Big cell phone bills?
By howard96h
@howard96h (11640)
New York, New York
February 1, 2007 11:17am CST
I see and hear every day on court shows like Judge Judy how teens and even some adults have huge cell bills. I can not understand why parents do not get a pre paid phone for their teens so they could never get hundreds of dollars of bills. A pre paid will teach the teens - and even some adults - a valuable lesson of resposibility. They even have pre paid plans (Virgin Mobile) where you pay a certain amount every month and you even get unlimited nights and weekends, and yes - you can text messages, do email and even send pictures. And if a friend asks for you to get a cell phone account for them in YOUR name - tell them to go pre paid.
3 people like this
11 responses
@blueskies (1186)
• United States
1 Feb 07
I couldn't agree with you more. Both of my children have prepaid cellphones. I pay the daily charge for them but they must do chores to buy talk/text time. I got my kids phones from Kajeet which is a great prepaid phone company just for kids. The company has a website where I can log in and monitor both of their accounts. I also have total control over their cellphone usage through the website. For example, I found out my daughter was texting her boyfriend during classes at school. I went to the kajeet webpage and blocked her from using the phone during school hours. I love it and can't recommend it highly enough.
1 person likes this
@howard96h (11640)
• New York, New York
1 Feb 07
Very smart what your doing and you never have to worry about them messing up your credit!
@blackbriar (9076)
• United States
6 Mar 07
I never knew there was a cell out there just for kids. I just checked their website out and like what they have to offer for my 8yr old. She's been wanting a cell phone but refuse to add her to my plan cause I just KNOW she will use it for what we don't intend for her to use it as. We want to get her one but only to call us if she needs to, not e1 under the sun like I know she would. She gets a weekly allowance doing the chores she does now but if she really wants a phone, she would have to be willing to do more chores to earn her talk time. Thanks for the posting, blueskies. :-)
@howard96h (11640)
• New York, New York
3 Feb 07
Yes and no one can destroy your credit from a cell phone bill. Thanks for your reply.
@Jshean20 (14349)
• Canada
25 Feb 07
My boyfriend had an outrageous cell phone bill when he first got ours! He was under the impression that he was paying a solid amount every month for him and I to make calls between each other (we were on the couple plan as we were in a long distance relationship at the time). Anyways, of course the salesman made it sound better than it was and left out some important details and so he ended up getting a bill for nearly $1,000. This just goes to show how important it is to read ALL fine print.
@howard96h (11640)
• New York, New York
25 Feb 07
For sure. I always keep an eye on my account, I don't want any surprises.
@howard96h (11640)
• New York, New York
6 Mar 07
Excellent choice blackbriar, pre paid is the way to go with teens and even a lot of adults. It's impossible for them to mess up YOUR account and/or credit. If they overtalk and use up all their minutes then they are out of luck until they buy more minuts.
@blackbriar (9076)
• United States
6 Mar 07
OUCH!!!!!!!!!!! What a sock in the wallet that cell bill was. I've been with Verizon for 5 yrs. now and very happy with it. I pay a set amount every month for 500 min. and have hubby added as well. I find the cell phone is much easier for me cause I'm always on the go. Ppl got tired of calling my home phone only to get voice mail all the time. When I was in a major money crunch, I chose the cell over landline when I had to cancel phone service. I seldom go over my min. cause not many ppl call me or hubby and we seldom make phone calls. THAT'S why I refuse to add my daughter to my plan. I don't want to end up upgrading to more min. since naturally it will cost more. Nope, she's getting a pre-paid phone that she can earn min. for with chores.
@lloydanthony111 (4698)
• United States
7 Mar 07
I only use prepaid since I rarely use my cell phone. I try and keep my calls under one minute.
Another good thing is the the prices are coming down on the pre-paid cost per minute. I saw one today at CVS called Pulse or it might have been Impulse and they had the cheapest rates I've ever seen.
I also like the fact that you can reload some of the using your credit card.
