Anyone start their child out on virgin mobile

[tikilyn]

no contract plan? Dh and I are looking for a cell phone for dd 11. She wants a smart phone and virgin mobile has the lg optimus V for 149.00. She was told to save half the cost of the phone and half the monthly cost. They have a plan for 30.00 a month but it only comes with 300 minutes to use with unlimited text and data. Will 300 minutes be enough?

I don't want to put her on my contract just yet. We want to be able to control her phone. Like if she lets her grades drop we won't pay for the phone same goes for attitude problems (which she doesn't have yet but I know the time is coming)


Thanks

 

[shoney]

I added ds11 to our plan, but I can tell you if he uses 10 minutes a month it would be alot! All the kids text, text and text some more....they send pics and videos and ringtones, etc to each other...so I had to add the data plan or it the bill would have went through the roof.

 

[mum4jenn]

Our daughter has a basic phone through Verizon. We do the $15 per month plan (no contract). She is 13 and does NOT need a fancy phone. I do not need a fancy phone either and I have the same type phone and plan that she does.

Personally I don't think that any teen or pre teen needs a fancy phone.

 

[tikilyn]

Our daughter has a basic phone through Verizon. We do the $15 per month plan (no contract). She is 13 and does NOT need a fancy phone. I do not need a fancy phone either and I have the same type phone and plan that she does.

Personally I don't think that any teen or pre teen needs a fancy phone.

I'm glad to hear that that works for YOUR family. The phone is not the problem. We had an agreement, she saved up her part of the money and if she wants a smart phone then she can have one. As a family we are very into technology and don't run away from it. She might not need a smart phone but she wants one and can pay her share.

My question was "is 300 minutes enough" and "hows the service if you have it" Not if my child should get a smart phone. But thanks for your opinion anyways.

 

[momplus3]

I wouldn't worry about the minutes. I would make sure (and I think you did) that she has unlimited texting and data. ALL my DS11 does is text! It is rare he make a telephone call - he only does when I need information from one of his friends about a baseball game or practice!

Another hint -I would reccommend taking insurance out on the phone. It could save you money in the long run in case she drops the phone or if one of her friends does!

 

[tikilyn]

I wouldn't worry about the minutes. I would make sure (and I think you did) that she has unlimited texting and data. ALL my DS11 does is text! It is rare he make a telephone call - he only does when I need information from one of his friends about a baseball game or practice!

Another hint -I would reccommend taking insurance out on the phone. It could save you money in the long run in case she drops the phone or if one of her friends does!

We're going to buy the phone through best buy and I think they offer insurance but yeah we're diffidently getting insurance. It's good to hear 300 minutes should be enough. She's pretty excited to be getting a phone and mom is really excited to get her off my phone!! LOL

 

[mdrob214]

I'm not familiar with Virgin Mobile. But I can tell you that I'd be surprised if your daughter used anywhere close to 300 minutes--especially if data and texting don't cost minutes (some pay-as-you-go plans used to charge a portion of a minute for each text--don't know if they still do). My kids are teens and with the 4 of us sharing 1500 minutes(I think: whatever is the lowest available for a data plan), we rarely use more than 500 minutes combined. DH uses his occasionally for business calls and I call my mom every week, too.

I think kids mostly use their phones for texting and facebooking.

 

[bits-n-pieces]

My 11 year old might use 5 min a month...as long as you have unlimited text and data you should be fine. And good for your DD saving for half of her phone.

Wow need to update my avatar that's my tiny 11 almost 12 yo from 4 years ago! where did the time go!?!

 

[MickeyManiac]

There are 3 of us (me, DH & DS17) on our 700 minute family plan and we have never gotten close to that number. I'd be surprised if we have ever hit 500 min.

As for texts, DS has thousands by himself every month.

 

[cvjw]

My 15 year old DS just got that phone, and service from Virgin Mobile. He had a phone and service with Verizon, that was $60 a month - just for him. He rarely has ever used over 30 minutes talk a month, but having unlimited text is a must. He loves that LG phone from Virgin Mobile, and the unlimited data is great - he can get on facebook from his phone now. I am going to get my 11 year old DS that same phone and plan from Virgin Mobile.

 

[ceecee]

DD just bought 1/2 of her new phone ($199 on sale for $149) and has the Virgin $25 per month deal. 200 or 300 minutes (she never uses) and unlimited text. We pay 1/2 of the monthly fee which is what we were paying for Tracfone...she was eating up all her minutes with texting. The problem with the nicer phones is they get stolen all the time at school functions. They show them off and they go missing.

