Discussions

Can my old cell phone being used as a pay as you go phone for a teen? I’m looking for a texting only plan and found one with Telus. Just wondering if my old cell phone could be used.

Yes, that is what we are using for our teens. Out of curiosity what is the pay as you go price with Telus if you don't mind sharing? We have a monthly pay as you go (but with a few calls) through Bell. I have heard of a $100 per year through as well (not sure if MTS or BELL) but cannot seem to find any info on it.

has a great pay as you go plan. I've had mine for 7 years. I pay $100.00 per year. I don't make a lot of calls so I use that money to buy text packages. ($15.00 for 2500 texts) I can make phone calls if I need to and just use wifi for internet. There are also data packages that you can buy with that money also if you want. Just make sure to turn the data off on your phone because that spends your money fast. I usually still have about $25.00 left on my account when I pay the $100.00 each year so I think I have about $200.00 now.

Is there anything I need to do to make it a pay as you go phone. Or do I just take it in to MTS and ask for the hundred dollars pay as you go package.The package was about $15 a month through Telus so 180 a year. Seems like MTS would be the way to go

I have an old phone and a pay as you go package from Rogers. The phone just needs to be unlocked if it hasn't already, and you buy a new SIM card. I was able to do everything online.  
 
I pay $180/year for mine, unlimited texting and I think only 60 daytime minutes for the year, but then unlimited evenings and weekends. My husband has an MTS package that's less, but we found once we buy the texting bundles etc it works out to be about the same. If you divide it out, it's $15/month you're paying that way.

I also have this for 3 of my teens!  
 
We used older phones from my husbands and my cell phone contracts when they are up. Cant' beat $100 per year. They mainly text and save the calls for emergencies which is rare. You receive texts for free, its $15 for 2500 texts that you send. There is no expiry on the texts or the money on your account so if you don't use all the $100 in the year as long as you add another $100 before your year is up you wont loose your $$. The balance will carry over.

This is so great! How do I go about doing this. Is it a pay as you go card from 7-Eleven or do I need to go into MTS

Go with SpeakOut, this is thru Rogers and you buy sim card at 7-11 store. Only need to put $25 and it lasts entire year. Text is 10 cents/text. Minutes are more expensive like 30 cents per minute, but I rarely use this pay as you go to call. I usually end up spending $25-30 dollars per year, which is less that $3/month.

You can put any amount as you need. You only have to top up once a year, so you don't lose your money. They have $10 a month text plan and then just use pay-as-you-go minutes for talking, if texting is what you are looking for. As long as the phone is unlocked, you are good to go. If you don't use except for emergencies, you are allowed as little as $25 a year to keep your number. It is a great plan for kids and teens. It does not work in the States, but if you are looking for local call and text, it is a great plan.  
 
Roger's also has a $10 a month pay-as-you-go or $100 a year.

Go to any 7-Eleven and buy a Sim card - $10 and then you can top up on-line if need be. If you purchase $100 airtime, right now, you get your Sim Card for free and a $25 bonus.

If you have a new SIM card, you can probably do everything online with a credit card. I went down to the Rogers Store to buy my card (I think it was $12), but I did everything else online.

I find that expensive per text!! It's not uncommon for me to send upwards of texts in a single day, as that's my main mode of communication for a lot of things and i'll have entire conversations that way.  
 
For a teenager, I would suggest an unlimited texting package. For that I think that would be Rogers or Telus only. Even MTS @ 2500 texts for $15, if they send 100 texts a day (not hard for a teenager apparently), that wouldn't even last a month.

I find most teens use apps to send messages on free wifi. My 3 teens never used 2500 per year.

Also check out Koodo and Public Mobile prepaid plans. Both are divisions of Telus and run on the Telus network.  
 
My spouse and I both use Koodo prepaid $15/month unlimited texting plan. We have it on autopay, so we get $2 refunded each month to our account. That $2/month slowly builds up to add add-ons. You can buy talk minutes or data as add-ons that stay on your account for as long as you have the monthly text plan.  
 
Even better is the Public Mobile plans. We recently set one of our kids up on the $15/month plan. On autopay, he gets the $2 back each month, but Public applies it to his NEXT bill. His plan gets him unlimited texting and 100 minutes of talk per month. Also, as a bonus for being on autopay, het gets 250MB of data each month (not much, but good for basic data needs). The Wal-mart associate here in Winnipeg set up the Public Mobile account saving me the $10 SIM card fee. Also, for every year he is a member he gets $1 off per month up to $5 per month. Also, for every person he refers, he gets $1 off per month. Refer enough people, free cell phone!  
 
$13 per month is pretty damn good, $8 per month after 5 years is even better for unlimited text, 250 MB, and 100 talk. Refer 8 or more friends and after 5 or less years it is free every month.  
 
Edited by PuddleJumper, 2019-04-25 08:27:30

I didn't know that was a thing, LOL. Good to know. I use my phone away from home a lot where I don't necessarily have wifi, so not helpful to me but good to keep filed in the back of my mind!!