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Update Your Mobile Phone Easily for Less
Do you know if you buy a prepaid handset at Australia Post from the same carrier you already use (they usually hold all the big phone carriers like Telstra and Optus) you can just put your sim in it straight away and it will work? Don't use the sim that comes with it, because that will lock the phone and it's irreversible (or so I am told) but if the only sim you put it in is your own, you can get a brand new handset for under $60 in a recent model.
Contributed by Erika, via email.
Contributed by Erika, via email.
Wise Use of Mobile Plan Saves
Approximate $ Savings: $420
My partner and I are trying to save money, so he suggested only receiving incoming calls on our home phone, as most people were ringing us on our mobiles anyway. Our landline was costing us $35 a month, without making a single call! We both therefore needed good mobile plans. As we're both on a Vodafone pre-pay service, we found the best one for us was the $29 cap, where you get $150 calls included per month. If you buy Vodafone recharge cards at Safeway/Woolworths, you automatically get 10% off. I asked at Coles and they don't give the 10% discount. So my monthly phone bill now comes to $26.10. Anyway, I try to text a lot and keep the mobile calls short and when I check the balance during the last week, most times I have about $50-70 remaining, so during this week I call friends and loved ones for longer chats. In a years time, we will have saved $420.
Contributed by Heather, Hawthorn East, 30th January 2009
My partner and I are trying to save money, so he suggested only receiving incoming calls on our home phone, as most people were ringing us on our mobiles anyway. Our landline was costing us $35 a month, without making a single call! We both therefore needed good mobile plans. As we're both on a Vodafone pre-pay service, we found the best one for us was the $29 cap, where you get $150 calls included per month. If you buy Vodafone recharge cards at Safeway/Woolworths, you automatically get 10% off. I asked at Coles and they don't give the 10% discount. So my monthly phone bill now comes to $26.10. Anyway, I try to text a lot and keep the mobile calls short and when I check the balance during the last week, most times I have about $50-70 remaining, so during this week I call friends and loved ones for longer chats. In a years time, we will have saved $420.
Contributed by Heather, Hawthorn East, 30th January 2009
Pre-paid Plan Saves $55 a Month
Approximate $ Savings: $40
My husband and I had our mobile phones with a popular Telco and we were on post paid plans and were paying through the roof for our mobile phones each month. Our bills were totalling around $80/month. We did some research and decided to switch to Virgin Mobile's prepaid option. They have a plan where if you buy $25 worth of credit through their website your text messages will only cost 10 cents and calls are only 10 cents/30 secs when previously we were paying 40 cents/30 secs. This applies to calls to all other mobile phones not just restricted to Virgin! The credit also lasts for 45 days. I top my phone up once a month and my husband manages to stretch his credit out for the full 45 days!
Contributed by Emma, Waverley, 7th July 2008
My husband and I had our mobile phones with a popular Telco and we were on post paid plans and were paying through the roof for our mobile phones each month. Our bills were totalling around $80/month. We did some research and decided to switch to Virgin Mobile's prepaid option. They have a plan where if you buy $25 worth of credit through their website your text messages will only cost 10 cents and calls are only 10 cents/30 secs when previously we were paying 40 cents/30 secs. This applies to calls to all other mobile phones not just restricted to Virgin! The credit also lasts for 45 days. I top my phone up once a month and my husband manages to stretch his credit out for the full 45 days!
Contributed by Emma, Waverley, 7th July 2008
Pre-paid Mobiles and Free DVDs
To save money on my pre-paid mobile I buy a recharge at Dick Smith when you get 10% off. Last week I bought a $30 card and saved $3 which went straight into my 50c box. Also my local video store (Magnum Video in Cranbourne) offers a free new release if you recharge there. So if I don't want to use petrol going to the shopping centre I take advantage of this and have a family movie night. We're not big mobile users but it's nice to get something when you were going to pay for the recharge anyway.
