TEXT ADDICT: how to save money on mobile bills? Should I get some kind of package with other services?

[franch]

SIL's got some special offer package with Virgin that seems really cheap - tho she gets cable TV with that which we don't really need.

Wouldn't mind a mobile/landline/broadband package if they exist, altho am wary of switching from BT for landline.

Am with O2 at the moment and finding it a bit expensive. I don't phone much but send loads of texts. Am due to renew my contract so this would be a good time to change networks. Orange seems quite good for texters - ???

How much are you paying atm franch, and what do you get for it? DD2 is with Orange and gets unlimited (I think) texts for £35 a month.

I have a deal with T Mobile, it's a Flext package. I use my phone mostly for calls but as I understand it you can use as much or as little of your allowance every month towards texts, ie the more texts you send the less funds you have available for calls and vice versa. I pay £35 a month (although you can have less expensive Flext deals) and I can never use it all, that is despite gabbing on the phone for at least eight hours every month and sending a handful of texts.

If you don't phone much is pay as you go not a better option?

With O2 pay as you go you can sign up to various options to get 200 (?) texts a month or so many minutes when you top up £10 a month. You don't have to top up each month either, your new free allowance just starts again when you do. I just text away and at the end of the month I always have some credit left so just use that until it runs out then top up. Means I spend about £10 every month and a half.

Info on Flext

Orange seems pretty good.

I was on PAYG & you could get a bundle of 400 texts for £12 as much as often as you liked & if you topped up by £10 a month you used to get 500 minutes to orange phones.

On orange there are a couple of options on dolphin, there is £30 a month where you can get 200 mins & unlimited anytime texts, or £30 where you get 300 mins, 400 daytime texts, then unlimited evening & weekend texts. Or the £35 wendyweber mentioned with unimited texts & I think 600 minutes.

I only know all this as I switched to a contract recently. The orange website is pretty good. Didn't find another contract to match it, but did want lots of texts and a reasonable number of any network minutes.

We pay virtually nothing as everytime the renewal date on our contracts is up I ring up to say that I would like another 12m but don't want to upgrade phones so they reduce our line rental. Currently paying £9.99 per month each for 500 texts and 75 anytime anynetwork minutes, and unused are carried over.
Otherwise the cheapest thing is to have PAYG and hardly use the phone.

I am on a oay as you go phone as i used to text less on t and others and pay more. I topup £15 per month and then i spend 2.50 a week and get free texts on the weekend then if i spend another 2.50 then i get free calls.

Its a good deal and i get about 500 texts during the month in the week then i get free unlimited texts on the weekend.

Free online texts

Thanks all.

banana - good idea, altho our computer's right at the top of the house and I rarely get to it!

Looks like it's orange or t-mobile Flext - just comparing right now. Good advice, many thanks.

wendy: last month I paid £32 for 350 texts + 40 mins

Ha HA - looks like either orange or t mobile would save me a whole £10 a month!! Thanks again

Franch - I text LOADS because I am deaf and have just moved to Orange - dolphin 18mth contract....3000 text per month and 200 free minutes for £30 per month....

Thanks Nikki. Have done extensive research now and found the Orange dolphin 25 and Flext 25 were much of a muchness for me - and e2save are offering Flext 25 for FREE - I've checked out this offer and the ultra-reliable moneysavingexpert site says it's kosher - the only catch is that you have to complete a form claiming cashback 5 times during the 12 month contract. I think I can manage that - and as moneysavingexpert points out, even if I mess up, I'm on the best value tarriff anyway.

Off to bed now very excited at the prospect of paying nothing at all for my mobile bills!

Thanks again