To not want/have a contract phone

[Emmielu]

I've never had a contract on any phones of mine. Im on o2 & have a pay as you go deal with them similar to a contract. I top up £10 on the 26th of every month but I have to top the phone up myself, it doesn't automatically come out of my account. They take the £10 & replace it with unlimited texts & 100 free calling mins.

I'm happy with this cause then once the mins are gone then I don't go over. Loads of people I know have a contract phone but I just see it as another bill to pay without knowing if that bill is the same each month.

I used to have pay as you go but I had to buy the phone then the top up and it ended up way more expensive than contract.

I know exactly how much my bill will be as can check online

Thanks for sharing. Is there a question here?

Why would that be unreasonable?

I used to have a contract phone, but changed to top ups. I top up when I need to - usually a tenner lasts me 2-3 months.

YANBU, I love only spending £10 a month and not getting bills. My phone cost a fair bit to buy but I don't regret it as at least it was all paid at once rather than £35 a month for two years or whatever.

I just wanted to know why contracts are such a must. Apparently according to friends IABU because I should go on a contract. But I wouldn't use Internet on it just calls & texts.

If it is fine for what you need then there is no problem. You would be able to get better than 100 min and texts for £10 though.

Your friends are wrong.

You're payg deal is rubbish, i get that plus free internet on payg.

YANBU. I put ten pounds on a year, I don't use all the credit.
Why would I want a contract or a fancy phone?

It isn't unreasonable -but then I have a contract now as it offers an international call package that saves me £££ that I wouldn't have if it was just PAYG.

Different strokes .... There is no 'must have'

If you have a phone running on the o2 network,then if you were to swop togiffgaff(they are owned by o2),you would get 250 mins,unlimited texts and unlimited texts for £10 a month.

YANBU. You read a worrying number of newspaper reports about people inadvertently running up huge bills when travelling, or having their phones stolen and huge bills being run up by someone else.

But as Mellen says, 100 mins for a tenner is NOT a good deal. For £10 my SIM only deal gives me 250 minutes, totally unlimited texts and web access and free calls to others on same network. I've put my DC on the same network and we can contact each other for free always, which is brilliant!

x post Motion - I'm on giffgaff. It's a fab deal!

YANBU, I don't use my phone that much for personal reasons. I got my first contract phone a year ago because of work, internet and built in GPS is my lifesaver when trying to work out what to do with my charges! I'd still be on my rolling monthly 'contract' deal with O2 otherwise.

You might want to shop around though, your deal is a bit dated.

I am on the giffgaff plan mentioned by motionoftheocean although I add on the £3 charge for Blackberry services, and so far it has been brilliant.

Do your friends pay your phone bill?!
Just say - it works for me.

Well because I text far more than I call & I use my ipod or laptop instead of phone for the Internet, the unlimited texts work better for me. Plus if I ran out of mins, I still have texts so I can always see if my friends could ring me...run up their contract bill

Got a "Wow, I've not seen one of those for years" from the young chap in Carphone Warehouse when he saw my phone. DD didn't know whether to be impressed or embarrassed.

PAYG on a "retro" phone works for me, but I'm not glued to it and I do sometimes speak to people face to face or use the landline (free after 7.00 pm anyway). DS2 will have a very basic PAYG phone to complement his iPod touch. DD has a contract, but that has to be carefully monitored.

I was going to suggest giffgaff as well.

The £10 goodybag is a great deal.

10 pounds

YABU mine is a contract 5 pounds 300 mins talk 300 texts and internet on my phone.

you just need to know how to haggle with the phone companies.

YANBU if £10 covers all your usage and you're not bothered about not having a mega gizmo-y latest handset.

I worked in the mobile phone industry on and off for nine years so have had this conversation with people lots. Generally my advice was always that PAYG should never cost you more than £10 a month, and if it does there are far better deals to be had on contract, even SIM only 30 day rolling ones which are capped to prevent you running up a massive bill.

is a massive mobile phone bore

Contracts tie you in & are a pain if phone gets bust, broken or lost. Just do what suits you.

I am a fossil: I use my phone only very lightly & it's a bit dodgy, I'm wondering if it will go faulty any moment. I just have PAYG, topping up £10 every 3-4 months, and don't even get goody bags (wouldn't be economical).

Mrs - I use over 2000 texts per month. 300 wouldn't cover me at all.

Well, its your choice, but you aren't getting the best deal.
DH tells me you could get 200 mins, 5000 texts and 250 data for 6.90 a month (sim only). Or a similar deal with handset for 10.
You can have a cap put on your account so you don't go over.
So YANBU to spend your money and manage your phones as you see fit, but you are misinformed if you think you are getting the best value.