We added a cheapo phone to our AT&T plan for DD and I'm pretty sure we're only paying $10 a month for it. Are you looking at a smartphone or a really basic one? The one she has is very basic. As far as I was concerned, all she needed was a way for me to reach her (or vice versa) when she's with her friends.

She still uses her iPad Mini to text with her friends when she's home.

We used Virgin Mobile Custom for my dd. There only 3 phones choices and are only available at Walmart --either $60, $80 or $130. Like sueb, we really just wanted something for basic communication. You can customize the plan for amount of minutes desired in 3 areas: talk, text, and data. And you can change your preferences at any time. So for ex, we initially chose 250' talk ($3), 500 texts ($4.50), and 250mb data ($8) and $7/line fee Total monthly bill was ~$22. I've since tweaked it a bit but you get the idea :-). I like the ease of being able to change it as we've gotten a better idea over the months of what our/her needs are.

We've only had it for about 3 months, but so far it's serving our needs.

Here is a link that might be useful: Virgin Mobile Custom info

We are wondering the same thing. We are due for new phones and discovered that Verizon is no longer even selling basic phones. They are forcing you to get a "smart phone" to the tune of a MINIMUM of $40 per phone each month. That is INSANE !! Who has all this money??? It is very frustrating.

You can buy used phones. My ($400+) smart phone is 2 years old and cost $70. A brand new basic flip phone cost the same amount. I works just fine. It was bought from a friend who was upgrading. If you buy the phone on your own you and switch the sim card the the carrier will not charge you an activation fee. Tell everyone you know with the same carrier that you are looking for a used smart phone. Many people have these just sitting around. My 2 year old phone still has more features than I will ever use.

We have tmobile which is decent. Most carriers give you discounts through your employers or schools. We get a discount as my DS attends a SUNY school. Once he graduates I'll have to check to see if our employers are on the list.

Don't give a kid a limited number of minutes as they will go over it and you will pay the overage charges. Been there, done that.

get a cheap track phone ... and a cheap card ..

IMHO ... all a 13 year old needs to do on a phone... is call me to pick him/her up ...

and to check in... so i know they arent dead ...

they can play games .. vids.. music... when they get home on their other technology ...

the kids i dont get... while they are sitting in the back seat of my car.. are the ones who are actually WITH their friends.. and cant turn off the techno ... and TALK TO THEM .. boy did i needled one.. who was texting their friend.. SITTING IN THE FRONT SEAT ... crikey ... lol ...

this ought to buy you a year or two ...

ken

We have Virgin Mobile. I've had it for years so I still pay the same $25 per month for my line of text, web and 300 minutes. I've added my kids and they are $35 per month per line. They text all the time so the minutes are plenty. I got my smart phone as a black Friday deal last year for $20 at Target. Had to pay $40 for my daughters. Not as fancy as an Iphone or Samsung but I can do email, facebook, web, take great pictures, ect. If you're going to do it, now is the time with all of the Christmas sales.
We considered going with a plan with a contract and a big carrier, but then we would have to buy all new phones, and our phones are just fine.
My child was the ONLY one of ALL of her friends when we got her a phone for her 12th birthday. I didn't let my boys get one until they were 13. I DO like being able to reach her whenever I want, to tell her I'm there to pick her up after school, to check on her at a sleepover or ballgame, ect. I'm usually not one to get my kids things because everyone else has them, but with phones - they miss out on a lot of social interaction with peers without them. An added benefit is I have something great to take for misbehavior!

Arcy, I don't know if they still sell them but we bought ds13 a phone at Sam's. When my oldest got an iPhone (ugh…that's another story), we gave her basic phone to ds, mainly for him to use if he was out somewhere and needed a ride, etc. He didn't really "need" the phone but it was only an extra $10 to my bill (first two phones on our account are regular price, whatever, like $40/each, but then additional lines are only $10). His phone is only for calling/texting, no websurfing/etc. Well, shortly after we gave it to him, he had it in his pocket while we were at a lax tournament. He brought it down to the hotel pool where there was a team party going on and a friend pushed him into the pool. We tried to save the phone, but had no access to rice/etc right away, so it died. I was due for an upgrade on my iPhone, but didn't need a new phone, so I used my upgrade to get him a new phone at Sam's Club. The salesgirl was easily able to use my upgrade for his phone, so it cost like $1 for the phone and she linked his phone number to it.

Funny thing is… he NEVER uses the phone. He never remembers to bring it with him. If he does remember, it typically is out of battery b/c he forgets to charge it, or it's turned off for school and he doesn't remember to turn it on. As a result, I almost never can reach him on the darned thing. He really wants an iPhone b/c all his friends have them, but he does not need one. He is required by his school to have an iPad so he has all the features of the iPhone as long as he has wifi. So, no iPhone for him b/c he does not need 24 hr access to the internet…he can use his iPad at home, at school and even at Starbucks LOL.

Wearybuilder, I'm sure there must be other options for you, like a pay as you go phone or whatever…the kind you buy minutes for. I do know that when I added dd to my account, it did cost about $40/mth for her line, and that was just for unlimited texts and calls. That is with Verizon-first two lines cost the same, then any additional are only $10 on the plan I have. Dh's phone is paid for through his work, so I sucked up the $40 to add her. Now she has an iPhone so she has a data plan also that adds to the price, but when I added the third line for ds, it was only $10 for him.

Incidentally, when I went to get the iPhone for dd, I went to the Verizon store. They would only sell me this package deal that came with all these accessories she didn't need. They said they were required to sell them that way! I knew that I could easily get an iPhone from the Apple Storeand told them so, but the Verizon guys said their hands were tied. So they lost a sale. I went to Apple and bought the phone there (she was due an upgrade so I didn't have to pay a fortune for the phone). The downside was that by buying from Apple vs. Verizon, she couldn't keep her phone number and had to get a new one and it wasn't a good number. I kept her old number anyway b/c I knew I'd be using it for ds but his voicemail still has dd's message on it b/c she can't remember the password to change it, LOL.

I would not recommend a track phone or any prepaid minute phone for a kid. They will always run out of minutes and you will need to keep buying more costing more in the long run. This is unless your kid is very disciplined and will only used it for important stuff. That never worked in our family.

Based on a point another poster made, I wanted to add/edit my above post to note that the plan we got our DD is no-contract, also. I prefer not to be tied into a contract anymore. Over the years, the no-contract pricing has become a very affordable and thus, attractive, option--esp given the relatively low-tech cell phone needs of our middle schooler.

Debra, I have no idea how pre-paid phones work and whether they include texting but neither of my kids use their phones for talking. Texting, yes. But I'm lucky if my daughter answers when I call her. I have better luck texting her. But if the OPs son is anything like mine, a pre-paid phone might be a good option if the main reason for the phone is for emergencies or to be able to get in touch with each other when he's not home. I don't have unlimited calling on our plan but do have unlimited texting. We don't even come close to using up our plan minutes. So it is something to at least look at, depending on how a kid will use it if a regular phone is more than the OP is willing to pay.