What would you do...?

Question

What would you do if you were in debt with your mom $288 with your cell phone and you had to pay her back before you got your cell back? I'm in 11th Grade High School and have no job until May because of school being a higher priority. I have money in my bank accounts but I want to save that for emergency times, should I take out the money from my bank and pay off my mom or....what? Help! The phone is very important to me- because my Grandma always needs to be in touch with me and my family does as well, my family depends on my help and I need my phone for them to get in touch with me. Please help!

P.S. I'm hardly at home because I'm either at school, running, at church or doing errands for my family.

Answer 1

Negotiate, compromise, be responsible but loving.

Being a mom myself with two kids, one of whom abused her phone privileges by racking up a big bill by downloading games, I would suggest trying to "calmly" talk to your mom. First pick a good time (timing is everything). Find a time where everyone is calm, relaxed, fed, not tired or stressed out. Even better to do something nice for you mom before engaging in negotiation.
I would first tell her "sorry" about the charges, and that you will not rack up that big of a bill again. After you show your mom you are really sorry, tell her you would like to "work off your charges" meaning do work around the house to pay off your debt. This shows your mom that you have thought of how you can resolve the problem. For example, 5.00 for washing the car, 3.00 for laundry, vacuum, dust, etc. Maybe there is a big project (painting a room? Re-potting all her plants?) Anyway work out what you can do to pay off the bill, write each item down on paper with amount to be paid. Then ask if you do enough to pay off 50.00 of the bill, could you have the phone back for an hour a day. You can inform all your family and friends what time you'll have your phone.
If you can follow through by doing chores for a while (a couple of weeks) then talk to your mom again. This time let her know that you will continue to pay off the bill by doing jobs around the house, (you have shown her already that you can stick to it by doing it for 2 weeks), ask her if it's alright to have your phone back for half a day until the rest is paid off. This way you can still use your phone some of the time but you are also doing chores to pay off the phone bill.
This is just a suggestion, maybe you can figure out another compromise. Since you don't have a job, doing chores is a good alternative or maybe you can babysit?
You could also call the phone company and double check the bill to make sure all the charges were legitimate. I found our phone bill has been incorrect many many times. Charging me roaming for non-roaming and the like.
If you cannot come up with a compromise with your mom, paying off the bill with your savings would be the thing to do if you "really really" need the phone. I find having family and friends call on a land line is almost as easy as a cell phone and you'll be able to keep your money for that "emergency".
Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Babysit after school. You can watch the kid(s) and do your homeowrk too, plus get paid. Just be sure you get kids that will not be a discipline problem or have medical needs that require full time attention.

Ask your mom if there are any chores you can do around your house to work off the bill, like mow the lawn, clean the attic or garage, etc.

Ask your friends/ neighbors if they would have chores you could do for pay, but be prepared to work hard if they want you to do something. If you give them a lazy attitude, you won't get the jobs to do.

Finally, get a grip on your phone use. If you have to talk that much, use the wall phone which might be cheaper. My wall phone is only $25.00/month plus 10 cents a minute for anytime long distance. It sounds like you are being ripped off by the company, or you are talking way too long. If you have to, switch companies for a plan that will be cheaper. Set a timer for a certain length of time when you call. When the timer dings, hang up the phone and don't talk past the time you set. Record how long you talked in a phone log. That way if you have only a certain amount of minutes before you get charged extra, you will know when to stop before the extra charges start. If your friends and family don't understand the time limit for calling, invite them to start paying your phone bills so you can talk longer. With no job, you are going to have to set a limit and stick to it, or the bills will eat you out of any funds you might want to use for other things.

Answer 3

Ok, if you don't have a job, you're at home most of the time, right? If that is so, do you not have a home phone number you can be reached at?

If the cell phone is that important to you, I would pay your mom back ASAP, and starting paying the bill on time each month, so you don't have to worry about this kind of problem again.

Answer 4

have a sale!!! sell stuff that you don't use or wear anymore. maybe babysit on the weekends. do extra chores for credit towards the phone bill. i'm sure mom can give you ideas.