 

[mrseace711]

I'm glad to hear that that works for YOUR family. The phone is not the problem. We had an agreement, she saved up her part of the money and if she wants a smart phone then she can have one. As a family we are very into technology and don't run away from it. She might not need a smart phone but she wants one and can pay her share.

My question was "is 300 minutes enough" and "hows the service if you have it" Not if my child should get a smart phone. But thanks for your opinion anyways.

I actually have the LG Optimus with Virgin Mobile, it was the cheapest option I have the $40 plan with 1200 mins I do not have a home phone works great my husband has the Rumor with VM and has the $25 plan, we both text ALOT and it works great! I've recommended VM to everyone that texts more than talks! Best thing is you can change the plan evry single month to fit her needs say $25 300 min plan the 1st month and she seems to talk alot so move on up to the $40 plan or even the $60 Unlimited talk plan. Works greaat for budget purposes. Sidenote my phone does everything my Moms G1 phone does and my brothers Samsung something smartphone they both have contract phones.

 

[luvthemouse71]

I think 300 minutes will be enough- i only have 450 minutes for my iphone and never use them. What I use is data and texts.

 

[mum4jenn]

I'm glad to hear that that works for YOUR family. The phone is not the problem. We had an agreement, she saved up her part of the money and if she wants a smart phone then she can have one. As a family we are very into technology and don't run away from it. She might not need a smart phone but she wants one and can pay her share.

My question was "is 300 minutes enough" and "hows the service if you have it" Not if my child should get a smart phone. But thanks for your opinion anyways.

Well Excuuuuuuuuse me.

 

[momto2inKC]

I would think that would be plenty of minutes if she's just planning on talking. But if she's going to text, which is the preferred communication for most kids, that's not near enough. I just checked our last bill, my 12 year old sent 1700 texts and received 1500 texts lol Thank goodness for unlimited family texting plans!
I was a Virgin Mobile customer for years until we went to AT&T. I was always pleased with their service.

 

[kcrew]

My 13 and 14 yo sons both have virgin mobile and the 300 minutes has worked out fine--curious though, how does your 11 yo get money to pay even 12.50 a month?

 

[luvthemouse71]

Well Excuuuuuuuuse me.

Why get snarky? You offered an unsolicited opinion and she very politely said that wasn't what she was looking for..

Honestly, it's behavior like this that make the DIS unpleasant at times.

 

[tikilyn]

My 13 and 14 yo sons both have virgin mobile and the 300 minutes has worked out fine--curious though, how does your 11 yo get money to pay even 12.50 a month?

Even though this is not what my thread is about, I'll answer it anyways. And let the big debate begin....

My dh and I give our kids 10.00 a week for allowance, plus they can each earn 5.00 more each week doing extra stuff around the house ( pick up dog poop, cleaning the cat box, cleaning the toilet,ect.) Sometimes she works for the extra 5.00, sometimes not. We leave those jobs up to them. In an effort to teach them to save for the things they want and keep the junk buying down to a minimum, we taught them to pick something they really want (high dollar amount) and save. Once or twice a year depending on the item dh and I will offer to pay for half of the purchase price (with in reason). This keeps them on track and not let them get discourage from saving for said item.

My son just saved up for an xbox 360 with kinect. Yup that's right he saved up the whole amount 300.00 and he's only 8 years old! Between his birthday money, vacation allowance, and his regular allowance he had enough. We even offered to pay half like we are doing for his sister but he wanted to pay for it himself. He was really excited when he found out that best buy was giving him back a 100.00 with his purchase. He actually asked if that meant he paid only 200.00. I told him yes and he also bought a 100.00 bb gift card too.

To my sons credit he is a better saver than my daughter but she's not bad at all. What gets her the most is clothes!! LOL

So that is how my dd can afford 12.50 a month for her phone bill.

 

[mum4jenn]

Why get snarky? You offered an unsolicited opinion and she very politely said that wasn't what she was looking for..

Honestly, it's behavior like this that make the DIS unpleasant at times.

THe reply I got was NOT polite.

 

[luvthemouse71]

THe reply I got was NOT polite.

It was polite..but it didn't agree with you. Mistaking disagreement for being rude seems to be a real problem around here. Or maybe just crappy reading comprehension skills.