This sneaky hack saved me a ton of money on my kid’s first phone

Earlier this year, I decided to get my son his first phone as he was entering middle school. I wanted something affordable, reasonably durable, and not so underpowered that it would feel sluggish. I strongly considered buying a phone unlocked outright, but even the cheapest options were well over $100 unless I wanted nothing more than a glorified paperweight. Considering some kids are less great with phones than others, I really didn’t want to spend much here at all.

That’s when I decided to try another path: buying a prepaid phone at a discount.

With the holiday season right around the corner, I decided to write this up as a guide for parents considering picking up a phone for their young ones. Here’s why I bought a prepaid phone and how it saved me money, even after I brought it over to our family’s postpaid Verizon account.

I quickly settled on Straight Talk as a provider for a number of reasons. First, it is a Verizon Value brand. That matters because, in most cases, these phones now automatically unlock after just 60 days, at least in theory. This is not true of all prepaid carriers, as some lock phones for several months longer than this, and in cases like Boost Mobile, up to a year.

Straight Talk also has a decent variety, and there’s a Walmart within walking distance from our house, so my son could look with me and decide what he wanted in person.

Another major reason to pick Straight Talk is that it offers some of the best discounted pricing you will find with any prepaid brand. I would argue that Cricket is probably the best, but it’s also known for being more of a hassle when it comes to unlocking certain devices. The trade-off is that Straight Talk’s plan pricing isn’t as competitive as some other prepaid carriers’, but it all evened out in my situation.

Again, I did not need an amazing phone, just a passable one for an almost twelve-year-old. I found this in the form of a discounted Moto G Play 2024. It’s true that it didn’t rate well in our own review, but this was mostly when viewed as a $150 device. The main issues are that it lacks NFC, has a relatively dim display, is limited to 4G, and won’t get many updates. For my kid’s starter phone? None of this really matters.

Altogether, I paid a hair over $95 for the phone. This included not only the $19.99 plus tax Straight Talk charged for the phone, but also two months of Straight Talk’s 10GB Bronze service. If I had bought the phone outright, I would have paid around $149.99 (plus tax) for the same device. Not to mention, I would still have needed to pay for monthly service with another carrier.

Obviously, there are also more expensive devices, and so I can’t guarantee all of them will be great deals. Typically, the more budget-oriented a phone is, the sharper the discount will be.

As long as you do your homework ahead of time, a prepaid phone can be a great way to save, especially if it is a Verizon Value brand. As previously mentioned, these unlock faster than the competition due to Verizon’s agreement with the FCC. Here are a few reasons why I recommend this path:

• In many cases, you will either pay the same or save money compared to buying outright, while spreading out the costs (initial purchase plus the 60-day service).
• Many carrier-discounted budget phones are actually more durable for kids. They often use cheaper plastic or metallic backs that may not look as nice, but they are much less likely to break than glass backs.
• It is a good way to test responsibility for a first phone. Even if it is damaged or lost, you are only out the initial $29.99 or so and a month or two of service. The risk is much lower than giving a child something nicer or more expensive.

Of course, it’s important to note that Verizon Value phones like this are only a good deal if you plan to use them on Verizon or a carrier that utilizes its network. While T-Mobile will technically work, you may be missing some important bands that could limit the experience. Unfortunately, AT&T is not eligible in most cases.

For me, that’s not a factor as I know that Verizon is the best choice in my area, and there are tons of prepaid networks that run on it.

After the 60 days were up, it was time for the moment of truth: I attempted to unlock the phone.

I ran into some issues at first. Straight Talk claimed the phone should unlock automatically, yet when I put in a SIM from another carrier, the phone still showed as locked. I dialed #TFUNLOCK# and the device returned “device is SIM locked.” After contacting Straight Talk customer service, I was given the runaround. They directed me to Motorola, which only resulted in Motorola telling me it was out of its hands.

I had read online that many people had success after filing an FCC complaint, with unlock requests often processed within weeks. I considered doing this myself, but I got busy and left the phone powered off for a few days. When I tried again later, the phone suddenly registered as unlocked. Most likely, there was a delay or error in the unlocking system, but waiting seemed to fix it on its own.

I probably wasted about an hour and a half on this process in total, which I could have spent on something else, but it didn’t feel like a big deal. If I had needed to file with the FCC, the worst-case scenario would have been my son going without a phone for a week or two. That would have been frustrating for him, but not serious in the bigger picture.

Shortly after, I was able to activate the phone and add it as a BYOD option to our Verizon family account. This did not raise our monthly bill beyond taxes. If I had bought it from Verizon directly, I would have had to either pay full price or commit to a longer payment plan while still paying more.

I will not deny that this could have been a hassle, but I would do it again for my youngest when he is old enough. I am confident, based on my past experiences, that an unlock would have come eventually even if I had needed the FCC’s help.

Now, it’s your turn. Have you ever tried something like this yourself? How successful were you?