Living cheap - Saving on your mobile bill (part 1)
Setting the scene
Todays world is digital obsessed, be it the mobile computer/phone/surveillance device we carry in
our pocket,
the bigger version of this device at home, our laptops, our smart tvs, they all mount up against
the bank balance.
Subscriptions, charges, micro-transaction, these devices and services really do eat into the
wallet.
Phone service, the cost of the devices, maintenance and replacement. It all adds up.
The problem lies in people. People tend to want the best, the new, the shiny. Marketing trains people to want new, it's your job to buck the trend if you want to save money. If you think about it, it's all pointless in the end, when your old phone can do everything the new one can pretty much do, but if you are in need of a new device, here's how you can save a few bob in the process by just looking around.
Devices
Our devices are one of the biggest purchases we make. Phones can easily run up £600/£700 for a top of the line model, going at high as £1000+! And bizarrely enough, we on average buy new ones every two years! 1 But most people never buy their phones outright, instead they bundle the cost of a phone with a service plan. These plans are really a chain around you, holding you down to two years of overpaying for a device, whilst offering limited quotas on service. They're more than likely always a bad deal, even the ones that seem great on paper. Let's pick apart similar deals available for the newly released iPhone SE across the top 4 networks here in the uk.
24 month contracts
| Provider | Quotas | Duration | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Three | Unlimited call + texts, 4GB data | 24 months | £30 a month + £19 upfront (£739 entire duration) |
| EE | Unlimited call + texts, 4GB data | 24 months | £34 a month + £30 upfront (£846 entire duration) |
| 02 | Unlimited call + texts, 5GB data | 24 months | £35.42 a month + £30 upfront (£880.08 entire duration) |
| Vodafone | Unlimited call + texts, 6GB data | 24 months | £34 a month + £49 upfront (£865 entire duration) |
Lets have a look at what our 5 minutes of deal searching got us.
Three is by far the cheapest, being £105 cheaper to the nearest competitor. The most
expensive
is Vodafone, at £880.06!
So just by looking, we've saved a cup of coffee a month off our phone bill. But this is
still a
contract, still shackled.
We can do better.
To buy the phone upfront costs £419 directly from
Apple
with the ability to go down to £279 if you trade in an "old" iPhone 8. For this example,
we'll
use
the £419 price.
If we deduct £419 from £739 (the lowest deal) we have £320 to play with for 2 years worth of
service (£13.3 a month).
It doesn't seem a lot does it? But lets see what we can do.
Pay monthly
| Provider | Quotas | Duration | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Three pay monthly | Unlimited call + texts, 4GB data | 24 months | £12 a month |
| EE | Unlimited call + texts, 250mb data (what a joke) | 24 months | £13 a month |
| 02 | Unlimited call + texts, 5GB data | 12 months | £13 a month |
| Vodafone | Unlimited call + texts, 5GB data | 24 months | £15 a month |
All these pay monthly (sim only) contracts are garbage. You're basically paying the same amount as you would do if you just got a regular contract with a phone. I can't think of a reason why these deals are so bad, other than to push you towards a more expensive plan. You're also locked into a contract for a long time, what's the point? On we search.
Pay as you go
In years yonder (most likely because I was a child) PAYG was what you used. £10 topup, convert to an addon got you 300 texts for the month. You were wise with your limited quota. Luckily, it's a lot better today.
| Provider | Quotas | Duration | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Three (pdf because their site shows nothing) | Unlimited call + texts, 4GB data | 1 month (addon) but can top up whenever and have no service | £10 a month |
| EE | 100 mins + unlimited texts, 4gb data | 1 month (addon) but can top up whenever and have no service | £10 a month |
| 02 | Unlimited call + texts, 3GB data | 1 month (addon) but can top up whenever and have no service | £10 a month |
| Vodafone | 250 mins + unlimited texts, 3gb data | 1 month (addon) but can top up whenever and have no service | £10 a month |
Well, we have cheaper and better deals from pretty much all the providers compared to their
contact offerings.
Three is again the best, matching it's sim only deal but being £2 a month cheaper.
But there's no contract, you are free to leave whenever you want. You are not also stuck to
your plan.
You have some spare cash and want more data? Just top up £15 and get more data! Ran out
of data and can't afford
anymore? No overages! Can't afford your bill this month? Don't top up and people can still
contact you.
Cheaper, with more freedom. Why do people get sim only?
Can we do even better?
So our current self made mobile plan is currently:
- Phone: £419 upfront or £16.99 a month for 24 months if you have to get it on credit
- Service: £10 Three PAYG with 4GB addon
- Total cost over 24 months: £659 (£80 saving)
This is even before we've looked at MVNO's and second hand/other/older devices. I'll talk about that in part 2.