Phone for Tween

How about forgoing the phone and have her call from where she is on their phone. From the beginning of time that's what kids did. She wants to walk home with friends. Again kids have been doing this for years and years and years. So if all her friends are all sick on the same day and not in school, if she has to call you, she asks the school office if she could use the phone. She is 11 and does not need a phone. If you must just get a prepaid phone from Walmart.

Usually it is cheaper to add a line to your plan. My older daughter still has a straight up dumb phone. At 23 I think she does it because if she adds data she knows she will be kicked off our plan. :-/

Samsung still makes a dumb phone, I had to replace my dad's old dumb phone and there is no way he could learn a new phone. My dad's phone was free through Tmobile, can't imagine any carrier charging for them because the demographic that uses them isn't going to pay a lot for anything.

If you're going to want a basic phone, the odd's are that you will have to go with a pay as you go. Verizon and AT&T both make good versions with reasonable prices. I've done both when my kids were younger (but older then your DD) and only had texting on their phones. They could still call 911 if they needed to.

My DD works for Verizon and told me that simple phones are actually being phased out. They want people to start upgrading to smart phones, because they are changing their technology (something like that). That is probably why you are having a hard time finding what you want.

Here's some for AT&T...
http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/devices/prepaidphones.html

Verizon....
http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/prepay/processPrePayRe...

If you have Verizon you can add her to your plan for probably $10 a month.

Go to the Verizon store and see what they offer. You can also buy a phone over the internet for very cheap and get it added to the plan.

Go in and talk to the salespeople at Verizon if you qualify for a free phone.

I swear every time I go in there, they look at my account and say, "You qualify for a new free phone.." I love my phones, so I am always reluctant to change. Our daughter and my husband have upgraded to these phones may times.

You can then tell them you only want the phone to take and accept calls and then decide if texting is something that you may want. I find texting is great when I have to give someone a list of instructions or a really quick reply or check in, Or when I am somewhere that I need to be quiet.

Will she really need one? My ten year old participates in plenty of activities but has never needed a phone to do so. All of the places he goes for these activities have courtesy phones available (school, church, community club, YMCA, library, ice rink, city pool, the homes of his friends etc). I would check to see if phones are available in the places your daughter frequents. Even if they don't have courtesy phones it is likely the adult in charge has a phone that can be used. As for walking home from school, or going to the park he knows he should come right home and talk to me in person should he need to speak to me (to change plans etc). In cases of emergency I have taught him how to go to a neighbour to get help. I see so many adults so utterly dependent on their phones, I cringe at the idea of helping a child develop such a dependency.

We have a pay as you go, cheap as they come, phone for the kids for when they are away from home. You can buy cards for minutes, pay directly to the company online, or set up a direct payment monthly. you can get the phone for as little as $10. Generally the cheapest plans are $10 a month (for 100 minutes) or 3 months for $20 (200 minutes) or you can buy a years service all at once (not sure how much). They are great for occasional use and teaching your tween to budget her/his minutes, but once they really start to use the phone, it's best just to add them to your plan.

My 11 yr old does not yet have one. A few of her friends have the cheap, pay as you go phones with no data. When my daughter gets one, that will be the kind she gets.

AT&T has "go" phones.
Pay as you go types.
Basic phones.
My Mom has one.

I recommend Trac phone...go to their website, there are usually better deals for the phone and minutes there rather than going to Walmart. They have a bunch of deals where they double your minutes, etc. If you go to their website you can usually get a nicer phone for less money.

Go with a Tracphone. You buy the phone, and then pay $20 for 60 minutes. Those minutes will carryover, but the card keeps it active for 3 months. This is a way cheaper option than using a carrier. Basically $20 every 3 months.