This post is sponsored. All products mentioned and reviewed on this page are compliments of AT&T. All opinions of the products are my own.
I am the weird mom who determines when the kids get a cell phone on a case by case basis. My daughter, who was always active and on the go, received her first cell phone at twelve. My son, who prefers to be a homebody, received a cell phone much later. One of the main reasons I want my children to have a cell phone available at all times is safety issues. When my daughter was determined to go to college as far away from our “one horse town” as she possibly could. She decided on a college in St. Louis 500 miles away. When we moved her into her dorm I noticed the distance from the main campus was a mile away. Wonderful, I thought, how is she supposed to get back to her dorm safely late at night? She could ride the metro for one stop, but she still had to walk from the metro stop to her dorm. She also had the option of walking back to her dorm and passing the call for emergency assistance buttons. “If you decide to walk late at night and use the call button option,” I told her, “Walk fast and keep your cell phone set to dial 911.”
One of the ways I have learned to save money is allowing the kids to use a Prepaid GoPhone. What’s not to love? I can choose the level of service I want, have no contract and no cancellation fees. My son, however, had a problem with this. He was not thrilled with the lackluster phone and service plan his father had picked up for him. “It takes 30 minutes to text anyone with this 90’s phone Dad got me,” he would complain. Naturally, when I received a chance to try the AT&T Z998 GoPhone and a Smartphone plan, he was thrilled. He went from loser phone to a phone with the following plan:
- Unlimited nationwide calls
- Unlimited messaging
- Unlimited text to Mexico, Canada, and over 100 countries
- 2.5GB of data, Wi-Fi hotspot capability enabled
The plans begin at $25 dollars a month and include call waiting, call forwarding, caller id, three way calling, voice mail and nationwide long distance. He is happy to be able to download apps, text his friends in real time and take pictures. I am happy to be able to pay the bill online when I want to refill the minutes or set up the phone to automatically refill, change plans when I need to with no hassle and be able to not worry about expensive “up charges” if he goes over his allotted amount of data. Plus, the piece of mind knowing I can get in touch with him at any time is priceless!
You can learn more about the AT&T Prepaid Phone Plans here and decide which is right for you.
I will have to look into this, we are in the market for a prepaid type plan to test our teen daughter with a cell, this is my fiance’s daughter who has never had a cell before. My daughter is 11 almost 12 and has always had a cell on my plan but we aren’t so sure the 13 year old is responsible enough just yet. I love this will go look at prices now!
We have really thought about getting one of these for the kids soon so they can learn to budget their wireless plans. With 6 phones in our gouse it is one of our largest expenses.
This would be perfect for my In Laws! They don’t like contracts or big price tags!
What a great phone to have for kids going o school or away to college. It has lots of features both parents and kids will like.
This looks like a good way to go. Sometimes the go phones, or prepaid phones turn out to be a pretty easy for anyone that needs that.
Thank you for this post, as it’s come right on time. We’re looking at phones for my daughter and was really curious about the go-phone. I think it just may be exactly what we’re looking for. 🙂
This looks like a great plan. Thanks for sharing!
This is a great idea for a first cell phone. You can limit their usage so easily and the prices are much cheaper.
This is what I need for my 9 year old who has been bugging me for a phone for the past year since his everyone else besides the toddler has one. I’ll have to talk to hubby about it.
I use to work for AT&T customer service and I can tell you the GoPhone was one of pour most popular options.
Thankfully a long time off from my boys getting phones, but I hope they are still offering great options like this when that time comes!
These days you almost have to have a smart phone. I really like that this program allows you to have a smart phone, but stay in your budget.
I promised my older one I would get her a phone when she turned 13. Well now we are looking for phones and most probably will be going with the AT&T family plan.
Kids today should just be thankful when they even get a cell phone. I didn’t realize it was mandatory that every child have a smartphone 😉 Because kiddo travels so much between different houses we don’t have a cell phone for her. Her older brother, older sister and younger sister have prepaid phones. I believe she has one too, but she doesn’t keep it charged and keeps losing it. Doesn’t make me very motivated to get her one. She’s 9, so I don’t really think she needs one. If she wants to call a friend while she is here she can use ours.
