How to cut down on Mobile Phone Bill Excess

11/08/2012 15:19

When you purchase your monthly contract you often assume that your bills will cost no more than you the price of the flat monthly payment. All those minutes and texts go a long way, or so it seems and you often don't even use nearly as many as you are prescribed.

However, this doesn't necessarily mean that you end up with a bill that reflects the cost of the line rental when you end up paying for the mobile plan. You often end up spending half the price of the rental again and more on your monthly bill. So, how do you prevent this from happening and what should you look out for?

Data

If there is anything that can push up the price of your bill and phone deals it is data costs. Using your apps and connecting to items that require you to use data is fine once you stay within your limit. However, should you end up going over the limit for data for the month, prepare for an expensive ride. When you look at which mobile plan to pick, make sure that it shows you the data you have and also the extra cost for data.

Additional data is often charged at the megabyte and also at a rate that makes your phone deals look pale in comparison. This data can often be 2 pence a MB, which may seem like a lot until you understand there is around 1000mb in your 1GB and many premium contracts offer this at the very least. So, if you end up going over you could end up paying a lot.

Save on Extra Data

The best way to prevent having to pay an excessive bill is to look at a bolt on if you go over the limit. These usually come at a fixed price and allow you a quite substantial amount of extra minutes for a little bit more money on your bill. This can allow you to continue to use your phone without the fear of hefty add-ons.

Connecting to Wi-Fi at all available opportunities is also a great way to cut down on usage in the first place. Some mobile phone contracts come with free access to public Wi-Fi hotspots. So, when you compare phones look and see if the deal includes this. If you are out and about this can allow you to save a significant amount of cash and to really reduce bill excess.

Calls Abroad

Whether you are inside or outside the EU you will be subject to call charges when calling from abroad. It is substantially less inside the EU, but still and additional cost. Curtail these costs with a local sim card and the Skype program on your phone. This can allow you to call home for a lot less than you would otherwise have to pay and is a real saver if you travel or intend on going on a holiday and will beat anything your phone deals have given you.

Phone Calls to Skype et al

Using Skype to phone abroad is a low cost way to call your friends, family or work; however, the connection fee can also add a bit extra to your bill. If you use Skype on your phone to call across the water on a daily basis this can really impact on the amount of money you are adding to your phone bill.

Of course, it is significantly lower in price than calling other countries with your phone but still an extra. Try and use your computer when calling abroad to lower the incidence of this extra cost, which can add tens of pounds to your bill each month.

Most laptops and computers come with extras such as microphones and cameras that allow you to use them to call abroad and prevent you having to pay these connection fees when out and about.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

The Article is written by Cormac Reynolds at www. MobilePhoneDeals.ie which lists and compares mobile phone deals and mobile broadband deals in Ireland. Compare O2 Mobile Phones, Vodafone Mobile Deals, Meteor.ie Mobile Phones and Three.ie Deals. Visit https://www.MobilePhoneDeals.ie for more information. Copyright information. This article is free for reproduction but must be reproduced in its entirety, including live links & this copyright statement must be included.