LG KC550. 5.0 megapixel.
Dad renewed a 2-year family plan commitment with our carrier, so he and I both got new phones (his is the same model, but in black). Good times in the father-daughter bonding department.
Because this phone has a decent camera, I can hold off on buying a digital camera for another couple of years. My next big electronics purchase shouldn’t come until I need a laptop and/or web cam for school.
I’ve been on a family plan ever since college. At the risk of sounding like a mooch, I don’t see myself getting off the plan until I start my own family (which can be a long while). Many of my friends, it seems, also stay on their parents’ family plan. It’s just so much easier.
(Some young adults I know also stayed on their parents’ auto insurance. My parents kicked me off for liability issues. They have assets to protect, I don’t. Not yet, anyway.)
Readers, how many of you are on family plans?
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I was on a family plan with my dad until I got sick of the fact he never paid on time. Then 2 years ago, my boyfriend and I got our own plan. We’re happy with our plan and our iphones.
I never thought about a family plan when I got my first cell phone years ago (I’m not sure I could have, because of a deal my parents had through my dad’s work). I have a few friends that are on their parents’ plans, though, and it seems like a nice deal.
Cute! I don’t remember why I’ve never had a family plan with my family, though I pay for theirs … I think it was because I didn’t know how to share.
Definitely not on a family plan.
Yes, still on family plan and 4 years out of college. I give them a little money every month for it, but I’m definitely saving a ton. And they’re happy because they can talk to me (I’m almost 350 miles away) for free when they need to. If I had a compelling reason to switch carriers or got married I’d diverge from their plan, but why not combine minutes if it’s more economical?
I have a family plan for myself and my husband. I was on my parents family plan even after I married, and we split the bill equally. When I wanted to get a phone for my husband (our contract was up) I just got off their plan and started a new plan. It would have been way cheaper to add another line to theirs, but I felt like I should start a new one. I don’t know why.
I’m still on the family plan. I was supposed to be getting my own when we renewed our contract in January, but after running the number mom let me stay on. I’m only paying $60 (the cost of my bundled BlackBerry data plan and the extra line), which is a pretty sweet deal considering what I could be paying.
I was on a family plan with my mom and sister until last fall. dad had a phone through work. When the contract was up, we all got our own plans because mom was sick of my sister never paying her share on time. My bill is about the same since I don’t use a lot of minutes. Mom’s went way down since she doesn’t text or have a data plan. Sister got a prepay setup that is always on the verge of being out of minutes.
My mom is a resident manager, so her plan is a write-off. That means, for an extra $20 a month, we can mooch off her plan. We don’t use cell phones very regularly. Mainly to call each other, etc. Still, it’s a nice convenience, and we use the phones as calendars/reminders in lieu of any actual brain-powered memory. It’s a great deal for everyone!
We all three share the lowest set of minutes and STILL have minutes to rollover each month. So no problem about time restrictions here.
Hmm, these comments make me feel like a mooch — I’ve offered to pay the $10/mo it costs to have my line, I never even considered splitting it more equally. I started on it in college and intend to stay on it… indefinitely. T is on his own family plan with his parents, so… maybe we’ll merge up eventually.
I was on auto insurance for about a year, mostly due to logistics and just plain not getting around to changing it. But once I moved to CA I finally took care of it myself.
We cant share minutes and I carry a mobile wireless card.
I am not on my family’s cell phone plan, because I wanted a local number when I moved, since my cell phone is my only phone. But I am on my dad’s health insurance because, as a CEO, he has incredible insurance that lets me stay on as long as I’m in school (going for my PhD now), and it’s so much better than anything I could get on my own, it only makes sense.
Wow, you girls are a bunch of moochers!
I’m on the family plan, but pay my part of it. It makes sense because my mom would have a phone anyway and I use so few minutes that it was easier to just keep me on it and send her the money since it wouldn’t cost any different for her but would save me money. I think Mom mostly does it because she knows she’d never hear from me if I wasn’t on her plan–I hate the phone and would be more likely to get rid of it than get a new plan/pre-paid plan.
I guess I’m dating myself but I was finished grad school and out of my parents’ house by the time cellphones became commonplace. In fact, I don’t think my parents got cellphones until a few years after I got mine.
That said, when my youngest brother finished college and moved back home, my dad was close to retirement (meaning no more company cellphone) and they did get on a family plan together.
