and just want the latest version! She tells me she wants to save up for as long as it takes and then buy one you can use them on PAYG and download apps by wifi at home. It is hard as the children are growing up with these things as the norm and last week I saw a toddler at my YD dance class make a sign for the iphone as he wanted to play on it! Don't even get me started on the padded bras for 12 year olds.

[snowberry]

Don't get me started on the 3" heels in a size 11 (childs) that I saw a while back