Before I became a mother, I paid little attention when parents complained about child-rearing expenses. Now I hang on to every word in hopes of avoiding financial pitfalls.

It was in this vein that I listened to William Scheick’s tale of two boys and two cell phones. Scheick of Raleigh, N.C., bought his teenage twin boys Verizon cell phones for Christmas a few years ago.

His contract called for him to pay $125 a month. But the boys downloaded ring tones, games and other fun things they thought would be free. In five months, his sons racked up $881 in downloading fees alone.

Scheick did what I would have done after the first $350 bill - he took the phones away.

But that didn’t solve the problem. Like a bad horror movie, the monster bills kept on coming. Apparently, the boys had signed up for subscription services that involved monthly fees, some as high as $11. Scheick is disputing some of the charges, which have been turned over to collection agencies.

Scheick blames Verizon.

"My main gripe as a parent is that the salesperson never told me about the ring tone fees," he said. "They offered no controls for parents."

I was not able to verify exactly what the salesperson told Scheick when he bought the phone. But Verizon spokeswoman Carly Culbertson said customers could always use their keypads to accept or decline charges. "They actually have to press ‘yes’ to accept," Culbertson said.

Verizon also lets customers track the minutes used that month by typing in the pound sign, the letters m-i-n and then pressing send. To get the account’s balance due, they can type in the pound sign then b-a-l and send. They can also go online to verizonwireless.com and register in "My Account" to track ring tones and other purchases.

It’s important to use these features, but parents also need to explain to children that sports scores and ring tones cost money. Of course, some of the companies pushing these downloading services are making it harder for parents. Some provide unclear information about the costs of their services, and many of their promotions make it sound as if you will be getting a free service. And it’s easy for children to rack up charges because when they agree to pay certain fees, the charge goes onto the cell phone bill.

Even North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper’s 13-year-old daughter has fallen into the trap.

"She signed up for" the cell phone service "Joke-of-the-Day," Cooper said. "She really didn’t know she was being charged." Cooper saw the charges when he was reviewing his family’s account online.

Cooper recommends that parents set rules about text messaging and downloading. They should warn their children not to use their cell phone numbers to sign up for online contests that could lead to additional fees.

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