Choosing the right mobile plan for your kids

It's no secret that kids are hugely social beings. When they get home from school, they're always keen to head out or get online to reconnect with their friends and talk until it's time to go to bed. Naturally, mobile phones play a big part of this.

Not only are mobiles a great way for kids to form friendships with other kids at school, but they can also make life easy for parents. Gifting your child a phone allows you to stay in touch with them when they're out of the house and to ensure that they're safe.

In fact an infographic by  Mobile by Sainsbury’s explained that mums think texting friends and family is the most important aspect of owning a mobile themselves (55%) with just over one third (37%) feeling their mobile is vital because it helps them stay close with their family.

By Artotem via Flickr.com

Here, we take a look at how to choose the right mobile plan.

To cap or not to cap?

Deciding whether or not to cap your child's mobile phone usage can be tough. One the one hand, you may not be keen for them to spend every waking hour glued to their new handset, speaking to friends and surfing the web. On the other hand, the last thing you want is for your child to be unable to contact you in an emergency.

A recent newspiece from the BBC highlights a compromise for younger children. The handset described has limited functionality, allowing kids to contact parents without surfing the web. The age and maturity of your children will undoubtedly factor into your decision.

Try to avoid a long contract

Parents don't need to be told how quickly kids grow up. Habits change on an almost weekly basis and it can be hard to pin youngsters to a decision on just about anything as a result.

As such, it's not always a wise idea to take out a long contract for your kids. As the way in which they use their phone changes, so too will their demands from a network.

Looking into Pay As You Go tariffs can ensure that you remain flexible when it comes to usage and allow you to set your kids a budget when it comes to their mobile phone use.

Speak to them about their usage

Decisions like these don't need to be made independently of your kids. In fact, the simplest way for you to ascertain the best thing for your young ones is simply to speak to them about it on a regular basis.

If you can have an open discussion about your kids' needs, it should be simple enough for you to make the right decision regarding their mobile plan so that everyone is happy.

Look for suitable deals

Another top tip is to look for bundles and deals that help you achieve better value for money. Christmas is a great time to look for these promotional offers so why not see what you can find?

As part of Mobile by Sainsbury’s promotion of their new winter deal, they are upgrading customers from a £10 bundle to a £20 bundle absolutely free of charge and this is an example of the type of offer you can hope to find. It’s far from the only deal available though so make sure you scour the internet for all the latest deals and promotions from top mobile phone networks.

You may also want to take a look at these top Cyber Monday smartphone deals to see what else is on the cards. These offers may no longer be valid but it will give you an idea of the sort of thing you should look out for when shopping.

This guest post was brought to you in collaboration with Sainsburys