My daughter recently turned 13 and she received a mobile phone for her birthday. What is the best option for her to stay connected? Pay as you go? Fixed mobile contract? or a month to month?
I think some data is important but I also don't want any surprises so a set amount every month would be much better. Have you seen any special offers?
Thanks and I hope you can help ;).
She is good with money. I don't want to spend more than $30 per month. A little undecided between prepaid and a 12 month contract.
Jeenee $35/month =
8GB of 4G-data, Unlimited sms, voicemail, calls, and calls to 13/1300/1800 numbers, $300 international calling.
OVO $35/month = "same as above"
PLUS $0 International calling credit, and a free streaming service.
^Best bang for buck, no lock in contract.
Jeenee $30/month = 4GB of 4G-data, $50 international calling, "same as above"
Jeenee $25/month = 2.5GB of 4G-data, $0 international calling, "same as above"
OVO mobile $25/month = 2GB of 4G-data, $0 international calling, "same as above", + free streaming service
https://www.jeenee.org.au/products/sim-packs/
https://www.ovo.com.au/ovo-mobile/
She is good with money.
Great! Foster that skill by letting her find and pay for it herself.
Does she receive pocket money? Supplement it with $5 per week.
That way she will find exactly what she needs and get to keep any extra.
This. This is a good plan because it ensures she knows the consequences of going over her monthly usage allowance.
It also shows her that research is important when making monetary decisions.
I would recommend either Jeenee, Aldi, Telechoice, TPG etc. though. Small enough to be good value, but large enough to know there shouldn't be too much trouble with the network.
Kogan Mobile offers Unlimited SMS and Calls and 1GB of Data for $16.90
Lycamobile offers Unlimited SMS and Calls and 2GB + 1GB extra of Data for $24.90
Holy Shit, I'm with Lebara for $29.90 a month for unlimited Calls/SMS and 5GB of data but I'd happily move to Kogan, thanks man!
Prepaid is best as there is a set limit and no excess fees if your son/daughter overindulges on data
Thanks I was just looking at this option. Optus have a $30 sim for $10 so I may go with that one.
Kogan mobile has prepaid plans all with unlimited calls/text https://www.koganmobile.com.au/plans/
1GB data for $16.90/month or 3GB for $30/month
Amaysim are also prepaid https://www.amaysim.com.au/mobile-plans
1.5GB of data and unlimited calls/texts for $25/month or 3GB data & unlimited calls/text for $30/month
Downside of Amaysim is the months are 28 days so they cost you a lot more than Kogan's 30 day months
Start low. Have enough call/text credit for her to call you on a whim but the bare minimum for data (50mb or so). You don't want her stuck on social media during class.
If she's becomes more responsible, you can increase the data limit every few months by changing plans.
I'm not telling you how to parent your child but I think it's important to develop good behaviour in children when they're young. Use the phone plan as a way to motivate her to achieve her goals. They'll grow up to be responsible adults as long as they get rewarded for good deeds that they have done and they'll thank you later in life.
Thank you.
I think if you agree on a mobile phone, you have to agree on all the consequences. Education should avoid her being on the phone during class, not data restriction.
Have a look at these (Pre-Paid) plans:
Aldi Mobile's XL Value Pack - $35 per 30 days - This plan includes 6GB of data (which is quite a large amount) and unlimited calls and texts. Aldi use (part of) Telstra's network (some places where Telstra has a monopoly on coverage Aldi won't work where-as a proper Telstra service will, have a look at the Aldi coverage map here
Amaysim's Large Unlimited Plan - $39.90 per 28 days - This plan includes 7GB of data (very unlikely a normal user would exceed this) and unlimited calls and texts. Amaysim uses Optus' full network so if Optus coverage isn't good in your area then this may not work for you. Have a look at the Optus coverage map here…
Boost's $40 Unlimited Plan - $40 per 28 days - This plan includes 5GB of data that you can use at any time (which is not a small amount, but not large. if all your daughter does is use social media for an hour a day or so and watch the occasional video then she will be fine). It also gives you an extra 1GB every weekend for use on that weekend. This means you could potentially get 9GB of data a month (if your daughter uses all the weekend data every weekend). This plan uses the full Telstra network, so you might as well be on Telstra with this plan. You also get the unlimited calls & texts as with the other plans.
Keep in mind that if a Pre-Paid plan has only a 28 day expiry then you will need to recharge 13 times per year, where-as a 30 day plan will only need 12 recharges a year.
Hope that helps.
With Boost you can have automatic recharge set at any date you choose for each month. Take this option and its 12 recharges a month not 13. Still only $40 per recharge. Best thing about Boost is your on Telstra full 4G network so its better then some of the others when you get out of the city.
