PAYG mobile for 92 year old

Krakkkers

My mum has asked me to get her a basic mobile and i have found a Nokia 105 4g for £13.50 from ASDA or Argos which would do just fine.
Here is my question, i have only ever had contract phones but my mum want a PAYG phone so when i buy it how do i get credit on it?

bazdvd

buy a PAYG sim card and it will tell you how to top up

elsien

Are those prices just just for the phone or the phone and a SIM card? 

How often is she likely to use it? Some of them lose their credit if it’s not topped up within a certain amount of time.
does she want data at all?
PAYG Sims can normally be topped up online.

swingaloo

You buy a sim card, usually 99p in the supermarkets. The instructions for topping up are on the cards but its really simple. 
I have one with 02 and I get a text reminder to top up each month then just ring the top-up line number and its an automated process doing it on your debit card. 
You can go to the shop and buy a voucher but thats a load of faffing about.

Takes about 3 mins to  top up.

elsien

Just as an example.

https://mobile.asda.com/pay-as-you-go/talk-text/plan

Flugelhorn

as others mention you can get the top up online having bought the SIM card in the supermarket.  depending what mum wants to do with the phone - I have a spare phone which I just need for phone calls and text when working as a charity volunteer and it costs me less than £5 a month

lr1277

Out of curiosity does the account doing the topup have to have the same name as the name registered for the SIM? In fact, is there a name registered with the SIM?

That is can OP's mum be the 'owner' of the SIM, but the OP does the topping up if mum doesn't feel upto navigating the topup technology?

Krakkkers

Ok, it looks like you have to buy it with a £10 vodafone top up.
Are Vodafone any good and how long is £10 going to last, can't find what the charges are for vodafone PAYG, any ideas?

PHK

Krakkkers said:

Ok, it looks like you have to buy it with a £10 vodafone top up.
Are Vodafone any good and how long is £10 going to last, can't find what the charges are for vodafone PAYG, any ideas?

It depends where you are whether Vodafone coverage is any good. 

How much usage costs depends on which PAYG  tariff you she chooses. 

With Vodafone PAYG you can either pay a regular amount each month which gets you a bundle of calls/text/data, pay a regular amount but commit to a  minimum term which gets you more per month, or pay £1 each day she uses it and £0 each day she doesn’t. 

Be aware though that even a basic feature phone is nowadays likely to use some data, so for piece of mind £5 or so per month with someone like Lebara would give peace of mind. Alternatively, RWG do tariffs where you pay once per year (£40 ish) for calls, texts and small amount of data. 

531063

If the phone is unlocked https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403881945712?itmmeta=01J513X5X8E4XPGJNHHV7BCW5Z&hash=item5e093d6a70:g:DXsAAOSwZ4BjGeFj&itmprp=enc:AQAJAAAA4FY44igex0AIY5p6xNL3lCD0zK88PQgoBChovfCIG+6xm5lPJAbFZQJd+tKSomRGxENLGfx7HsBglcafTi/4kGZddHXlOARNUP7pf1phKCli71qc8sLXpb78Sygd7OBdzvHLto+iluR0avIPbLvyqJwfaSzRg5DMGbEqICs73MCh8uhx87ELycG2XR2fTIhC5f2eo1Vs2JCfwn2gM2rJPfy+lG/oc5Bl3AaraMyWGsikeXhHhojgEe42uYTxJ/oZpmpvZcr1HaPrCkTfIDp0oDrZmw/cVtnVLGmoSEIZjjmO|tkp:Bk9SR9re9KOoZA

victor2

Krakkkers said:

My mum has asked me to get her a basic mobile and i have found a Nokia 105 4g for £13.50 from ASDA or Argos which would do just fine.
Here is my question, i have only ever had contract phones but my mum want a PAYG phone so when i buy it how do i get credit on it?

You can get a free SIM, then top it up online as needed. For example Asda Mobile use the Vodafone network and you can top up with £5. Calls cost 15p/minute and you must make a chargeable call or top up once every 180 days I think. If she is going to use it often, you can buy 30 days unlimited calls and texts for £4. Or £5 if you want to include 3Gb data. Such "bundles" can be set to auto-renew every month, so you never run out. You have to register a credit/debit card with them if topping up regularly
.