PAYG phone options for kids

[Wonky]

Number 1 son, aged 10, has just been given a phone. SWMBO insisted on it after he was late back from cycle club last week.
My dad sent a basic phone that he bought as a spare and used for a few days, with an unused Orange PAYG SIM, which we have registered etc.

I have been on phone contracts for the last 15+ years, and so have no experience with PAYG options.
The price per minute looks very steep (25p per min 12p per text).

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do to get the best value for money out of an orange PAYG for a child? I dont think he'll use it too much to start with, but I suspect he'll be a bit crap at managing his account or asking for top ups. And I want him to be able to call us when he really needs it.

Any tips?

[Cudzoziemiec]

Orange do various packages which you can change to by calling their customer service thingy. They've got animal names, Dolphin, Monkey, Racoon and Camel, and each one is supposedly profiled to different needs, so one (Racoon I think) has a simply low tariff with no frills, Camel is cheap(-ish) for international calls, Dolphin allows you internet access and Monkey gives you music downloads.

[Biggsy]

The phone can be unlocked to work with any network.

I've always had good PAYG service from T-mobile, who have merged with Orange.

Current T-Mobile Talk plan: 20 per min, 12p per text, but top up the credit by £10 and you get 100 free mins thrown in for a month.

Current T-Mobile Text plan: 25 per min, 10p per text, but top up the credit by £10 and you get unlimited texts for the month.

Averaged over a year, I suspect all the networks are similarly priced when you take all the special offers and gimmicks into account.

A contract should be cheaper if your son will make A LOT of calls or texts, but PAYG is fine for light users like me, and it's nice not to worry if my income suddenly drops to zero.

[MattH]

A contract should be cheaper if your son will make A LOT of calls or texts, but PAYG is fine for light users like me, and it's nice not to worry if my income suddenly drops to zero.

Contracts and kids really don't mix. I've heard enough horror stories of kids running up massive bills (with downloads, premium texts etc. all adding into it) that I've kept ours on PAYG. One of my son's friends just had an £80 bill, which his parents weren't too happy about.

Whilst the cost per call minute is quite high, I actually end up spending about £5/month on my son's phone (he's 14). My daughter (12) needs to be reminded to make a call on hers so the credit doesn't expire...
We use Vodafone purely because all the mobile networks are rubbish at home, and with Vodafone I can have a picocell in the house so full strength for us all. The PAYG offering gives more internet and texts than they can use for a month after a £10 top-up. My son then gradually uses up his credit the next month with some texts and net access.

[Biggsy]

T-Moble (and I guess some others) have a cap facility to limit the monthly bill.

[Wonky]

So it looks like the networks are all pretty similar.
The canary plan, with 100 free evening texts and minutes for a £10 top up looks good.
I guess those minutes and texts expire if not used within the month? I wouldnt get through them, but his usage remains to be determined.
No data on the plan, which suits him for now as its a basic phone. Dog knows what he will get up to when one of us upgrades and he gets an internet enabled phone.

[Biggsy]

The canary plan, with 100 free evening texts and minutes for a £10 top up looks good.
I guess those minutes and texts expire if not used within the month?

Yes.

[hellymedic]

Either go for Racoon on Orange (12p/min call, 12p/text) anything else VERY pricy or get phone unlocked and put in PAYG SIM from Lebara or Lyca.
Lebara is cheap but must be used every 80 dayss.

[Speshact]

Might be worth considering The Phone Co-op
http://www.thephone.coop/residential/mobile

[mrcharly-YHT]

We use O2 with our kids. Do a £10 topup, and they get hundreds of txts for free. They are under instructions not to make calls, just to txt, or, if they need to speak to us, ring and hang up.

Virgin used to have a similar deal. Orange must do something similar.

[Jacomus]

For example, something like this plan from Tesco mobile might be good. It is capped, so overspending isn't a problem and so many texts that he would really have to work to use them).

Tesco

I would also consider buying an emergency SIM for one of those just in case moments, but make it clear to No 1 Son that it is his responsibility not to use it for anything but an actual emergency if he somehow hits his call and text limit. http://www.travelsim.co.uk/

[fuaran]

For PAYG, Giffgaff is pretty cheap. 10p per minute for calls, 6p for texts.
If you're going to be using it a bit more you can buy a 'goodybag' which includes a bundle of minutes and texts and lasts for a month.

[pcolbeck]

We used a T-Mobile capped contract with Pcolbeck junior when he was too young to be trusted. It gave sufficient minutes texts and web for normal use and once they were gone for the month it could be topped up like a PAYG phone if he wanted to with his pocket money. I think in three years he only needed to top it up once when he went through a texting phase.

[Hot Flatus]

For PAYG, Giffgaff is pretty cheap. 10p per minute for calls, 6p for texts.
If you're going to be using it a bit more you can buy a 'goodybag' which includes a bundle of minutes and texts and lasts for a month.

Unlimited data, unlimited texts, 250 minutes= £10 (Giffgaff goody bag), you can set auto top up with maximum per month

[Wonky]

I dont think I need to worry for a while. He still hasn't worked his way through his first tenner yet! In fact he has over £5 left.