Getting the Most Out of Your Mobile Contract

Most people choose to get their mobile service by signing a contract with a mobile service operator. Contracts are convenient, you never lose service because you've run out of credit, and you just get a monthly phone bill. But if you're trying to save some money then there are ways that you can get savings using your mobile contract. Today we're telling you how to get the most out of your contract. So, before you sign up for service read this and make sure that you're getting all the savings that you can.

Choose a 3g Network Over 4g

Okay, 4g capable phones will give you super-fast mobile data speeds, but if you want savings then you'll opt for a traditional 3g network to get your mobile data. Using a 3g network may be a little slower, but it's also cheaper. 4g data packages are two to three times more expensive than 3g ones. Plus, most operators aren't getting true 4g speeds anyway. Since 4g technology is so new, most operators are far from completing the infrastructure necessary to give good 4g service to everyone. Save your cash for now and go 3g, in a couple of years 4g will be both faster and cheaper, so just wait for a while.

Ditch the Incentive Contract

Want a new mobile phone? Then buy it yourself. Getting a mobile phone on a contract from an operator is expensive, and will definitely be more expensive in the long run than buying a full price mobile elsewhere. Why? The phone that you get isn't free, you're buying it on an instalment plan. The monthly price for an incentive contract is higher than that of a service only contract because it includes an instalment on your phone. And when you add up all those instalments, you'll find that the final sum is more expensive than the real price of your phone. Don't sign up for an incentive contract if you really want to save money.

Choose Your Calling Plan Wisely

A calling plan is included in every phone contract. This is the set of limits that you get that tell you how many calling minutes and text messages and how much mobile data you're allowed to use in a month. And the wrong size of plan is going to cost you. Consider a plan that has forty calling minutes, just as an example. If you call for only five minutes in a month you still have to pay the same monthly fee as if you called for all forty minutes, meaning that when your plan is too big you will pay for services that you don't use. And if you call for fifty minutes in a month? Then you pay your normal bill plus premium rate charges on the extra ten minutes that you used, so a small plan isn't a good idea either. There are two strategies that will help you decide on the right calling plan for you. Firstly, you can look at some of your old mobile bills to see what your average usage looks like and then base your plan choice on that information. Secondly, you could get a pay as you go plan for a month or so and monitor how you use your phone.

Take Advantage of Wireless Internet

The most expensive part of a mobile contract is mobile data, explaining why cheap contracts have such low monthly data limits. That means that you really want to keep data use to a minimum to get cheaper bills. If you live somewhere that has plenty of WiFi hot spots, or you have wireless internet at home or in the office, make sure that you take advantage of this. A WiFi connection is faster than 3g, and is also usually free. Using WiFi does not count towards your monthly data limit either. You should connect over WiFi as often as you possibly can and get the bare minimum of mobile data that you need on a contract, since this will strongly effect the size of your mobile bills.

Get the Apps You Need

You also shouldn't be using any more text messages and calling minutes than you truly need. Most people these days are taking advantage of web based calling and messaging services. You simply download a free app like Skype, Viber or WhatsApp and then you get to send free messages and make free calls to any of your contacts that have the same app on their phone. These apps do count towards your monthly data limit, since they send information over a data network, but they don't use up much data at all, and if you're connected over WiFi then they won't use any of your data. The only thing that you need to do is to make sure that your friends and family all have the same apps as you do. This way you can cut your contract's calling minutes and text messages down to the minimum.

Consider Combining Services

More and more people these days are using a dual SIM phone to get savings on their monthly bills. A dual SIM model lets you simultaneously run two SIM cards. Using a little research and some careful shopping this could end up saving you money. For example, say operator A has fantastic prices on mobile data, the chances are that the same operator won't have the best prices on calling minutes. So you get a SIM card and a mobile data contract with company A. But now you need some calling minutes. You find operator B that has the cheapest prices on calling minutes, and get a calling contract and a SIM card from them. You can now use your dual SIM phone to run both these SIM cards at the same time and by combining the cheapest services from each operator you get the cheapest monthly bill that you can get. This does involve investing in a dual SIM phone, but that might be worth it if you're going to get savings every month.

Sam Jones knew exactly where to find the best 3G network deals. Online price comparison sites like uSwitch proved to be really helpful and helped him to save some money too.