How to Own a Cellphone Without Your Parents Knowing

Your parents don't want you to own a cellphone, but you want to own one anyway. It's possible to buy and keep a cellphone without your parents knowing; but you'll need to be diligent and well-prepared.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Affording the Phone

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1
Use your money. You’ll need to buy the phone using your funds, and your purchase should be untraceable by your parental overseers. If you have a privately-owned bank/savings account that isn't looked at too closely, use it! However, if your parents monitor your spending, then you may need to be more subtle. Remove small amounts from the bank, and do so only sporadically, or as an alternative and even more anonymous route, exchange cash for gift cards and use those gift cards on sites like Amazon if you are getting it online.
- If you don't have enough money, consider asking someone to help you out. Try asking grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, older siblings, and trustworthy adults who won't tell your parents. If possible, don't tell them that it's for a phone.
2
Get money. If you don't have a source of steady income, you'll need to find a way to get cash. If you have a job, try saving a little bit each month until you have enough to afford a phone and a phone plan. If you don't have a job, try getting a part-time job at a local shop; consider working odd jobs around your neighborhood. You can also try tutoring or doing other people's homework at school for money, you'd be surprised how many people would give up all their cash to get some last minute assignments done.
- Store your cash in a secret place: under a mattress or in a piggy-bank. Your parents might not care about you saving up – but it will be easier to keep the phone a secret if you don't need to answer questions about what you're saving for. You can try hiding your cash somewhere like inside of a book or in a pocket of a jacket in the back of your closet.
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3
Look into other options. If you need a cell phone to prevent a domestic violence situation within the home, Social Services may be able to help you either source a phone or provide parental counseling. If all you want is to be able to text or call your friends without supervision, there may be other options including online chat services such as Skype or Google's "Hangouts."
- If you want the mobility of a phone, an iPod touch or a similar Internet-connecting device could be used in areas where WiFi is available. Buy an iPod touch on either eBay or the Apple Store.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Buying the Phone

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1
Visit a cellphone store. You can buy phones at some dollar stores, drugstores, and convenience stores; you can go to a service provider like Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile. Make sure you have enough money to purchase the phone you want.
- Consider buying your phone online. If you buy it online, don’t order it at your house; order it at a friend's house. Your parents may get to it before you.
2
Choose a phone. Most simple phones run from $20-100. The phone you choose will depend on the features you want. A fancy new smartphone will be very expensive, but you can usually buy a simple "brick phone" for $20-30, or you can get an old phone of a friend’s for usually around $50, which would be the optimal situation, as it is untraceable and runs no risk of being intercepted or figured out by another parent. Places like Best Buy and Walmart also have relatively cheap prepaid phones (and you wouldn't have to worry about a monthly bill).
- Consider whether you really need a phone with Internet and app capability. If you just need to text and call your friends, then the simplest phone will do.
3
Pick a plan. Look at simple pay-as-you-go phones, and check out the different plans. Be smart about which plan you get. Is it really worth the cost and risk involved to get data and 4G for your phone, or can you hijack the existing WiFi in your house? Consider whether a plan is even the best choice for you, or whether you can just top it up with online or over-the-phone top-ups. Think about how often you plan to use the phone; give yourself a buffer of 10% until you find the right pattern for how you use the phone.
- Seriously consider a pay-as-you-go minute card. These plans are designed for people who want the convenience of a phone without the cost and commitment of a long-term plan.
- Don't add your phone to your home Wi-Fi if your parents are tech-savvy. They might notice that a device called "your-name's cell" is logged into it. If you really need to use your home Wi-Fi with your phone, name your phone something that your parents wouldn't question, like "your parent's or siblings name's computer" or "Nintendo Switch" if you have a Nintendo switch.
4
Look into online billing. Generally, a home address is needed to send phone bills and general information about the phone account. Check with the provider which you are interested in working with to see if they offer automatic bill pay options, and whether or not they can send bills and information online rather than through the mail. No matter what, though, it is unlikely that a cell phone provider will allow a minor to sign the plan contract.
- If you plan on getting a clandestine cell phone and you are over 18, It is possible to get a PO Box rather than providing your home address. Again, this will cost money.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Keeping It Secret

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Only give your number to friends who are trustworthy and unwilling (or unable) to blab. Make sure that no tattle-tale siblings or cousins know what's up. Maintain plausible deniability: never tell anyone where you keep the phone, so that you can deny it if your parents confront you.
2
Act normal. Don't give your parents any reason to be suspicious. If you need to call someone, excuse yourself for a walk, or go to a friend's place if possible. Make up a plausible excuse, and stick with it. This way, if anyone asks, you were at your friend's place playing video games, or hanging out at the park, not making a call. Get a friend to corroborate your stories, to provide better protection. If you play it right, no one should look too closely. Depending on how strict your parents are, you might want to consider only using the phone when your parents are asleep or only using the phone at school.
- Keep up normal habits. Don't disappear into your room and text/call friends for hours on end when you are at home, or someone will suspect that something is up. If you need to go on your phone while your parents are awake and at home during the day, just go to the bathroom for 15 minutes (maximum) and do what you need to do.
3
Leave it on silent. If your phone rings or vibrates loudly around your parents, you won't able to hide it anymore. Keep it on vibrate, or off, and ensure you take care of it both at school and at home. Make sure that it isn't going to interrupt anything and blow your cover. You can also try just putting your phone on silent and leaving it in your room hidden somewhere (like in a shoe in your closet for example) and only checking it periodically every 2-3 hours at the most.
- Keep in mind that there is no possible situation where you would truly need the cell to ring loudly. Don't tell yourself you will just turn it off again afterward. At some point, you will very probably forget about that, then you're in trouble.
4
Hide your phone in a safe place. Keep it hidden somewhere that your parents won't look: in a purse or a backpack, or packed into your underwear drawer. Don't leave it laying around your room or your house, or else your parents will be more likely to notice it. Some good hiding spots, if your parents like to snoop around a lot, are in a shoe in your closet, in a cutout area inside of a book, taped to the top of a moving ceiling fan, taped to the back of a drawer, inside of a pillowcase, in a pocket of a jacket in the back of your closet, behind a piece of furniture, or inside of a printer that doesn't function (if you use a functioning one your parent may find your phone while trying to use the printer).
- Never charge it overnight or when your parents are at home and you’re not, at least not in easily visible places. Try charging it at school during class or behind a piece of furniture in your room.
5
Be sneaky! if you get a call while your phone is on/off vibrate, don't answer it straight away. Wait until you're in a safe place, and be sure that you’re not being watched. When you're sure that you're safe, take out your phone and reply. Keep all conversations quick, and be careful that you’re not spotted. Keep the phone with you at all times, or leave it in a safe place. Don't answer a call in a room with thin walls where your parents could overhear and don't answer a call in a room without a lock on the door where your parents could just walk in. A good place to go in a pinch could be outside or locked in the bathroom with the water running (just remember to whisper so your parents or siblings don't hear you).
- Treat the phone like something transient. If anyone sees it, it disappears. Don't have it out texting all the time.

