How to Choose Winning Mobile Tariffs

There are thousands of mobile tariffs out there that can confuse someone on choosing the best tariff. Sometimes, it is not just because the contract is cheap, it is already a winning tariff. The way to win is to maximize the function we really use and avoid the additional allowance we do not need. If we do not consider our calling habits and the amount of data we use whilst using the network's signal, we might be better off with a more expensive one with sufficient allowance to accommodate our usage.

According to Usage

Calling habits is easier to track than using data calls or in other words, going into the internet using the network provider's signal. This is tricky when users do not know how to distinguish between using their network's data signal and the network's free Wi-Fi. A friend of mind ended up in paying  £200 on his daughter's phone as a consequence. If your network's Wi-Fi is not accessible where you usually use internet outside your home and you use the internet a lot, it is better to get a deal with more data and take off the  free Wi-Fi deal however attractive the deal is like the picture below. The deal on the right is then better in this situation.

Adverts:
White iPhone4S £25/month

Consider the Price of the Handset

Other way to determine if your tariff is a winner is to consider the stand alone price of the handset. Subtract this to the total amount of the contract and the remaining figure shows the amount of what you pay for the service. If this amount is sensible when compared to the number of minutes and data within the contract then it is a winner. Let's take for example the deal below. 

The iPhone 4s has a standalone price of £449. The cost of the contract for 24 months is £630. This means a difference of  £181 that is equivalent to the contract allowance of 100 minutes, unlimited texts, 100MB data and 2GB of Wi-Fi.

Whilsts the Galaxy Note 2 is priced at £549.95. The cost of the contract for 24 months is £696. The difference is £146.95 which is the cost of  600 minutes, unlimited text, 500MB data and 1GB of Wi-Fi. If you do the math before you buy in here, you will know that this deal got the star buy.

Advert:

GalaxyNote2 £29/month

Win on Pay As You Go

If you do not use your phone too much and just use it mostly for emergencies, the best deal for you is pay as you go. Aside from no monthly contract to worry about, there are also additional benefits of having it, depending on which network you're on. I myself is a pay as you go customer and I am connected to these three networks for different reasons.

I choose orange to primarily avail of their Orange Wednesdays deal. Two cinema tickets for the price of one. 

O2  gives me 10% cash back on top ups and unlimited texts and calls to any O2 mobiles when topped up with £15.

Vodafone international sim gives me 100 minutes of international calls for £15. The top up credit will only be deducted if I call UK numbers or countries that are not included, or when I finish the 100 minutes international allowance. Click here for countries that are excluded.

And to win more from pay as you go tariff, if you are already 6 months with your network, you can get a discounted phone pay as you go upgrade from carphonewarehouse. The phone they provide as an upgrade is unlocked! You could save half the price compared to the standalone price of an unlocked phone. Click here for more details!