Hi OZB hive mind, hoping you can steer me in the right direction. I've got my 14yo son on an Aldi $15 PAYG plan, it's not used much, the odd phone call when he needs us or otherwise just texts (he keeps mobile data turned off). The credit lasts 365 days which is perfect because on average he's using the credit up every 4 - 5 months. We are finding he has a need for mobile data these days, whatsapp would be good, google location sharing, maybe even a little spotify. Aldi doesn't seem to offer additional 365 data credit while keeping the $15 talk/text plan. Any thoughts on how I might go about keeping a cheap pay as you go plan with additional data?
Mobile Phone Plan for My Kids
brettule on 23/01/2018 - 10:31
Comments
I've got a 12 y/o on exactly the same plan. He also does the exact same thing and keeps data off and his credit lasts months. He's gotten so used to only using data when he can connect to a wifi hotspot, be it at home, at his friends' places or whatever.
I keep telling him that I'm happy to move up his plan when he starts using it more for calls and messages. At this point, I'm leaning more on the $10 OVO for 30 days. I think it's got a decent amount of calls (which he hardly uses), heaps of messaging and 1GB for 30 days not 28. The only thing I don't know is if it does data per kb.
I'm happy to hear of other Ozb suggestions as well.
They do have a 365 day data pack https://www.aldimobile.com.au/plans/data-packs/ You can use it at the same time as the PAYG credit - it is mentioned at the bottom, although in a bit of a roundabout way, and was covered in this post when it launched last year
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/321071 (around the middle of the comments it was figured out they can coexist)
It uses up the data allowance from the data pack, and PAYG credit for calls and texts. I have done this successfully in the past. Currently on the one year superpack, but based on my usage, will be cheaper to go back to this way of doing it when my superpack expires.
Big difference is cost though to PAYG.
Yes, it is a pity they only have the 20gb option, not something cheaper
If you are able to use data mostly, e.g. relatives are open to whatsapp replacing text, you require very little PAYG credit, so you can spend below $10/month
If you choose a normal monthly plan make sure you get a prepaid plan with indefinite data rollover, so you're not paying for data in months he uses very little, or paying any extra when he uses more.
I would get the smallest Kogan 365 Plan. Get hold of the $50 off vouchers and it will be a touch over $100 for the year.
Kogan you say? $150 for 2gb every 30 days and unlimited calls and texts. Does the $50 off voucher (and where do I find this) last the life of the plan or just the first year? Does Kogan get full use of the Vodafone network or is it limited?
$50 off is a one off stacking of a $20 & $30 Voucher offers. Check classified here, gumtree or eBay.
$20 voucher is $3, and $30 Voucher is $4.95. Search “Kogan voucher and sort by lowest price.
I bought a $10 eBay evoucher and spent that on Kogan vouchers from eBay, so more like $40 off, but as Jan 31 approaches the prices will get cheaper as they expire next week (eBay and Kogan).
Best thing is the Data is capped so no bill shock for the young/old.
Full Vodafone 4G network. Faster at home than 100/40 NBN.
The hard truth is, whatever you do its not going to be as cheap as what you had been on.
To have data, changes lots of things (mostly costs!)
So that said, look at Kogan mobile offer some cheap plans with lots of data, downside is its a pay for the year in advance.
$255 will give you 12 months of unlimited calls and 16GB of data to use every 28 days.
I reckon that 1.5gb per month, 50 texts and a handful of calls a month would suffice. At this age, the data is probably more useful than texts or phone calls to him
I used this for a while: $10 a month, unlimited sms, "$200" of calls and 1gb data.
https://ovo.com.au/products/mobile-phone/plans/kids-mini
Reminder: you can use the Mobile Plans page to see a list / grid of all the top rated mobile plan deals posted and voted by ozbargain community.
Also I recommend that if your kids are using smartphones (which they most probably will) be sure to use the phone's built in data restriction features to limit how much data they consume.
I have noted that Youtube tends to prefer high resolution videos even while using 4G LTE — if you're not careful you may be burning a lot of data watching 1080p videos on a small 5 inch display without realizing it. Make sure to set the video quality to Low when using cellular connections.
Another option is stay on the Aldi PAYG. Then get a cheap dual sim phone and put a half price Vodafone starter pack pack on long life data (180 days).
Both my kids have old Sammy S4 phones rooted and running LineageOS, they are pretty nifty in this config so I don't want to go buy a dual sim phone now.
They should be able to hack their friends Hotspot settings then.
Why don't you join Vaya. They're cheap and offer fast 4G speed. (They are on the Optus 4G network) Their $16 plan gives you 1.5GB of 4G and unlimited SMS and calls to Australian numbers.