Looking for wireless service for teens or tweens? Here is a service we were introduced to.
Our older kids are 9 and 11-years-old. Earlier this year, we bought them both cell phones. They were then attending a school several miles from home and it was what Mama needed to keep connected with them after school.
After a few months, we quickly realized that the 9-year-old was only using the phone for games and my daughter, well she had lost her phone. When she had her phone, she just used it for texting. The few times I did contact my son it was via text. They didn’t need phone service, so we discontinued our plans (thank God for no contract plans!)
My daughter has been begging for a phone ever since losing her original cell phone. Christmas she wanted a phone, and then her birthday rolled around, she wanted a phone – and we just didn’t want to pay for her service and a phone she is just going to text with.
Scratch Wireless
Scratch Wireless recently contacted me and offered to send us a phone to try out their service. The thing that caught my eye about Scratch Wireless is that you just buy the device. $269 and you get a nice Motorola Photon Q Android phone and get this – NO PLAN needed.
SAY WHAT?
Yes, I was baffled. We got our phone and the only real way to test this phone out was for me to give it to my daughter. I figured this would give us a good idea of how it worked and she would most definitely tell me what she liked and didn’t like.
Free Phone Service on Wi-Fi – Free Texting ALWAYS
Scratch Wireless – Where Mobile Lives Free – okay so that’s their tag line, but WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
Here is how Scratch Wireless works. You buy the phone outright. You can then use the phone on Wi-Fi for FREE. You ALWAYS get texting for FREE. But let’s say you need to use your phone sometimes and you don’t want to have to be in WI-FI to use it. NO PROBLEM.
Scratch has 2 options for you
1. Purchase a 24-hour cellular-pass – Data pass: $1.99 or Voice pass: $1.99
2. Purchase a 30-day cellular pass – Data pass: $14.99 or Voice pass: $14.99
And of course texting is free on Wi-Fi and cellular, and voice and data are free on Wi-Fi!
Perfect Wireless Service for the Teen or Tween
While I can see Scratch Wireless working for anyone who wants to save on the monthly cell phone bill, this is a GREAT option for getting phone service for a teen or tween for a minimal amount of money. For $14.99 a month, I can text my daughter all I want and then call her whenever I need to. Sounds like a great plan to me.
Thoughts from my Tween:
“I LOVE THIS PHONE MOMMY” This is definitely an upgrade from the last Android device we bought her.
The downside, she doesn’t have access to some of the apps in the car – her way around is to bug us to turn on our hot spots so that she’ll have wireless access.