frugal living Archives - CURLY AND CANDID

Save Money on Your Phone Bill

Nicki CawoodAugust 29, 2019

Knowing how or where you can save money on your phone bill is no easy feat. Fortunately, there are a whole host of websites and apps designed to help you do just that. The best news is most of them are free (or very cheap)! I hate spending money needlessly (I’m a thrifty bod). These top tips should help you reduce your phone bill spend too.

Save Money on Your Phone Bill With Data Compression Apps

Data compression apps help stretch your data allowance further by reducing the amount of data web pages and email clients use. And they do this without impacting the quality of your browsing experience. Some apps also block unwanted data usage from background apps, updates and notifications.

How does this save you money? With your data going further than ever, you won’t need to buy expensive add-ons. Some apps report a saving of up to 20% which might not sound like much but will make a significant difference to how quickly you run through your allowance.

There are lots of data compression apps on the market, some better than others at what they do. Some of the most highly recommended apps include: Opera Max, My Data Compress, My Data Manager, and Datally.

I remote work a lot so will be trying these out as sometimes I tether through my phone and that eats data!

Save Money on Your Phone Bill With Billmonitor.com

Launched in 2009 by three Oxford-based mathematicians, Billmonitor’s entire purpose is to save you money on your phone bill.

Mobile phone contracts are notoriously complicated and unclear. It can be hard to know how much you’re paying for the handset and how much you’re paying for the tariff. Billmonitor helps to clarify all this, giving consumers transparency in an increasingly murky industry.

Billmonitor works by analysing your past bills (or you can manually enter your estimated usage) and comparing your usage against one million tariff and bundle combinations. It searches deals from five of the largest providers; EE, O2, Three, Vodafone and Tesco Mobile. You are then provided with a free analysis explaining where you’ve been overcharged, the best contracts for your usage, and exactly how much you will save.

You only pay for this service if you choose to proceed with a new contract. Billmonitor charges a flat fee of 30% of the amount you save on your bill. One trick is to use Billmonitor to get a recommended tariff then see if you can beat it on comparison sites like Tiger Mobiles (specialise in PAYG) or Uswitch.

08 Wizard

If you’ve ever had to call an 0800, 0845 or 0870 number from your mobile phone, you know exactly how expensive it is. These premium numbers can charge up to 41 pence per minute, which means just a ten-minute phone call will cost you more than £4. Many businesses in the UK use 08 numbers, including some mobile phone networks and utility companies.

08 Wizard is an app for iOS, Android and Windows Phone that replaces 08 numbers with an 01 or 02 landline number. If you’re on contract, the call will now come from your inclusive minutes, and if you’re on Pay As You Go, it will be charged at a standard rate.

The app costs 99 pence but will quickly pay for itself in money saved calling premium numbers. If you ever need to call 08 numbers, this app is an absolute must-have.

Network Apps Offer Great Perks

If your phone contract is with O2, Three or Vodafone you can score some great freebies and discounts via their rewards apps. The offers change quite frequently but can include things like advanced gig tickets, discounted cinema tickets, free coffee and data boosts.

This is a bit of a wildcard because these apps won’t help you save money on your phone bill. However your phone bill will help you save money on other things, and I think that’s just as good.

If you’re an O2 customer, the rewards app is called O2 Priority and it’s available for iPhone and Android. Three customers will find rewards in the Wuntu app on iPhone and Android. And for Vodafone customers, rewards are offered via the ‘Very Me’ programme in the My Vodafone app (again, available for iPhone and Android).

GiffGaff Payback

GiffGaff offers a fantastic Payback scheme where you can earn money for referring friends and family to the network. For every person you bring on board, GiffGaff gives you £5 (and £5 to your friend, too). This can then be converted to cash, credit to your GiffGaff account, or donated to charity.

In addition, GiffGaff members can call and text each other for free, so it pays double to refer friends.