I am on a family plan and I love it. I send my mom a monthly check that’s about $50 cheaper than what I’d pay for the same services on a contract by myself. Me, mom and my two little brothers (my little I mean 20 and 21 year olds) are on the plan together with Verizon. My stepfather has AT&T for some strange reason.
He’s not a cool kid. LOL!
My bf and I started our own family plan and so far it has worked out really well!
I’m on my parents’ family plan. It’s a pretty good setup. I offered to pay for my portion, but they figured it wasn’t really a big deal, and that I would just pay for trips home instead. That deal works out even better now that I have a car and don’t have to pay $80 or a lot more to get home.
I like the phone! Looks so sleek.
Since my family isn’t here, i’m not on a family plan…I was on BF’s plan, but since that went south and he started checking who I was calling AND actually calling the numbers, I transferred that line to its own account. There goes the company discount, but OH WELL!
i added my parents to my family plan a few years ago since i get a corporate discount through my employer. it works out well since they hardly use their phones, and pay just under 50% of the bill. i use all the minutes. it’s a win win for all of us since they would be easily paying double if they were on a family plan for just the 2 of them!
i was gifted my car and kicked off their auto insurance when i turned 25 since they told me i was too big of a liability. the process was pure hell since we were doing this across state lines, but worth it for them. i didn’t feel too bad since they had paid for my car and insurance for nearly 10 years.
Like lauralou, my parents (and brother and BF) are on my family plan. We’ve got about a year worth of rollover minutes; it’s insane.
Bought my car at 20 and got on my own auto insurance because I got the college degree discount, good student discount, etc. and it was so much less expensive than getting on my parents’ AAA plan.
I was on my parents’ health insurance until I graduated from college, but I think that’s the only family plan I’ve been on.
I’m on a family plan with my dad. It used to be me and my sis on this plan but my dad took over her phone when she moved for college and switched carriers. For the first few years, my dad paid for the plan but I’ve taken over paying for it for the last couple years. When the contract runs out, he’s going to get a prepaid phone (he doesn’t use his phone much), and then maybe I’ll get a family plan with my husband.
I love the family plan. My son and I have T-Mobile and they have amazingly affordable plans for families.
well I am a total mooch…I have been on a shared plan with my dad since 2000 when I was a freshman in college. We split minutes and texts, I never use even half of my ‘free’ minutes, and he never uses any texts…in all these years I have only gone over my ‘free’ minutes once.
My dad owns his own company and technically my phone is a company phone. He spends almost half his time out of the country. When I look at our bill online my portion of the bill is around $50 and his is $300-$400 due to using his phone so much for work and when he is traveling.
Every so often it occurs to me I should get my own plan, but then the bratty side of me remembers that he makes ten times as much money as me and that $50 a month doesn’t even register to him or his business.
I’m still on my parents’ plan because they get a decent discount from my “employment” at the university. Plus, it’s nice to not have to worry about my cell phone bill
I was actually never on a family plan. For some reason my mom and I have always done that separately… though I am still on her auto-insurance. Granted I’d get my own (and I give her half the bill) but it’s across state lines which just makes everything generally complicated and confusing so my method is to ignore anything relatively complex. (probably not best and someday I’ll fix it but until then so be it)
I’ve always had my own plan, but Chad is still on with his parents. Verizon won’t let us join together since we have different area codes & neither one of us wants to change our numbers!
It can be important to be on your own plan to built credit, especially if you are in your 20s and thinking of buying a place in the future! I also think there’s something important about financial independence, even if it cost you and extra $20 a month. I’ve been on my own plan w/ Sprint for $35 a month for 8 years, including internet and texting. Every time I threatened to leave, I got something added to my Sprint plan for free.
Family plans make sense!
For children being added, paying for their service will mean I can freely monitor their service, too. When they are 18 and have their own job and can pay for their own – that will be a different story, but I probably wont’ be opposed to allowing them to stay on the family plan – especially if they go away to college!
Cute phone! I haven’t ever been on a family plan. My sister and I are on AT&T and my mom is on Verizon. Finally convinced her to switch since most everyone is on AT&T at least where we live.
I’m on a family plan too but it’s under my name and my mom, dad, brother and sister are all on it (my youngest sibling is 19). It’s just so much cheaper to have a family plan than it is for everyone to have individual plans.