My daughter is on this all being a typical teenager uses a lot of data, if it runs out she has to wait for the recharge date so no nasty charges.
Woolworths mobile prepaid $13.50 per month.
Only 250MB of data.
For some reason I can't even find this.
https://mobile.woolworths.com.au/prepaid.html. Scroll down to 'Prepaid Options'. $15 option but $13.50 with Woolworths Rewards.
How about this?
https://www.coles.com.au/our-range/our-products/coles-mobile
$20 month ~ 28 days ~ 2GB Data ~ Unlim. Talk and text.
Kogan also offers monthly prepaid options:
$16.90 ~ 30 days ~ 1GB data ~ unlimited talk and text
this can be reduced to $15.64 / month if you buy a 90-day recharge.
The Coles offer is good. I have been looking at the Optus $30 prepaid and the only difference I can see is 1 extra GB of data. We have wifi at home so I think 2GB could be sufficient. Thanks for sharing.
@AussieDolphin:
Both my teenage daughters are on Optus $30 prepaid. Free music streaming (eg Spotify), unlimited talk & text and data rollover. As you said wifi at home, 2G is sufficient. But make sure you turn off 'background app refresh' on her phone.
Go the prepaid Aldi plans
Checkout Vaya phone plan .. $18 - 1.5gb, 550 worth of calls and msg
For light users like me
I went with Vaya $18 plan for my son. First month had to disable the data ( I have his acount login ). He went through 1GB in 1 day.
LOL, so did mine, what the hell do the do on the phone?
It was Instagram and YouTube.
Whatever you go with either make sure the mobile doesnt auto update app and emails etc which uses data in the background.
So either get enough data so it isnt a worry or be sure to disable any and all background data usages are disabled.
Coles mobile $20 month unlimited calls text 2gb data is plenty.
On optus network 28day expiry
I agree. Do you know if you can keep an existing number with Coles Mobile?
You can with anyone, it's a rule.
Kogan mobile, unlimited/1GB, $14.8 per 30 days. How can you beat that?
I think you got something mixed up. Its $16.90
Nope. If you buy a year's worth then $14.8. Or 3 months for $15.odd P. Month.
Remember last time k/Bogan did mobile? They didn't last a year.
@fruit: I remember it vividly. My wife was 3 months into the 12 months she had bought, and they credited her back 9 months to her credit card without even being asked. An excellent company, I don't know why some people feel they have to keep putting them down.
And it wasn't Kogan that didn't last, it was their wholesaler that went out of business and Telstra refused to maintain the service. So get your facts straight, your tall poppy syndrome is showing.
I have my 13 years old on vaya. 1.5gb and some money for calls $18 a month. She never goes above and mostly uses data.
As someone currently on this plan, dodo is cheaper with more data, jenee is the same with more data, telechoice is $2 more a month with more data and on the Telstra network.
Call allowances vary between the lot.
Just some options.
I've got my 12-year-old son on an Aldi prepaid plan. Bought him a $5 SIM at the start of the year and it is still going without us having to top it up!!! The $5 can last for up to 1 year.
I have turned data off on the phone, because he uses wifi at home and doesn't need to use it at school. We only ever call him.
Congratulations on raising an excellent OzBargainer. :)
same !
My 15 year old is in the same position - same plan and original $5 sim still going since February. Unfortunately my 18 year old is a different animal - makes hardly any calls but can blast through 5GB in a couple of weeks. Both are boys.
As others have already mentioned, don't make this an exercise in obtaining the best bang for buck deal.
Consider what you would like you 13 year old to do with the phone, not what she wants, and provide an option that doesn't become source of distraction, or worse.
A 13 year old should have no need of gigabytes of data traffic on a mobile. Personally, I would provide 0 data, as it will only serve to distract a child from studies.
School / home environments should provide enough access to (monitored / filtered / safe) data, for children to do their work.
My daughter is a similar age and I just moved her from the $18 Vaya plan (1.5gb data) to the $26 Vaya plan which includes 3gb data as she was struggling with the 1.5gb limit. For only a few bucks more I thought it was worth it as you pay $10 anyway each time she reached the 1.5gb limit.
Very good value, Optus 4g coverage and despite some of the hate for Vaya on here, we've had no problems (3 in our house) using them for the last 2-3 years.
my daughter is on a plan with optus, unlimited calls and txt and if she goes over data it's only charged at $10 per gb
teach her to use the landline instead
She knows how to use a landline. Mind you calling a mobile from a landline costs more than mobile to mobile. There is also line rental fees on top of that. Not entirely against landline but it's hardly practical in case of an emergency out of the house.
