Paying around £40 for a monthly contract - is this overly expensive?

MillicentBystander

Guys_Dad wrote: »

I have been sim-only for my main mobile phone for 3 years and am reasonably happy. £11 per month 600 minutes, unlimited texts and 500mb with Vodafone. Good reception, 12-month contract, got my own Android.

Makes sense to me. Am also running out a 24-month Orange contract which I used for work at £10 per month until the recent price increase which was my last handset deal, as it was actually cheaper than the sim-only at the time! Finished this month and got the PAC.

I am now going to retain the Orange number on Ovivo for a one-off £15 and use it as a spare, but the current O2 Samsung Galaxy III mini deal at mobiles.co.uk for £12.50 per month, less Topcashback £27 looks like I could be persuaded to go for that in July if it is still around - or any one like it - when my Voda contract ends as it looks like better value.

Other than that, I will be sim-only or one of the cheap sub £10, 250 minutes plus Talkmobile packages with a free Android bottom of range handset thet I keep as a spare.

The main point is that paying £40 or more for a phone contract is not good value for me. It is an almost £1000 commitment and I can do what I want cheaper and quite acceptably for less than a quarter of that - and I have a tablet if I need the fancy apps.

IMO the S3 Mini will be well under £200 to buy outright by July due to the S4 being available and, I suspect, another S4 Mini cash in by Samsung being announced. To be honest, the Orange San Diego at £100 PAYG betters it on most specs (only problem being it is locked to Orange/EE/Virgin for 3 months after purchase.

Guys_Dad

Had no luck in getting Orange to unlock my LG, so wary of the 2nd point.

I would always go sim-only by preference, but if I am getting a handset thrown in and the cost is either cheaper or the same (as it would be for me with the O2 deal), then I know I can make the 24 monthly payments from savings irrespective of any income interruption, (as long as I don't bank with Bank of Cyprus, that is!).

J_B

MillicentBystander wrote: »

I will be going SIM only, 30 day commitment and if i need a phone I will buy it upfront..

Would you not get a better deal by having a 12 month sim only contract?

paulineb_2

I had an Iphone 4 on a 24 month contract, £40, 900 mins and unlimited texts, but if I had thought better Id have got less mins on the original contract, I didnt use them all. I got an early upgrade with vodafone and I got an htc desire, 13 quid a month for 100 mins, unlimited texts, 250mb wifi. My mum can call me for an hour free on her vodafone deal, happy enough with that. I used the Iphone for work, I teach fitness classes and I still do even though theres no active sim. Am happy enough with the new phone and what Im paying for what I get.

Herongull

Guys_Dad wrote: »

Had no luck in getting Orange to unlock my LG, so wary of the 2nd point.

I would always go sim-only by preference, but if I am getting a handset thrown in and the cost is either cheaper or the same (as it would be for me with the O2 deal), then I know I can make the 24 monthly payments from savings irrespective of any income interruption, (as long as I don't bank with Bank of Cyprus, that is!).

What model? Some phones you can unlock yourself for free - instructions on the internet

Or else ebay for a fiver.

MillicentBystander

J_B wrote: »

Would you not get a better deal by having a 12 month sim only contract?

Possibly but, again, you are tying yourself in for a year and I don't want to do that any more, especially with the mobile operators constantly messing about with their T&Cs etc. With a 30 day commitment there's less chance of being messed about because they know you can be out of there (with your number) within a month.

Netwizard

I remember when the Iphone 4 was released, a mate of mine got one. I remember him mentioning it was costing him £50 a month. I nearly had a heart attack! Crazy money.

I'm firmly in the same camp as Going4TheDream. I have an old Nokia which cost me £35 outright sim free.

Currently with T-mobile. 100 mins / unlimited texts for £6 a month (not the best retention deal, but I did have 12 months free out of them for the website mis price back in November 2011, so can't complain), and I dont use the internet on my phone.

Can't get my head round people who are glued to their phones on the internet all the time. See it in pubs / coffee shops all the time. friends / family having a coffee or a few beers, not talking to each other, but glued to their phones instead. Very sad.

cocopops21

After only paying a tenner on Ovivo and using it for months without paying anything else, I feel like a contract is so restricting and expensive. So yes to me, paying £40/month for any phone is just too much.

moosetastic

its worth looking around for a cheap deal. ive been with O2 since back in BT Cellent days, my contract was up last week, and the best they could offer was a Nokia Lumia 820 for £27 pm and £40 for the phone up front. I ended up getting the same phone for free and £25 pm from Tesco mobile. My hubby has an Iphone 4 and was originally on £36pm contract, we've just downgraded it to £27pm for the last yr of his contract. So there are deals out there, just need to look for them.

katejo

MillicentBystander wrote: »

Possibly but, again, you are tying yourself in for a year and I don't want to do that any more, especially with the mobile operators constantly messing about with their T&Cs etc. With a 30 day commitment there's less chance of being messed about because they know you can be out of there (with your number) within a month.

I am thinking in a similar way to you. I do have a contract now but it expires very soon. The only thing which puts me off PayG is estimating how much internet access I will get. I have barely used internet on my current phone as it is too small. However i now have an iPod Touch and I use this a lot when wireless is available. With a budget Smartphone i would use wireless wherever possible but might occasionally want access at other times. It is easy to guess how many texts and how much call time I might use.