Going over your call plan minutes - bright ideas please!

JennyP

This month, I inadvertently went over the included minutes on my Tesco Mobile call plan for the first time.
It has cost me an extra £77 in phone charges! I had no idea calls would stack up so much as normally I don't make many calls and it's all included.
Anyway, I am keen to avoid that again but don't want to have to restrict my phone use. I'm happy to monitor it however.
I could up the included minutes on my call plan but I won't always want so many minutes so that seems silly.
I did wonder about getting a pay-as-you-go SIM - would that be cheaper to use for the months I do need extra minutes i.e. cheaper than extra minutes off the plan or does it cost about the same?
Any other ideas?
I'm sure there must be a creative money-saving way of doing things!

macman

Why not just monitor your monthly usage using the call log function that is built into every mobile phone?
PAYG will obviously make you more aware of your usage, but won't necessarily be cheaper.

JennyP

I didn't know you could do that! So thanks!
But it doesn't solve the problem of when I'm up to my limit on minutes but still need / want to make calls. Cheap ideas of how to get extra minutes needed!

superbigal36

Tesco can cap your plan can they not ?

JennyP

They weren't. I must admit I thought I'd signed up to that when I first went with them.
They are capping it from Monday. What they didn't tell me at the time I phoned on Monday and sorted the cap was that I lost 250 minutes a month just for putting the cap on. They have reinstated those minutes now after a lot of faffing about!

grumbler

The lowest price for PAYG calls is about 8p. I bet you pay much more now for the extra minutes.

You can get free 100 monthly minutes at Ovivo.

JennyP

Yes I pay LOADS more than 8p per minute!
Who is the 8p per minute with? I could have a spare PAYG phone on that deal!

JennyP

Just got my Tesco bill - £97.82 when it is normally £20!
Thought there was regulation that stopped you getting surprises like that.
Or is it just that I should have capped it and didn't?

HappyMJ

JennyP wrote: »

Yes I pay LOADS more than 8p per minute!
Who is the 8p per minute with? I could have a spare PAYG phone on that deal!

Ovivo...The SIM will cost you £10 (once only) and you can make 100 minutes of calls every month for free. After you use the free minutes then the calls are 8p/minute which comes off the £10 of credit you initially purchased.

grumbler

JennyP wrote: »

Who is the 8p per minute with?

Many, including, guess who..... Tesco Lite: http://mobilenetworkcomparison.org.uk/compare/

However, you'll struggle to find this tariff on Tesco website without a direct link: https://www.tescomobile-freesim.co.uk/lite-sim/

JennyP

100 minutes would still cost £8 which seems an expensive way of doing it!
I'm wondering if there's any way of having some flexibility but paying for a bundle of minutes!