Check out Aldi prepaid. (Aldi Mobile) You get a lot for $20 month. That's what I have and I don't use it all (can't be used os though)
Also block internet access too. Kids these days do all sorts of dodgy stuff on there other than play games late at night.
When i was a teenager i was on prepaid. Plan was too dangerous. amaysim. 30 bucks for unlimited call/text and 3gig data
vaya
I guess the best prepaid plan is those that last a whole year with very tiny credit just enough to make phone call but not to be answers but call back instead. These days just a good wifi they can make WhatsApp call anyway.
Boost Mobile Prepaid. I pay $40 and i get unlimited calls, unlimited text, and 9gb. Amazing value and it's on the telstra network so rarely any issues with service.
Pre-paid all the way. Too many times, when I worked at Vodafone, I saw parents sign up their kids on plans. Their kids promised to pay the bills and they even got them sent to their own email. Inevitably, they didn't pay the bill and Vodafone rang the list mobile number to recover the money.
In the end I saw two different parent get a black mark on their credit rating.
in the end I stopped signing parents up for their kids.
Just get prepaid and when your kids turns 18 ring the provider and get the details changed over so they can sign up their own plan
Check out Yomojo for their PAYG plan. They have very cheap rates for PAYG, except you need to trust your daughter to not go wild with the phone. Let me know if you want to use Yomojo and I can let you use my referral for a $20 bonus for both of us.
Otherwise there is Jeenee, the $18 a month plan gets plenty of calls (200mins or 400mins depending on no contract/3month contract), unlimited texts, and 1.8GB (or even 2GB if you get it on a 3 month contract).
I second Yomojo - you can build your plan to suit your needs, currently I get 2gb a month of 4G data and 100 minutes of calls for $22 and everything else (SMS etc which I hardly ever use) gets debited off the $10 credit I top up whenever that runs out, or if my pre-paid data/voice run out.
You could pre-pay for however much data, voice and text for the upcoming month and see how you go, and then adjust accordingly next month, and put a minimal amount of credit for emergencies, so your daughter will never go overboard.
Just in case you missed it OP, telechoice has one within your budget just gotta make sure your 13 y.o. has her student ID at the time of applying
My 15 year old son is on the Virgin simple prepaid plan. $19 for 90 days validity and it comes with only a tiny 100mb data. Our preference was for him not to use data while he is out. He has a phone for phone calls and he will often use free wifi at shopping centres. And he has wifi at home…so imho….he can do all his social media stuff at home and do real socialising while he is out.
kids dont use phones as phones, just us oldies do.
for kids they are little computers and social media is the way they "talk" to each other.
go with a decent prepaid amount and give her $30 a month to recharge. anything else is just asking for trouble.
my experience - from being a naughty 13 year old once upon a time. :)
get something with unlimited text/mms as that will get used a lot, not so much calls.
also a decent amount of data, 2 gig min - once again thats what will be used for messaging, instagram, snapchat.
have wifi on so it connect when she is home, and updates only on wifi.
and check with her as to what phone she thinks is OK (may not be what you like)
id recommend starting with prepaid, since there is more control then moving onto plans
Lol. The best plan for her is one she ain't paying preferably post paid. The best plan for u is for her to learn responsibility and she can get a Prepaid one like amaysim(90 days expire) or aldi(1 yr expiry).
Thanks for coming.
Birthday hug
Aldi mobile $30 plan done and dusted
Optus
If you buy before end of tomorrow, (11:59PM), you can get 15gb of Data for $50 per month. If someone in your family has a uni email, you can get an extra 10% off. I know 15gb might sound crazy but for data eaters, you may get that.
Lucky me, I've got a uni email address. Thanks.
Let me know if you get it :)
Vodafone prepaid ?
Relatively stronger broadcast signal in metro against others imo
.. savvy feature:
Pay as you Go Plus LTE: (updated in June);
20c Voice +$3 for 2GB net (data rollover) and otherwise
2cMB - light/budget user. Good all year 'round also.
besides prepaid, Jeenee Mobile has Automatic Barring:
Once you pass 100% of included value usage we will automatically bar you on the network to prevent you from incurring further expense.
Jeenee Mobile $18/Mth - 2GB Data, 400mins Talk, Unltd SMS, Optus 4G (3mth Contract), or Choose 2GB Data or 400mins, No Contract
$13.88/Month: 250 Call Minutes, 500 SMS/MMS, 150MB Data @ Jeenee Mobile (Optus 4G) - No Contract
Have you thought about what your budget is, whether she can trusted with managing money etc.? You should know as a parent, rather than fully relying on others to tell you what to do.