Contributed by Thriftygal, Cranbourne, 4th May 2008
Contributed by Thriftygal, Cranbourne, 4th May 2008
Vodaphone/Woolworths/Big W Deal
Approximate $ Savings: 10%
I have recently discovered that Vodafone pre-paid customers can purchase more credit from all Woolworths and Big W stores at a10% discount, not available anywhere else. When I asked they said Vodafone and worked a deal with all Woolworths companies to allow this saving to be passed on so my usual credit of $30 only costs me $27.
Contributed by Jo-Anne, Yarloop, 25th July 2007
I have recently discovered that Vodafone pre-paid customers can purchase more credit from all Woolworths and Big W stores at a10% discount, not available anywhere else. When I asked they said Vodafone and worked a deal with all Woolworths companies to allow this saving to be passed on so my usual credit of $30 only costs me $27.
Contributed by Jo-Anne, Yarloop, 25th July 2007
Pre-paid Mobile Savings
Approximate $ Savings: $117.60 per year
When buying recharge vouchers for Vodaphone pre-paid mobiles you will receive 10% of at Safeway/Woolworths in Victoria. I purchase a $49.00 cap, which gives me $230.00 worth of credit. As I purchase this at Safeway I also receive the 10% off so I am only paying $44.10 per recharge. If I recharge fortnightly this is a saving of $117.60 a year on the full cost recharge price. As I am also buying the capped recharge I am saving an additional $4,344 a year as I am paying $49 for $230 worth of credit. All up this is a saving of $4,461.60 a year if I recharge on a fortnightly basis. Contributed by Michele, Warrnambool, 15th April 2007
When buying recharge vouchers for Vodaphone pre-paid mobiles you will receive 10% of at Safeway/Woolworths in Victoria. I purchase a $49.00 cap, which gives me $230.00 worth of credit. As I purchase this at Safeway I also receive the 10% off so I am only paying $44.10 per recharge. If I recharge fortnightly this is a saving of $117.60 a year on the full cost recharge price. As I am also buying the capped recharge I am saving an additional $4,344 a year as I am paying $49 for $230 worth of credit. All up this is a saving of $4,461.60 a year if I recharge on a fortnightly basis. Contributed by Michele, Warrnambool, 15th April 2007
Best Phone Cards
Those who know the benefits of saving $$$ on international calls by using phone cards will love this. The next time you need to buy a phone card get onto www.bestphonecards.com.au. All you have to do is type in the country you wish to call and in an instant you get a list of all the phone cards you could choose from. You can then proceed to compare cards and choose the one you want. On registering with this website you have the opportunity to purchase at any time the phone card of you choice. It takes just a few minutes to receive it in your email. Finally, the icing on the cake is that you purchase these phone cards at a minimum 10% off the RRP. Saving even more on you international phone calls. A few days ago I bought a $55 phone card and paid $44.95 only for it.
Contributed by Paul, Strathpine, May 8th 2005
Contributed by Paul, Strathpine, May 8th 2005
Oz Prepaid Cards
I just read one of the other member's suggestions about saving money using calling cards. Actually there is another site, which is selling more variety of cards and gives more discount on the price. I use their service already and it really saves me money in calling overseas. Here's the website address : http://www.OzPrepaidCards.com.au
Contributed by Daniel, Sydney, April 17th 2005
Contributed by Daniel, Sydney, April 17th 2005
Cheapcard Phone Cards
I save a lot of money on my calling card and mobile phone bills because I buy online from www.cheapcard.com.au. I need to call overseas on a regular basis and the cheapest way is to use a calling card where I pay local fee for telephone and 1/2 cent per minute to call overseas. Cheapcard gives a lot of discount. I get my $50.00 cards for only $37.50.