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Question
How do I hide it if my parents go through my backpack and drawers all the time, and don't really respect the privacy I like.
Community Answer
Find places you know they won't go looking through or places they don't even know about. Maybe keep it in the pocket of whatever pants you're wearing.
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How do I secretly charge a cell phone?
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Charge it when you're going to be in your room so your parents can't go snooping in there and find it. If you have an outlet that's behind your bed or somewhere else relatively well-hidden, use that. If not, just throw some pillows or stuffed animals or something over the phone/cord while it's charging.
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How can I afford a cell phone if I am only a child?
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Do chores at home and save your allowance money, have a bake sale, start babysitting, and see if your neighbors need help with odd jobs like yard work, dog walking, etc. Don't do anything without your parents' permission, though.
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Tips

Warn your friends not to talk about your phone in front of your parents.
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Be sure to turn your phone's ringer off. Silence it, even vibrate can be heard.
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Erase this page out of your web history, if your parents check your web history.
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"(Friend's name) let me borrow his/hers/theirs, so I could see what it felt like to have a phone for a while, since you guys (meaning the parents) won't let me get one." Just make sure that whoever the friend is you are mentioning knows about this possibly happening, and can be trusted to back you up if your parents decide to ask them. "Yeah, and guess what, I took care of it and paid for it all by myself all this time, which proves that I am ready for it. I took enough care to keep it out of your guys' sight so you can trust that I won't be glued to it all the time.""You would have done the same thing when you were my age." Yes, they’ll say when they were your age, they did not have phones, but you can retaliate with "If you did, you still would have done it." "Honestly, when you said that I couldn't have a phone, what did you expect? Denying things to someone always makes them want it more."

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They may say: "I don't care, you still disobeyed us, and that is the most important thing!" You can say: "Then why did you make a rule that I can't have a phone if it’s not as important as me disobeying you?" or "Is that the only reason you made that rule so that you can have your precious power over me?" or "If you were as great parents as you think you are, you would have already caught me before now."They may say: "Don't you dare talk back to me!" This is a classic line that many parents use. This is just because they think that they are better than you are and that they have power over you, but you do not have to let them have that power. You can say, "I dare." Or "The only reason you are saying that is because you want to show me how better you think you are than I am just because you are my parents." You can even add, "Well, you're doing a horrible job."

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Tips from our Readers

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Keep your phone hidden in a very secure spot, like inside a shoe in your closet or taped behind furniture. Don't leave it lying around or charging overnight.
Only tell trustworthy friends about your secret phone so word doesn't get back to your parents. Never reveal where you hide it. Plausible deniability is key.
Come up with an escape plan in case your parents do find your phone. For example, pretend it belongs to a friend, and you were just setting it up for them.
Act normal around your parents and keep up your regular habits and activities. Don't disappear to text friends for hours on end, or they'll get suspicious.
Leave your phone on silent or vibrate so it doesn't ring and alert your parents. Only check and respond when you know you're in a safe, private place.
Use gift cards purchased with cash to order the phone online. Have it delivered to a trustworthy friend's house so your parents don't intercept it.

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Warnings

If you have the money for it, you should get a dummy phone so if your parents ask for the phone you can give them the fake one instead of the real one.
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You could get into trouble if they find out, but that’s just the consequence of being disobedient. If you get grounded, you have to comply because they‘re your parents. If they don’t let you get a phone, that’s your problem, not theirs, and they shouldn’t have expected this to happen when they set the rule of not having a phone, and punishing you about it is fair to you, especially because it is your fault. Some may say that they punish you because they love you. Believe it. If they really loved you, they wouldn’t let you get a phone, and they would punish you. They‘re punishing you because they love you, and show that they have power over you. Let them. Don’t get revenge on them. You could get in serious trouble for doing it. An eye for an eye.
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Your parents may find out, so you will have to think of a good lie beforehand. Some lies you can use are "My friend got it for me as a gift", "It's a school-issued hotspot, I was having Wi-Fi troubles with my school issued device so they gave me the hotspot to fix the problem", and "I got it for photography, it doesn't have wifi capabilities on it, I just got it for the camera, want to see some of my pictures I've taken?" (for the last one you have to know how to quickly delete all of your apps and make sure to have all of your actual pictures in a hidden album and have generic photos in your photo album and make sure to turn off the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on it if your parents want to see it)
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