Family phone contract?

Deane1a

Are there cost savings benefits for pooling my family’s 4x mobile phone contracts into 1?

1 contract (was EE) is up
2x O2 contracts is up within next month or so
1x O2 still had a year to run.

I will be looking to upgrade the 3 handsets for the expiring contracts.

I am spending nearly £180 per month currently and would like to reduce this!

Ms_Chocaholic

Do the handsets need upgrading - if they are still working why not get a SIM only deal, I'm with GiffGaff and pay only £8 pcm. This is a moneysaving forum after all.

Who are the phones for? I presume children, how old are the children, do they work. Can they not pay for their own contract.

ballyblack

Get SIM only from Tesco. They have a family plan..There is no such thing as a 'upgrade' usually expensive!

Its a new contract

cranford

I have 3 O2 contracts for family and their upgrades seem expensive even with their family discounts. I would like to stay with the O2 network because the signal is good were I live so have looked at Tesco and Sky Mobile who use O2 and I can easily transport the phone numbers.
The Sky Mobile web site is easy to use and work out what the costs are. For example 4 Iphone XR phones with unlimited text and calls and 6 gb of data would cost £140 a month for the first two years and £100 in the third year. (you need to click on info to get the third years costs).
If you don't need four new phones then you can just add extra sims to the account. You may be able to shave a few pounds from the sim costs elsewhere but overall the prices are fairly competitive.
Don't know what support from Sky Mobile is like but I have been with Gigffgaff in the past who also use O2 and support was through a web forum.

[Deleted User]

Deane1a wrote: »

Are there cost savings benefits for pooling my family’s 4x mobile phone contracts into 1?

1 contract (was EE) is up
2x O2 contracts is up within next month or so
1x O2 still had a year to run.

I will be looking to upgrade the 3 handsets for the expiring contracts.

I am spending nearly £180 per month currently and would like to reduce this!

As said above, don't upgrade and go sim only. £180 a month is a ridiculous price to be paying. This is presuming that you are serious about reducing costs.

Frozen_up_north

You can almost buy a house for £180 a month :rotfl:

As ballyblack said, there is no such thing as an "upgrade", it's marketing speak for selling you a new phone + SIM contract.

Equally, forget a family bundle, it can limit your choice.. look realistically at what you really need. SIM only will be a lot cheaper than endlessly changing phones and paying for them on monthly finance (which is what a phone + SIM contract is). Only replace phones as and when they really are beyond use, it's very easy to get sucked into the latest and greatest fashion accessory (sorry Samsung and Apple). Buying a phone outright is generally cheaper than buying one over 2 years on finance via a contract, yes I know it's easy to call into a shop, sign the bottom line and walk out with a contract phone... the sales people love those customers.

Fit the phones with a drop resistant case and avoid putting them in a rear pocket and sitting on them. We've got a couple of iPhone SEs that are over 3 years old and still going strong, although one of them could soon benefit from a replacement battery.