Contributed by Yusnianti, Maroubra, April 26th 2005
Contributed by Yusnianti, Maroubra, April 26th 2005
Super-Saver Phone Cards
A fantastic way to save money on phone calls! A supersaver card-available from Coles Supermarkets. I use this mainly to call the USA, although you can call nearly every country! Call costs vary from country to country, although to give you an idea: USA 0.029 cents/min UK 0.025 cents/min Italy 0.035 cents/min NZ 0.039 cents/min Costs you a local call to connect. A $20 card lasts me months! Local and STD calls can be made to. Find out more at www.supersaver.com.au
Contributed by Nancy, Horn Island, March 10th 2005
Contributed by Nancy, Horn Island, March 10th 2005
Saving on International Phone Calls
I would like to share to all of you how to save money on phone bill. I used to call to overseas quite often almost 2-3times a week. And I used Telstra service before. It cost me quite expensive to call to overseas so I can't really talk very long. But recently, my friend tell me about this website: http://www.OzPrepaidCards.com.au where you can search for the cheapest Prepaid Calling card rate to call to overseas and you can get the PIN instantly in your email after you activate your membership. Then I try to buy one, I try it, i was very surprised that the rate is very cheap. I can talk very long right now, and don't have to worry about my phone bill. They even got a discounted price, which makes me save more money now.
Contributed by Teddy, Sydney, February 4th 2005
Contributed by Teddy, Sydney, February 4th 2005
Save Money on Phone Bills
I was forever stressing about my phone bill. Before I had even made a phone call I was paying line rental, caller info display and message bank up to a total of $37, then with the phone call costs on top of that, my bill was usually around $150 per month. I decided enough was enough. I researched on the Internet for cheaper deals; found this one the best and transferred. Its called Telstra Prepaid Homeline. I buy a $30 Home prepaid call card each month. They charge only $13 dollar line rental every month, this is now all I pay a month, I even have my dial up Internet connected to it - what a savings! The difference is when you make a call you have to put a pin number in first, then the number you want to call, so I find you think before you use the phone, also you cannot call 1900 numbers from your phone or international calls, which is fine. Just buy a cheap call card for overseas calls; this alone saves you a bundle too. All in all it's the best thing I have done in a long time. A clear drop from $150 phone costs to $30 a month, hurray!
Contributed by Joanie, Lugarno, August 12th 2006
Contributed by Joanie, Lugarno, August 12th 2006
International Phone Calls
I saved 91% on the cost of calls overseas by buying and using a prepaid calling card from the newsagent. We were being charged 17 cents/min by our phone carrier for calls to Canada- I can call using the phone card (Anytime is the name of the one I buy) for 2 and a half cents a minute. There are no restrictions on when you call. It means I can call more often and budget as well as I spend only a set amount to buy the card and each time I call the automated system tells me the total remaining-- I used to spend about $40 plus per month- now a $10 card will last me 2-3 months!
Contributed by Kathleen, Blaxland, September 7th 2006
Contributed by Kathleen, Blaxland, September 7th 2006
No More Phone Bills
I've had a Home Pre Paid phone now for over 6 months and I've saved so much money! My rental fee is only $12.00 per month and each call is only 20 cents! I pay roughly $30.00 per month now and that's all. It's great for houses with children too as you have too enter an account number and a pin number.
Contributed by Cheryl, Colac, December 15, 2005
Contributed by Cheryl, Colac, December 15, 2005
Do a Phone-Rate Check.
Do a phone-rate check. Use phone cards for international calls - available at service stations, newsagents, 7-11 type stores. Can be much cheaper than a standard rate on your home phone. Contributed by Sally, Queensland, 6 November, 2004
The Long Distance Maze
It's not easy to compare long-distance calling rates, plans and services intelligently. Never forget the best way to reduce a long-distance bill is to not pick up the phone in the first place.
Phone Cards
My husband is from England and all his family are still there so most of our phone bill was made up of International calls, until I discovered phone cards at the newsagent. I bought a $20 'Click' card and it lasted 4 months. The call costs are 2.5 cents per minute, with no connection fee. Our phone bill has been cut by around $20-$30 per month! There is a huge choice in cards. Most newsagents have a stand with all the brochures so you need to flick through to find the best deal for the country you are calling.
Contributed by Megan, Sydney, 25 May 2004
Contributed by Megan, Sydney, 25 May 2004