How to Shave Money off your Bills with a Prepaid Phone

Although multimedia smartphones can make life far more convenient, they can come with a hefty price tag. Many major service providers sweeten the pot of signing up for an expensive contract by offering a free or reduced-price smartphone. You may benefit from receiving this gift up front, but then you are locked into a phone contract for two years. These contracts often offer an overabundance of minutes and texts, but then charge premium rates for services like international phone calls. One way around this is to consider purchasing a prepaid phone, or signing up for a pay as you go contract. This allows you to customize your phone usage and can save you a surprising amount of money.



Doaway with Excess Minutes

One of the supposed benefits of a monthly phone contract is that you receive a high number of mobile minutes to use, all included in your fee. The truth of the matter is, most of us don't even use all of our airtime each month. Many people now choose to communicate via texting or emailing instead of phone calls, to save time. As a result, all of those minutes are being paid for but never used! By choosing a prepaid phone instead, you use exactly what you pay for and nothing more. If you're wondering just how many minutes you use each month, take a closer look at your phone statements. You may be surprised to learn that you're only using half of your monthly allowance, yet still paying full price. 


Lower International Rates

Another major reason to consider going prepaid is that you can benefit from lower rates overseas. Rates will vary, but you can make cheapcalls to Pakistan from Lebara mobile or other prepaid providers in comparison to the rates you would normally pay. It's a good idea to shop around to see what types of international rates are offered, as these will vary even among prepaid phone services. You could call India with Lebara from the UK for 1p per minute, but a prepaid phone from Vodafone will charge you a hefty 25p per minute simply for local calls. It's important to compare these tariffs carefully if you want to save money. 

How Prepaid Works

In most cases, with prepaid services you don't have to sign any contract. You are required to pay the full price for any phone you decide to purchase, and a flat fee for each month's service. In other cases, you can purchase prepaid SIM cards to use in your existing phone or simply pay as you go without the flat service fee. The major benefit of pay as you go service is that you are never surprised with a high phone bill at the end of the month. You can plan your phone calls and budget for only the minutes you need. If you are nearing the end of your existing phone contract and already have a smart phone, you could easily switch to pay as you go without any added fees.


It's worth looking at alternatives to the phone contract to see if this is a viable option for you. Particularly for those who make regular calls overseas, prepaid phones can be a great way to save money.

Photo credits: marin of FreeDigitalPhotos.Net

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