MSE News: Most users need less than 3GB per month

[Deleted User]

Brauenite wrote: »

Stories like this regularly get rehashed and always ignore the point that itis financially prudent to buy a buffer of data you don't use, rather than paying the penalty of using out of bundle data. (The same applies to minutes and texts).

Absolutely.
I have a 30gb allowance for this reason and because it was £2 more expensive than my 12gb allowance.
my usage fluctuates from around 5-8gb average to around 15-20gb when there is live cricket on BT sport, so much better to pay for 30gb all the time than the crazy penalty fees when it goes over, also much less stressful not having to worry about it.

"5-8gb average" won't be your average though if you're using 15-20gb when live cricket is on, that's just your lower end usage. You're actually doing what the article suggests, you just happen to be a heavy user. You may be better off depending on what you're paying and current costs in taking something like a Plusnet sim as it's rolling monthly rather than 12/18/24 months fixed term.

indesisiv

I use less than 3 gig most months .... but pay for 4.
However when I am away where I don't have access to wifi, I use all of it!
But I would rather have a buffer so that I am not having to pay for extra on the other months in case i do go over.

It only takes one app doing something odd and you can eat through data quite quickly.

2013yearofthehouse

I keep mine at a low amount, because it is enough 10 or 11 months of the year and then on the 1 or 2 months I need more (like if I am going away) then I just buy an extra amount in advance (so I never get penalties for going over my allowance), which works out much cheaper for me than having extra every month. I avoid going over my monthly allowance by keeping an eye on it and/or using a cap on my account. This ensures I cannot get any extra surprise charges on my bills.

I switch my mobile data off if I am not wanting to use it for a while and I have changed all the settings on my phone, so that no apps etc. can accidentally use mobile data for updates or non-essential features (just set the app to WiFi only etc.), which keeps usage to a minimum (and maximises WiFi use), so I have not had any surprises