Saving money on your mobile phone doesn’t have to be difficult, yes there is an enticing choice of handset and data offers on the market, but in our experience it’s the simple changes that can make a difference to your monthly bill.
We’ve come up with 5 tips to help reduce your monthly costs:
Pick an economical handset
It doesn’t have to be the latest iPhone or Android (although they are very nice); there are plenty of budget to mid-range phones on the market that are just as functional as the top models. This would make a huge difference to the cost of your contract, you could even buy the phone up front to really drive down the monthly cost.
Check your data usage
Customers regularly get in touch with requests for sim cards carrying a fixed data allowance, however fixed data deals can sometimes lead to nasty surprises. It is very easy to burn through mobile data at a rapid rate (streaming videos is a big data eater), and you can end up with overspend which can be very costly. To avoid this, it is probably more economical to choose an unlimited deal with no chance of overspend surprises at the end of the month. Or alternatively get a spending cap on your fixed deal.
Don’t send pictures by text message
If you send a photo or other image through ordinary text messaging, you can incur extra charges. Use WhatsApp or other apps where it is free to send images instead. We’ve written a more detailed blog post about this here
Plan ahead when travelling abroad
Speak to your network provider before making a trip abroad. Each network has slightly different rules about what is already included in your tariff, and which countries will cost extra – and it is not always obvious! At Simpatico, we can put spending limits in place, adjust your tariff to account for regular travel or make last-minute changes when you need them most. More details here
Avoid non-geographic numbers
Most phone calls will fall within the inclusive minutes that are part of your contract, but there are some phone numbers that are excluded and could end up being quite costly for you. These numbers often start with an 08 (not including the standard free 0800 numbers) or an 09 and can charge you anywhere from 1p to upwards of £3 per minute, plus any access charges. It’s always best to check before you call, otherwise a 5 minute phone call could be quite a surprise at the end of the month.
