If your teen pays for their phone, what portion or all?

Adding to my answer - so if they are required to have data because of school now, then I'd probably pay for it. But if they just wanted to instagram, FB or snapchat, they'd pay for it.

We bought the DS20 and DD17 their iPhones as gifts over the last couple years. They pay a portion of the data...which I think ends up being $10-$15 each a month--I can't remember exactly--and we pay the remainder of the bill. When they need new phones, they will likely contribute a portion of the monthly cost of the phone as well since ATT (or Verizon) no longer discounts the phones when you sign a contract. Both are fulltime college/HS students that have part time jobs that take care of things like gifts for friends, activities with friends, car insurance (DS) and DD paid for half of the trip to Italy she left for today.

She needs to pay for it. She doesn't need such as expensive plan. When my daughter turned 16, her uncle surprised her with a car for her birthday. Of course, she was over the moon but new that it came with responsibilities. She got a job to pay for insurance. Since your daughter isn't going to work until the summer, why can't she babysit to earn some money? Do extra chores around the house and work for you? There is always something that can be done in situations. Just be creative. She may not earn all the money she needs, but she will get a sense of what it means to be responsible for your own bills.

Why don't you come up with a monthly amount that you think will accomplish your goals for her (help her to learn the value of money, etc.), but not totally deplete her account (since she is saving up for a large purchase, which is probably behavior you want to encourage) and then just have her pay that amount toward the phone bill? You can nicely let her know that her phone REALLY costs $102/month, and you are generously not making her pay the whole thing.

Back in the dark ages I paid for the kid's cell phone because I wanted them to have it. It existed for my peace of mind and my convenience.

So, I took things from the perspective of what do I get out of them having ____ ? So I would cover basic phone/messaging because I get to be in easy contact with them. A data plan is more nebulous in how much it benefits me to pay for it... it is good for them to have access and learn about (like not going over!) and it may be useful for school. So I probably would pay part of it. I wouldn't have them pay so much they drain their savings. IMO, providing things is part of being a parent. I might only make them responsible for paying overages.

For their car, again, I benefited by not having to take them places, pick them up and they could run errands for me. So I paid the car and basic insurance. I wanted them to learn to drive and manage a car while they were home under my influence. Any rise in insurance due to their willful negligence behind the wheel was on them. I also provided a basic gas allowance and if they went further than that they covered the extra.

How much they pay has to be balanced with what work resources they have for earning money, what standard of living we have as a family, what I want them to learn about savings! IMO, it can quickly get to be asinine behavior on the parent's part to expect a teen to pay for things that have become part of normal societal expectations.

I think a part of learning the value of money is not only being responsible to pay for some things but also being allowed to EARN money. So, what does the h have in mind for her to be able to earn the money for things she needs/wants. Or does he just feel like being a jerk and telling her she can't enjoy things her peers do?

We pay for my son's phone. It is a cheap slide out phone with no data. He said he wants to buy his friends old iphone. He will be responsible for the extra data he wants. He has a part time job. He has a laptop, kindle, and a Nintendo 3DS (not sure if that's the exact name) that all have internet. He's allowed to use his laptop at school. He does not need data on his phone.

I balked at not getting him one for a long time and the biggest reason we pay for his phone is because very few people own landlines. When he is stuck at school or in town and needs a ride home, there's no pay phone to call home. I also learned that you can't rely on his friends to answer a text or call you back. It happened so often before he got one!

We pay for the phone and a decent service package for all of our kids since we don't have a home phone and it was our choice to go to all cells. We also pay for other basic things that *we* choose to provide them with but we do ask them to pay for the "extras."

If kids were required to have data for school wouldn't the school be furnishing the kids with devices to access the net? That expense wouldn't fall on families would it? Some folks can't afford smart devices.

I would have dd look into whether it would be cheaper to have her own disposible phone or the amount you are coming up with. I'm not such what the price of those are, but $77 a month seems like a lot of money from a part time seasonal worker.

We aren't having our 16 yr old pay for her phone. She doesn't have a job, her job is her education (school, DECA, 4-H, etc). We also like her having a phone so it's for us as much as it's for her. I also don't feel comfortable teaching her to use her savings for daily expenses.

The rule in our house is that we provide the kids with a basic phone. If they want a smart phone then it is on them to pay for it. Right now, DD17 is the only one this effects. She pays about $40 a month, that gets her 2G of data and the phone. We pay the line fee because we would have paid for it if wasn't a smart phone. She also pays for her car but we pay for insurance. 2G is more than enough data for her since she uses wifi when she's at home and most places have wifi that she goes to.

She works for a fast food chain restaurant to pay for her phone and car. We wanted her to work around 20 hours a week and that would be more than enough for her to make the payments she has. The battle we are facing is that they are scheduling her for around 30 hours per week! She has recently been promoted to assistant manager. We are very proud of her work ethic but a little frustrated as she is completely worn out but they continue to give her more hours. She is a high school student and taking 4 college classes as well as working! Anyway, that's a whole 'nuther thread lol. My point is our plan has back fired slightly. Would I change the decision to have her pay for her phone? No. Would I have her work somewhere else? Absolutely! (If there was somewhere else for her to go in our small town, that is.)

I think you should look into a cheaper plan. We have three iPhones on Cricket (AT&T's network) for $90 total per month includes unlimited talk and text and 2 gb of data each per month. No extra fees.

It felt like a lot to me for someone with limited income too. But I don't know about the various plans out there. We've stuck with Verizon because of the good outback coverage!