Any Payback points you’ve earned are paid out twice a year (in June and December). There’s no limit to how much you can earn, though the payment amounts change after the first 15 referrals (they actually increase). With this unlimited earning potential you can save some serious money on your phone bill should you choose to convert it to credit.

Save Money on Your Phone Bill

If you are looking to save money on your phone bill it pays to think outside of the box. If you have any other top tips feel free to comment with them below.

In MoneySaving

Saving More Money: Top Tips

Nicki CawoodJuly 15, 2019

Do you wish that you had more cash in your wallet or bank account? Is saving more money something you want to work on?

There are plenty of people out there just like you who feel the same way. Although it might seem practically impossible to make your money stretch any further than it already does, the truth is that there are always new ways that you can adjust your relationship with money.

One of the best things you can do if you’re constantly struggling with finances is to trick yourself into approaching saving more money from a new perspective.

Here are some of the money-saving tactics you can try that may actually make a difference to your life this year.

Stop Telling Yourself to Go Big or Go Home

One of the biggest mistakes you can make when you first start budgeting is to tell yourself that you have to save a certain amount each week to make the experience worthwhile. The truth is that even the smallest saving strategy can make the biggest difference. For instance, you could save change in a jar every day and end up with an extra £10 at the end of the month.

It doesn’t seem like much at first, but every little bit helps. That’s why it’s so important to compare prices before you purchase something, to ensure you’re pinching the pennies. For instance, taking out a loan online could save you a few pounds on interest payments each month that you can put towards other expenses.

Start Challenging Yourself

We’re not talking about forcing yourself to try and meet some unrealistic goal every day. Instead, challenge yourself in a fun way. Focus on saving £1 a week for a while and see where that gets you or give yourself the task of saving a specific (small) amount of money whenever you go shopping for food by trying out cheaper brands.

There are plenty of ways that you can bring more fun into your frugal lifestyle, and make budgeting feel more natural overall. The more you start to have fun with your budgeting strategies, the easier it will be to stick to your plans in the long-term. There are plenty of challenges you can take part in on Moneysavingexpert (in the forum) or make up your own,

Get Your Bank To Do The Hard Work

If you’re constantly forgetting to pay money into your savings account at the end of each month, get your bank to do it for you by setting up automated payments. You can also automate your payments for specific bills so you can rest assured that you won’t have any late fees to worry about when you’re dealing with things like rent and utilities.

Additionally, you can also think about opening a savings account in a different bank – one that you can’t access online. This will make it harder for you to withdraw money into your savings account without visiting your bank in person. Make sure that you hide your ATM card too, so that you can’t just withdraw cash at any cash point.

Play Some Mind Games

There are plenty of fun mind games you can use to change the way you manage money. For instance, if you make your monthly fees like rent and gas a mandatory expense, make savings a mandatory cost too. This will force you to take your emergency savings account and other goals seriously.

Another way to improve your chances of saving more money is to round numbers up and down. For instance, when you earn money, round that number down so you’re forced to be more frugal with your cash. If you earn £211 one week, tell yourself you only have £200. If you spend £112, tell yourself that you’ve spent £120 so you’re saving extra coins here and there without realising it.

Designate All Of Your Cash – Even Your Change

Finally, it’s easy to tell yourself that spending an extra pound here and there doesn’t matter when you’re not giving all of your money a purpose. However, if you destinate every penny you earn to something crucial, then it’s harder to let yourself off with those extra expenses and saving more money becomes easier.

One way to make sure you never spend more than you need to is to withdraw the cash you need for things like entertainment and food, and only let yourself use that amount. Once you run out, you won’t be able to return to your credit card or debit account for more money. This will teach you to think more carefully about how you spend your money, and it could give you a better insight into your priorities too. I have used to cash envelope system on and off for years and it works.

Saving More Money

There are some great tips and tricks here for saving more money. Do you use any of these? Do you have your own tips or tricks? I’d love to hear about them in the comment box below.

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