Lloyd
@howard96h (11640)
• New York, New York
7 Mar 07
Hi Lloyd, Yes there are great pre paid plans out there. Something for everyone. My mom has a pre paid, she doesn't use her cell much only when necessary. She is happy with this type of plan and loves not getting a bill every monthy.
@howard96h (11640)
• New York, New York
7 Mar 07
Yes and the best thing is no one can abuse the usage and cause a crazy big bill. Thanks for your comments.
@ihsanul_aniq (1118)
• Malaysia
7 Mar 07
It's different for individual my friend. I spend around $100 every moth just for my phone bills. Guess what, i use two phone number which is line and prepaid. For prepaid i spend about $50 every month. How was that? I think no dofferents between line and prepaid, we use it anyway. The way to control it is the usage, how many time we use for it.
@ihsanul_aniq (1118)
• Malaysia
7 Mar 07
If the case like that, i too won't offer that. I'm sorry because not clearly understand about your topics. Ok i get it now. Sure it's good for youngins to having a prepaid. All my family members use prepaid except me. But sometime, prepaid also can get into huge spend of money too my friend.
@howard96h (11640)
• New York, New York
7 Mar 07
The pre-paid is excellent for many teenagers starting out with a cellphone because they need to learn not to abuse the usage and pay their bills. Every day on court tv shows there are people suing for hundreds and thousands of dollars of cell phone bills. Some adults abuse it too. If someone came to me and asked me to get them a phone under my name/contract I would say no and tell them to get a pre-paid. I can't take the chance and allow someone to possibly mess up my credit and leave me with their big bill to pay.
1 person likes this
@howard96h (11640)
• New York, New York
7 Mar 07
Yes you are right. I am glad we have the option of different cell phone payment plans now a days. Cell phone are so important to have. Thank you for your reply my friend.
@keepermykitty (2573)
• Canada
8 Feb 07
I don`t use a cell phone , at one time I had a Pay As You Go cell and I was using 75$ a week . I only the phone 3 weeks and gave away . I figured if I could afford 75$ a week why can`t I afford a home phone . I don`t like cells they are distracting and way too expensive .
@cheongyc (5072)
• Malaysia
6 Mar 07
I think pre-paid is really good for those people who have super long talk time. They should be aware of how much they talk. I know, chatting through phonce could be fun, but to an extend of burdening ourselves, is really ridiculous. Although pre-paid is good to limit our talk time, but i am sometimes frustrated when i finished up my credit half way of my conversation. I am a pre-paid user, and know the pros & cons of using it, over the post paid plan. In fact, in my country, post-paid plan is cheaper if you have long talk time. But pre-paid is more suitable for people who make just a few calls and students.
@howard96h (11640)
• New York, New York
6 Mar 07
Yes I agree that pre-paid is more suitable for people who make few calls and for those that tend to abuse their cell phones. Too many people get their credit ruined because they have someone on their plan and they abuse it running up crazy bills. My roommates brother messed up his own account, still owes the company money and now wants another phone and asked him or me to get him a phone under our acocount. Yea right - Hahaha, what a joke. No way is that happening. We told him if he wants another cell, either he goes pre-paid or he has no phone at all.
@Fishmomma (11377)
• United States
7 Mar 07
I have a prepaid plan and like it better than paying a monthly rate and not using the minutes. The prepaid plan saves money when you don't use your telephone very much. Its perfect for parents, who decide their teenager should get a telephone and college students, who haven't yet learned about all the bills that come each month. Some adults really need to go this route, as to many people are on the afternoon court shows with sky high bills.
@howard96h (11640)
• New York, New York
7 Mar 07
Your 100% right. There would a lot less problems getting a pre-paid.
@urbangirl (1456)
• Australia
9 Feb 07
Don't you folks have "cap" plans where you pay say $49 a months but get up to $500 worth of calls and texts per month? Here in Australia these plans are very popular.
@howard96h (11640)
• New York, New York
9 Feb 07
Yes some pre paid plans have that. + Thanks for your reply.
