Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau
Find more activities at consumernance.gov/MoneyAsYouGrow
Summer 2022
MONEY AS YOU GROW GUIDE • Teens and young adults (ages 13–21)
Choose the best cell phone plan
for your family
You and your teen or young adult will compare cell phone plans and use a
decision matrix to pick the best one for your family’s needs, wants, and budget.
Key money concepts
§ When making a major purchase, researching
different products or brands and comparing
features and costs can help you understand your
options. This is called comparison shopping.
§ This activity can help your teen or young
adult understand comparison shopping,
which may help them make more informed
buying decisions.
Setup
§ Set aside 30–45 minutes for this activity.
§ Print the “Choose the best cell phone plan
for your family” worksheet or prepare to
complete it on a computer, tablet, or another
electronic device. Make sure you can access
the Internet.
Directions
1. You and your child will imagine you’re getting
a new cell phone plan.
2. You’ll work together to research plans and
complete the worksheet.
Things to talk about
Before starting the activity
§ Explain that when you make an
expensive purchase, it’s a good idea
to research and compare your options
so you can be sure you’re making
the best choice for you. Share your
current cell phone plan with your
child and discuss how you chose it.
After completing the activity
Some questions you can ask are:
§ “Which option has the most of your
highest ranked features?”
§ “If options are tied, how will you
decide which one to choose?”
§ “Which option would you choose?”
1 of 3
Learn more about building your child’s money skills
This activity helps develop your child’s money knowledge and choices. To build these skills,
they should learn facts about saving and spending money and use what they’ve learned to
make the best money choices for them. Learn more about building your child’s money skills.
Choose the best cell phone
plan for your family
Imagine your family is in the market for a new cell phone plan.
You want to gure out which plan offers the best deal on the
features you need and want. Practicing comparison shopping
can help you make an informed buying decision.
Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau
Summer 2022
MONEY AS YOU GROW WORKSHEET
Learn more at consumernance.gov/MoneyAsYouGrow
2 of 3
Instructions
Record cell phone plan features that are most important to you.
Research plans from three carriers and record your ndings.
Analyze the information and choose the best plan for your needs and wants.
Your budget
How much money do you want to spend on your cell phone plan?
Comparison table
Do you want unlimited data? Do you want to stream movies? How’s the carrier’s
coverage in the places you go? Use the table below to list the plan features that are
most important to you. Then research three plans on the Internet so you can build
your comparison shopping skills.
Features, fees/costs Option A Option B Option C
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Summer 2022
MONEY AS YOU GROW WORKSHEET 3 of 3
Decision matrix
In the table below, rank the features — with 1 being the most important to you. For
each feature, check the option that most closely meets your needs, wants, and
budget. If two or three options are equal, check those columns. Indicate which
option has the lower overall cost. Then total the checkmarks for each option.
Criteria for your
purchase
Ranking Option A Option B Option C
Feature 1
Feature 2
Feature 3
Feature 4
Feature 5
Feature 6
Lower overall cost
Total checkmarks
Which plan did you choose?
Learn more at consumernance.gov/MoneyAsYouGrow
