Need some help - Contract, Sim only or what?

UK007BullDog

I need some help. I read all the guides, looked at the deals out there by the companies and the deals websites. But I am now so confused, more than before.

I have 2 contracts with Orange. One is for me and one for my husband but they are in my name. Each time I tell people how much I pay a month I get laughed at. I am paying £30 and £35 basic for them and have been for many years.

Both are nearly identical in usage, I only have one bill because dear hubby shredded the other, so cannot say exactly what he has but they are both quite close.

Mine has 400 min anytime (Panther)
BT Wifi hotspots (Never used)
Email free
Mobile Internet & Tethering 750MB
Unlimited Texts

I pay around £35 per month for the above. I never go over my free usage. I love texting and using Watsup. I also use British Gas Hive and a few other apps. I have a number (6) of Internet accounts which I look at all the time due to the number of businesses and interests I have.

This 24 months contract is up in March/April and I would like to lower my monthly bill. I have been with Orange at least 5 years. I do not really need a new phone as I have a Galaxy 4 but would like an I-phone if possible.

Now my husband had his phone stolen a couple of days ago. It was also a Galaxy 4 but it was dodgy with lots of problems (hardware and software and Orange would not repair it even when it was under warranty saying we dropped it into water or it got damp as there was some corrosion). Anyway, he would like to keep his number. When I reported the phone stolen, Orange offered me an upgrade right away, however I declined, because I want to do my homework first of all. Both phones were taken out at the same time. He likes to talk, hardly texts, uses Whatsup and likes to use it for emails.

So, I though, I give him my phone, get him a Sim only deal and pay max £10 to £15 per month instead of the £30 to £40 per month.

I then go for an upgrade with Orange, keep my number, get a new phone and hopefully a cheaper deal.

What do you think?

Also looking at all these deals out there I see so many new names/players out there. I do not know if they are any good. I do travel a lot work related and need to be able to add bundles and take them off again for my travels. I like to use my phone as a hotspot when using Kindle Fire.

Or I need to get a second phone for the travels so I do not get hit with a big bill when coming home. But don't want anything paying monthly. maybe pay as you go with internet access?

The other problem we have is that only Orange and Vodafone will work in my house. T-Mobile and 3 do not work at all. I would have to go outside onto the road to be able to use the phone (which is a no-no).

Any tips on what would be best for me to do? Those would be very much appreciated. Thank you for reading my long post.

mobilejunkie

It's possible to get a deal with a decent phone with 500 minutes, 250 mb and unlimited texts for £6 a month (it's a cashback contract) if you know what you're doing. I sold the same phone for over £160 plus postage a month ago (and one of the people I order and watch over for cashback deals got slightly more). That would pay for the cost of the contract. This one is on Orange, too - but the data limit may not be sufficient for you. Failing that, there are other possibilities (higher cost) using cashback deals or lots of choices on sim only contracts with higher bundles.

SteveHenshaw

I would think your suggested plan is reasonable - give your husband the S4, take out a cheap SIM only plan which you can find for less than £10 a month easily to cover what he needs. Or look at giff gaff.

Then maybe do an upgrade with Orange for yourself. Sometimes upgrade deals are quite poor, so maybe you could look elsewhere and port your number across from Orange to the new network which would be Vodafone.

You can find some solid iPhone 5S deals for around £30-35 a month with what you need in terms of data and minutes/texts.