Money Hacks – What to Consider When Choosing a Mobile Phone Plan

As part of my quarterly money cleanse, I’m taking a look at the best mobile phone plans on the market today. My tradie hubby is a massive phone person. He’s always wheeling-and-dealing with suppliers and customers. As a writer I’m desk-bound most days. When I’m not, I’m checking email messages and notifications on my phone. So, hubby needs some good SMS and calls juice, while I’m big on getting the most data I can while at home and out-and-about.

In saying this, getting a plan that does both is of course, the best result. But, looking for the right plan can be a minefield. I’ve put this easy-to-digest A-Z guide together to help you make the right decisions.

Hit the ground running with slashing expenses this quarter.

What to consider when choosing a mobile phone plan

What to look for in a mobile phone plan and what decisions you will need to make first:

Accounts

• Ease-of-use when managing your account
• Customer service
• Support from the phone supplier via contact pages, phone or live chat services

Bundles

• What’s it like in your area for your provider.
• Can you check it on a map? (Check out this simple mobile network coverage map)

Coverage

• What’s it like in your area for your provider.
• Can you check it on a map?

Contracts

• Length and cost monthly fees and total spend. Is there a cost for cancellation and payouts?
• Is it best to not have a contract? Find no-lock-in contract plans to achieve flexibility and freedom.

Calls

• Costs including charge per second and block of time
• Inclusions: Items that aren’t included such as overseas calls and 1300 numbers.
• Are FREE calls available on the same network, free social network options.
• Are calls cheaper at a certain time of day.
• Are calls charged per second or per block

Connections

• Phone call connection fees (term: flag falls)

Data

• How much data you are using now and what you need (Check out this mobile data calculator to determine your monthly usage)
• Budget versus freedom (unlimited data)
• Is unlimited data necessary?
• Can you easily monitor your data usage

Payment

• Pre-pay or pay after the fact (via billing)
• Terms: Fixed-term (12-24 months) or go month-to-month
• What is the cheapest way to pay (e.g credit card or other)

Plans

• Bring your own phone along
• Pay for a phone with a plan
• Can you switch between plans without incurring fees?
• Are you just looking for a data only plan for tablets and iPads etc ?

Check out the most competitive mobile plans we found from amaysim here.

Phones

• If you need more than one phone for business purposes
• Is the phone locked to the network an
• Is there a cost for unlocking a phone.
• What does the warranty cover and how long will it last.
• How much you love technology and if you are likely to change phones over a contract period

Travel

• If you travel a lot
• If you need to worry about international calls or texts and the rates behind it
• Also how much are voice calls and data usage when overseas

People

• People on your network you call often
• Is it cheaper if you are all on the same network

Places

• Do you call often from home through wireless
• What is your schedule at and away from home
• Where are you using your phone the most

Limits

• Monthly call limits andincluded value and what happens when you go over your data?
• Is the plan enough for how you intend to use it?

Usage:

• Phone usage including SMS, calls, email, social, photos, videos, games and travel (as above).
• How much are voice calls, SMS and data usage when overseas.

I hope you find your perfect money-saving phone plan.

Nice work if you slashed some expenses here today. Stay tuned for more of my money-saving goodness.

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