Single Mum - Struggling to get realistic SOA

savergrant

One problem you will have is that you will be issued with new phone numbers. You can move your existing numbers from ee but you will need to pay them the money you owe for the rest of the contract, less the cost savings they get from you not actually using the service. Text pac to 65075 to find out. If there is no charge give the code (3 letters and 6? numbers) to your new network on the 'bring your number with you" page.

savergrant

"Regarding your daughters phone I believe she is on a plan till 2024, they won't unlock that unless you buy yourself out"

I don't think that is true. You are quite within your rights to use the phone they supply on a different network, so long as you keep paying for your contract. So if op wanted a new phone and daughter needed a new plan they could swap phones and each put their own sim in. You don't have to use the handset and the sim together. But you can't port your number without ending your contract.

Pre_Approved_Junkie

savergrant said:

One problem you will have is that you will be issued with new phone numbers. You can move your existing numbers from ee but you will need to pay them the money you owe for the rest of the contract, less the cost savings they get from you not actually using the service. Text pac to 65075 to find out. If there is no charge give the code (3 letters and 6? numbers) to your new network on the 'bring your number with you" page.

I've just been having a good snoop round those two companies you recommended. Both very good deals, one has better reviews than the other. Penny mobile seems very straighforward, and is also EE based, which is who I am with now. I'd never heard of either of these companies, which makes me wary.

I'm not really fussed about new numbers to be honest. Thats the least of my problems.

MikeJXE

Pre_Approved_Junkie said:

MikeJXE said:

Pre_Approved_Junkie said:

MikeJXE said:

Are you sure your phones are not locked to EE ? I would guess your daughters is 

Yeah the meaningless credit expert good you sacked him, the experts on here will tell you where you can get the same score for free

I'm surprised EE wouldn't allow you to change the plan especially when reducing the data requirements 

Yeah, they will both be locked to EE, but I did see a section on the EE website on how to unlock your phone so if they don't charge for that, I wil do that. If they do, I'll just get sim budles for PAYG.

I have another question about the DMP. If I'm putting the payments I'm not making into an Emergency fund, won't Stepchange see that and say it will have to be used for debt payments? Is there a min/max amount for the EF?

Your phone if it's yours as in you bought it EE should unlock it as long as you don't owe anything on your plan. They used to charge £20 but I don't know now.

Regarding your daughters phone I believe she is on a plan till 2024, they won't unlock that unless you buy yourself out 

I can't answer your other question 

I've managed to do it Mike! Just googled how to unlock an EE iphone, and I just had to text UNLOCK to 150.

WOW well done you, now you need SIM cards I guess

Was reading on here the other day someone got a  payg sim from a shop, rang the provider to set up a plan and they wouldn't do it with the shop bought sim and had to send one in the post 

So choose wisely 

Pre_Approved_Junkie

@MikeJXE Oh my, that was one of my other options. Grab a couple pre loaded from a supermarket or hight street shop.

savergrant

I used 1pmobile for a while but they p*d me off by changing their t&cs just after I had topped up £30 (and then changed them back for new customers). So I probably wouldn't use them again, unless they were way cheaper than everyone else I have been with rwg since August and their systems are a bit dated but feedback on here is the staff are really helpful. They both run on ee so it is the same signal. Rwg is weird because they seem to be a subcontractor, their sim cards are issued by nowmobile with a sticker over the top. Somehow rwg undercut the nowmobile price. There could be an issue if you have a problem with them playing pass the parcel and sending you from one customer services to another, but never been a problem for me. I also use lyca and lebara for data, had to email lebara as despite the welcome letter stating my pack was preloaded onto the sim it wasn't. They sorted it in a day or two. Lyca worked smoothly enough but lots of posts about how they respond if you do get a problem. My sister and niece are happy on smarty, I have never used anyone on 3 myself.

Check out the mse tables;

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mobiles/best-pay-as-you-go-sim-cards/

MikeJXE

Try the internet for best sim only deals that way you can sign up and get a sim by Saturday or Monday, the beauty of ordering online you have 14 days to change your mind. 

The only reason I would get from a shop would be if they were free and I could test the coverage and signal at home 

enthusiasticsaver

Pre_Approved_Junkie said:

MikeJXE said:

Are you sure your phones are not locked to EE ? I would guess your daughters is 

Yeah the meaningless credit expert good you sacked him, the experts on here will tell you where you can get the same score for free

I'm surprised EE wouldn't allow you to change the plan especially when reducing the data requirements 

Yeah, they will both be locked to EE, but I did see a section on the EE website on how to unlock your phone so if they don't charge for that, I wil do that. If they do, I'll just get sim budles for PAYG.

I have another question about the DMP. If I'm putting the payments I'm not making into an Emergency fund, won't Stepchange see that and say it will have to be used for debt payments? Is there a min/max amount for the EF?

I don't think they normally question you as to that although no doubt they will ask if you have savings.  Worth asking on the DMP thread but if you go through your soa with them shortly the EF won't have had time to build up anyway.  You are allowed a reasonable EF as you will not have access to credit but as to whether there is a limit I don't know.  It is likely to be thousands rather than a few hundred.

savergrant

For me this is the best deal for your usage;

https://www.rwgmobile.wales/webshop/offers/unlimited-mins-sms-2gb-data-£3-50-month-plus-£10-free-credit/

Or if you get good vodafone signal 99p for 6 months then £4.90 pm

https://mobile.lebara.com/gb/en/msm/exclusive-monthly-plan-490/p/441174

And for your daughter either;

https://www.rwgmobile.wales/webshop/offers/unlimited-mins-sms-5gb-data-£6-month-plus-£10-free-credit/

Or if you have good coverage from other networks;

https://smarty.co.uk/plans/4gb-data?vc=12Mth4GB5Feb22AFF&utm_campaign=awin&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_source=moneysavingexpert&utm_content=Editorial+Content&sv1=affiliate&sv_campaign_id=157118&awc=10933_1675374550_8f1d91133a7d81ecece0628b4a38211b

You can get the same plan from lyca and get it cheaper for 6 months but the reviews are not good. I have one as a backup and it has been OK.

https://www.lycamobile.co.uk/ucustomer/mse-1/

With her usage the lebara deal might not be quite enough data, same goes for the rwg teaser plus. She might run out too often.

Pre_Approved_Junkie

@savergrant Thats really helpful. Thanks. I think I'm going to give the rgwmobile a go. As for my daughter, if she exceeds the 5gb, then tough as it means she's been on the phone too long instead of being a normal kid!   :-D