Kim Lopez* took the bus for months. Even bummed a ride with a friend to school to save for her belly button piercing. She made all kinds of sacrifices to get the money she needed for it.

But there was one expense she couldn't eliminate. Phone cards. So Kim, like so many teens, has mastered the art of getting someone else to top them up.

"We don't mess with the phone money," the 18-year-old said.

She didn't want The Student Press to use her real name because, well ... mommy doesn't know about the piercing just yet.

But the $23-a-month top-up Kim's parents give her seems like small change when compared to fourth-former, Sihlé Letren's own phone card budget.

Sihlé puts money on her phone every two days. The cheapest phone card she buys costs $20. Lets do the math. She spends approximately $10 a day talking.

That's $10 multiplied by 365 days. $3,650.00 in conversations a year.

Talk is certainly not cheap but this teen thinks it's worth every cent.

The St. Joseph's Convent, POS, student said her parents often buy her phone cards and she'll sometimes use her allowance to ensure that she always has funds on her mobile.

When she does have money on her phone she does her best to avoid spending it.

To protect her funds she texts her friends an edited 'Call me Request' or 'Credit me Request' which she's conveniently stashed in her inbox. That way, the person receiving her text assumes she does not have any money on her phone and gives her a call.

"I edit the message and forward it 'cause I don't like them to know I have money on my phone," she said.

Did someone say parents' mobile accounts?

Some not very tech savvy parents are often left wondering why the money on their phone keeps disappearing.

On average, Adana Lockett takes up to $30 from her father's phone every week. The St. Augustine Community College student said her father doesn't notice the missing money and she is more than willing to take advantage of his ignorance.

"He barely knows how to send a text so he doesn't check it, he just buys phone cards when his money finish," the 16-year-old laughed.

Adana said she sometimes hesitates to take the money from her father but in the end she "needs it" so she doesn't always feel guilty.

"Well, yeah, sometimes I feel like I should tell him or something but it's not a big deal so I don't think too much about it to feel bad. I mean, that's my daddy so ..."

Odella Marques of St. Augustine Secondary "steals" from his mother's phone, but claims they have an understanding on the issue.

Then there's the boyfriend.

"What you have a boyfriend for? To buy phone cards," the fifth-former said.

Her classmate, Christy Mitchell, said boys who are interested in her often supply $20 and even $30 phone cards.

Brandon Maharaj said he gets a phone card for his girlfriend only if she really needs it.

The Vishnu Boys' College third-former said he buys them because he wants her to use the money on her phone to call him instead of talking it out and then sending him requests for calls or credit.

"Well I buy it for her sometimes but she's a girl, they always talking, talking and then the money finish and she can't call me. So, when I could buy it, I would just send one for her and tell her doh waste it," Brandon said.

The 14-year-old also tries to encourage his girlfriend, Gabby, to save some of her allowance for the phone cards she needs. So far he hasn't had any luck.

"She just have to talk all the time she can't save anything so I have to save for two phone cards now, you see how it does go?" said Brandon, shaking his head.

Kayode Jones, a fifth-former at Woodbrook Government Secondary, will have none of it.

"Me? Them does send me phone card, I doh buy nothing," Kayode said.

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