Teenager & Mobile Phone Bill

robin_banks

Scooter, Phone Contract, no income, !!!!!! ?

Sylvester

A basic nokia brick and £10 a month. If he wants more, he can get a job or move out and claim benefits.

Morglin

cindiedunkley wrote: »

My lad has a contract phone that is billed alongside his dads'. I received the Orange bill yesterday and he has run up a bill of £200 inc vat. Now, this is not the first time, it's about the seventh time, the highest amount being about £300 incl vat
He owes me about £450 from when his dad and I went on holiday in September when he messed about with his scooter and needed it repairing. Also, we pay his scooter insurance at £40ish per month and he doesn't receive EMA
Needless to say I hit the roof when I got the bill yesterday. I have told him he now owes me £550 and the other £100? Happy birthday son (it's his birthday on 2 March).
I have taken his phone off him and told him to get a pay as you go. There were huge rows last night. Him shouting and swearing and being agressive.
I spoke with my husband this morning and said I am not giving the phone back and my husband came back with: what if he has an accident on the way to college. My response was: what makes you think we can get to him quicker than an ambulance and if he's knocked out he won't be ringing anyone anyway. I overheard my son trying to emotionally blackmail my husband last night, so I know where this has come from.
I am so angry I could cry. Angry at my son and my husband. I do my best to control our finances so that we can all enjoy treats etc. But I feel like I am being undermined. I don't earn anything near what my husband earns so feel my arguments about money saving are weak. I worry now where this will all end, the three of us are barely talking to each other.
Please help with some advice:(

Get him a PAYG - we all managed without mobiles when we had accidents a few years back, so that form of emotional blackmail/argument is pretty weak and useless.......:whistle:

If he needs it that much, let him top it up and your husband should back you up in this.

I would never let a teenager loose with a contract phone.:eek:

Lin

ninky_2

paddy's_mum wrote: »

I'd also add that I strongly disagree with his/your perception that as your husband earns more than you ... in a marriage, you are presumed to be equal partners. Earning more of the family's bread doesn't give that person more say over how that bread is spent and I would hope that spouses today had long ago left that flawed perception behind in the dark ages where it so rightly belongs. Good luck.

oh dear. i have to admit as the main breadwinner (by far) and for many years the sole breadwinner i do tend to make the main decisions about how the money is spent. my husband had a lot of debt when i met him - which i have paid off or sorted out. we have seperate accounts too.

but i don't think the ops question is really an issue about money. it's about how to raise their child. and that should definitely be a joint decision.

babyontheway

Even if you've only just started the contract, at that price you would still be better off just paying the rental and giving him a PAYG SIM card.
My parents gave me a contract phone in their name when I first went to Uni as the halls I was in only had 1 payphone for 100 residents and I'd get grief for my bills being £40!
You can also change your tarrif without affecting your contract usually. You can get such massive amounts of inclusive calls on tarrifs of about £30 per month that unless he's ringing premium numbers he shouldn't get anywhere near the limit.
I'd also check that he hasn't signed up for text alerts from sports teams or anything like that. They are often around £1 per text.
One thing is for sure - if you don't stop it now, you will be getting another similar bill every month as long as he feels it's allowed.

ManOnTheMoon

My girls have PAYG phones which I don't mind topping up at their ages. I wouldn't let them have a contract phone until they were 18 and then they'd have to take it out in their own name.

Once it happens once, you need to learn from that and take steps to ensure it doesn't happen again.

Curv

savingmummy wrote: »

I certainly would not put up with that. He will have to get PAYG and pay it himself.
How will he pay you back?
If your husband gives in he will always do this, run up bills and leave mum and dad to foot the bill. He needs to be shown some personal responsibility.

My parents were very soft with my younger brother. His now 23 and always relying on my parents for money. He owes them 100`s but can never pay back so gets away with the debt owed.
He is moving out in March.....then he will struggle x

Couldn't agree more... my brother is in his late 30's and relies financially on my parents - to the point at which they've remortgaged their previously mortgage-free home in order to buy a house for him to live in because he can't get a tenancy agreement due to his appalling credit history. They started bailing him out since he got his first job and started spending beyond his means and, other than giving him a stern talking to every now and again, there have never been any meaningful consequences to his feckless, wastrel ways. He owes them tens of thousands of pounds and there isn't a prayer that he will ever be in a position to pay them back. As a side issue, my brother has never held a job down because (IMO) there has never been a consequence to him throwing in the towel - his bills have always been paid and he's never gone hungry, no matter how many Star Trek and Dr Who boxed sets he's bought.


Teach the lad now, before the habit sticks (any further).