Save Money with Scratch Wireless – A ‘Free’ Mobile Smartphone Service

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting (#MC) for Scratch Wireless. I received a product sample to facilitate my review. My husband and I have been debating whether or not we should get our 12-year-old son a phone for the past year. We have delayed getting him one for several reasons, but mainly because we want to save money. Now that he is in middle school and playing multiple sports, we have decided that it’s finally time. We need to be able to stay connected with him while he is away from home and a phone will make that a lot easier. We have looked at many different cell phone providers and have been disappointed to find that there aren’t many affordable options for teens. Then we discovered Scratch Wireless, a new wireless company that offers free text, data, and voice services when connected to WI-FI. Texting is free — always. I was instantly intrigued at the idea of a completely free wireless service. Could it be true? We’ve been using Scratch Wireless for a few weeks now and the answer is YES. For the first two weeks my son used his phone exclusively on WI-FI. We didn’t have to pay for anything and he was able to talk over 40 minutes and send over 100 texts absolutely free. While he rarely needs to use his phone away from WI-FI, there are times when it will come in handy. The great thing is if you are away from WI-FI, Scratch still offers free texting and you can access calls or data for a monthly fee of $15 or pay-as-you-go access to calls or data for $1.99 per day using the Sprint Network. At this time, the only phone you are able to use with Scratch Wireless is the Motorola Photon Q Android. Initially, I wondered how great of a phone this would be, considering that a lot of pay-as-you-go companies offer cheaper, less fancy phones. The Motorola Photon Q is far from cheap. It is a well-designed smart phone that offers just as great of features as my iPhone. It has an amazing touch screen, dual high-resolution camera, fast networking capabilities, and access to the entire Google Play Store. It even has a full keyboard for easy texting! The Motorola Photon Q comes set up and ready to go with the Scratch Wireless network. Activation is incredibly easy — so much so that my son did it completely on his own. Within minutes the phone was set up and he was downloading his favorite apps — Instagram, Subway Surfer, Flickr and Head Soccer. The phone has barely left his side, so I would say that he is definitely enjoying it! I have been very impressed with both the phone and the service that Scratch Wireless provides. The free unlimited texting is definitely a huge plus. My son hardly ever calls anyone and prefers to text, so for the most part that is all he will use the phone for besides the apps. I see this as being a very affordable option for us and moving forward I don’t see why we wouldn’t continue to use Scratch Wireless. I don’t know that my husband and I would ditch our iPhones and switch, but it is a great option for families, especially those with teenagers. You can’t beat the unlimited texting and free calls and data while on WI-FI! There is no contract to get started with Scratch Wireless, however, you do have to purchase the phone in order to use the service. The Motorola Photon Q is $269, which may seem a little pricey upfront, but the amount you will save in just a few months of not having a regular cell phone bill will make up for it in no time.