I too will determine when my kids get phones on a case by case basis. We don’t have it like that so everyone gets a smart phone.
Great options for teens I think too. I like the savings!
This sounds like a great program. We don’t have AT&T in Canada.
I love this, I also see a need for kids to have phones younger especially when they start going to programs and events on their own, I want them to be able to call me or 911 if needed. The prepaid option is a great affordable way to keep track of use.
Prepaid phones are a great deal in my opinion. You can’t “go over” and you generally save money
I have AT&T service right now. If I ever get my son a phone, though, it will be a Go phone. That way, I don’t have to lock into a contract with him.
I think this would be a great option for my mother. I worry about her when she drives out of town, especially in the winter.
Sounds like a good first time phone! Sounds like a good deal too.
This would be a great idea for a teenager for sure!
This phone is very affordable and very convenient. I think it is the perfect phone for kids who are getting a cell phone for the first time.
this is a good choice for families. Sounds like a good deal.
Sounds like a great option for families. Teaching teens about responsibility with phones without running up an enormous bill!
We don’t need any more phones but I was considering their mobile hot spot. I am glad to hear their service prices are good.
Go phones are great for a fixed budget… or if you are Walter White and doing all that “chemistry” lol. It’s all I can think of! 🙂
I would have thought the same thing about the distance at the dorm. I think it’s just a parent thing, those things jump into our minds. We have prepaid phones here. We rarely use them but want phones in case of an emergency.
Prepaid phones really are the way to go with teenagers, they don’t do so well with limits, and we don’t want to see those limits surpassed on our phone bill. It was a smart move to include the ‘cool’ phones!
Trisha (MomDot)
I’ve had AT+T for years and never had a problem. This looks like a great phone!
We hope to not get our girls phones until they actually need it and then make it a ‘family’ phone. This would be a perfect phone for that since there is no contract.
I have been with what is now known as AT&T for almost 15 years. So we are grandfathered in to the unlimited data plan on the iphone that we got when iphones first came out. For that alone, we will never leave At&t!
I like this route especially for kids who tend to use up all of the data.
I love plans like this. We should be able to change our service options whenever we need it. We can do it with pretty much every other service.
Affordability can be hard to find to get the features you want. Sounds like a great phone!
This sounds like a great option for teens. I like that it is a smart phone with a prepaid option.
I love the go phones or as my father would call them “Trash phones.” He thinks people just throw them away when they run out of minutes. I actually have a Virgin Mobile and I buy my cards once a month. I highly recommend any of the go phones because of the whole “no contract” thing. I’ve explained to my kids if they can do without contracts they are better off especially just starting off with life/or a phone in general. My son wanted a new one which I wouldn’t buy, so he saved his up and bought himself something like the one you have above but not sure of the brand. I need to upgrade mine, I love that these on the go phones allow them to access the net too.Love the fact your son called it a 90s phone. Wow.
What a great sounding plan – love that it gives you choice and you can’t spend more than you can afford. x
So glad your son was able to step into the new century! I love that unlimited plan so much!
Also, I expect you to text me from this new phone. Your plan is unlimited you know, so step it up. 😉
This sounds like the perfect option for when my kids are old enough to have a phone. Which will be in 30 years. 😉
The go phone is perfect for little ones! My niece and nephew have them which allows me to connect with them often.
I prefer prepaid plans, as it is much cheaper and more organised that way. I will have to look into this for my daughter, she is also complaining of not having a smartphone like her other friends so Im sure she’ll be happy to know it’s an option with this plan.
This sounds like a good option. I have been looking into getting son a new phone now that he has to stay after school.
My dad and stepmom could really use this service. They don’t use their phones often enough to warrant a really high bill (and they don’t use any apps or need internet on their phone.) I’ll have to let them know about this.
My mom is in the same boat as your parents. I will have to tell them about this.
Our contract just ended with another company and we are now looking for a better option than we had. I need to really check out AT&T.
I’ve never used AT&T for anything, but this sounds like a good program to partake in!
That sounds like it might be a good option when it’s time for my kids to get phones. I will keep this in mind.