Pay As You Go

[Lightning020]

Is a mobile pay as you go cheaper than a monthly contract? I pay £7.50 to Tesco Mobile for my personal mobile. I am just using it mainly for internet whatsapp and texts. A few hours a day. 4 hours say.

Minimal phone calls.

Would it be cheaper as say a monthly £5 top up ? I resent paying more than I need.

I guess I could ring them. Does anybody know?

I assume you own your own handset?

Unlikely that 4 hrs data a day will be less than 7.50 a month as payg. Can you find how many gigabites of data you use in a month, and see what that would cost you in payg charges?

Is that sim only?
I'm on tesco mobile on an 18 month contract with 5,000 minutes, 5,000 texts and 8gb data.
I got a load of points when I signed up and an ongoing 100 points a month. I use all these points to get money off my bill, doing this means my bill works out at under £5 a month.
Phone up and negotiate.

I'm not a heavy mobile user and 1p mobile is the cheapest I've found.
I have DS, who's usage is similar to yours on this £36 a year Talker tariff https://www.1pmobile.com/index.taf?affilaiteid=gaw&gclid=Cj0KCQiAgP6PBhDmARIsAPWMq6n1qTBl1sG1hbTb5TLPkPLLAynMYd7e-7ks0-aHP6TKu9ekNhCxsIaAlvOEALww_wcB
Very cheap, runs on the O2 network. I've been with them for a few years on an older tariff.

Works well for us.

I have PAYG and use my phone like you. I am on O2 but I don't know the name of the tariff - I top up £10 every couple of months.

Own the handset yes and 1gb data for £7.50 unlimited texts not sure how many hours.

A good point about the Tesco clubcard.

Yes you get double the value of points so 100 points gets me £2 off a month, then I was given a 1000 points which was worth £20 off the bill.
Its very easy to apply the voucher too.

I have a direct debit of $5 to EE a week, then I have a recurring topup of £1 a week using code "viptalk01" That gets me (something like) 10 mins talk time, 200 texts and 50mb.

HOWEVER, I've had this for years and EE has this scheme called "boosts" where every so many topups, you can add another 10 mins, another 100 texts or another 50mb. So long as you stick with the same plan, it just builds up and up.

So I have something like 150 mins, 300 texts and 1+gb per week, which is easily more than enough for my requirements, as I rarely use data outside. Not so good if your mobile is your main form of internet access, although you can always start your next pack early if your internet runs out.

1gb data for 7.50 is expensive. Have a look at some of the other sim only options about. We are with smarty mobile (runs off the 3 network) and they are rolling sims. I think 4bg with unlimited data and texts is £6pm. We have family plans for our kids so they are cheaper still.

The issue with actual pay as you go, is that any calls and texts can be expensive. Steer clear of the bigger named ones and it's again cheaper, so maybe they are the best option. If you are mainly using WhatsApp it's the Internet usage which is more important to you, which isn't always cheap on pay as you go. Definitely other options for you though.

I'm surprised you get 4 hours a day use for 1 Gb a month, but is some of that on wifi, or do you not stream music or videos, including those that play automatically?

I wouldn't switch to PAYG as you'd then have to pay for calls which are often very expensive, so even a short call could wipe out any savings.

But you might be cut a pound or two a month off your costs and maintain unlimited calls and texts, which most rolling SIM only plans offered by the likes of Giff Gaff now have as well as a Gb or so of data.

Have a look at:

www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheap-mobile-finder/

I think Smarty used to do a rebate scheme, where you got a discount off the next bill if you didn't use all your allowance, so worth looking at that if they still do it and their coverage suits you.

Some great advice here thanks everyone.

@BarbaraofSeville

I'm surprised you get 4 hours a day use for 1 Gb a month, but is some of that on wifi, or do you not stream music or videos, including those that play automatically?

I wouldn't switch to PAYG as you'd then have to pay for calls which are often very expensive, so even a short call could wipe out any savings.

But you might be cut a pound or two a month off your costs and maintain unlimited calls and texts, which most rolling SIM only plans offered by the likes of Giff Gaff now have as well as a Gb or so of data.

Have a look at:

www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheap-mobile-finder/

I think Smarty used to do a rebate scheme, where you got a discount off the next bill if you didn't use all your allowance, so worth looking at that if they still do it and their coverage suits you.

Smarty still do this. I'm a light data user and on the 2GB plan, which is £7 and includes unlimited calls and texts and I get money off for any unused data. I've never paid more than £6. Last month I had 1.9GB unused and paid £5.12.

Have you been with Tesco long?

I've had a 12 month sim contract for 3 years now and always get a fair loyalty discount/upgrade options.

I pay £6 per month for unlimited calls, texts and 4gb data.

My 15yo has just signed up and pays £7.50 per month for unlimited calls, texts and 2gb data.

My kids are on giff gaff for £8 a month. I can adjust up and down if needed but they've never needed to,

Their phones are owned outright, second hand from CEX. I pay a stupid amount for mine under contract because I'm still paying off the device.

I am tesco mobile £6 per month. 4gb data, unlimited texts,unlimited minutes. You should definitely be able to get a cheaper contract than you are on op

Yes Arbeity I need to ring them. Cheers.

And ask for signing up points!