Avoid Extra Phone Charges
The moment of truth. That unmistakable snap, clatter shut of the letterbox and the eerily quiet sound of the envelope hitting your door mat… Your phone company’s name beaming smugly from the paper… The trepidation!
Opening your phone bill can be an emotional gauntlet. Normally everything’s going to be absolutely fine and you can expect to pay no more than the monthly rate you agreed with your network provider when you signed your contract. Unfortunately, it’s also quite common for users to find themselves faced with far steeper bills than they might have expected.
The reason is simple. Exceed your agreed mobile usage, and your provider will hit you with a hefty charge. This is definitely not something you need or want in your life. Here are a few handy things to bear in mind if you want to keep your phone bill exactly the way you always liked it:
Is that free internet? – A really important consideration in managing your mobile phone bill, is ‘does your contract include free access to internet?’ Many devices will allow access to the web even if that’s not included in your date plan, so it’s crucially important to find out whether you’re covered before logging on. The same goes for downloading games onto your phone – are you covered to download the data? Spend a small fortune on getting Angry Birds and you’ll find yourself looking even grumpier than the game’s surly projectile protagonists. It’s especially important to make sure you’re paid up to access the net if you’re playing primarily online games through the likes of Jackpot Capital Casino – it’d be a shame to win a fortune on the slots only to realise you’ve gone and spent it all on your phone bill.
Check your texts – Some people would appear to be of the opinion that text messages grow on trees, that they are unlimited across all contract phones. This is most certainly not the case, and whilst many contracts make generous provision for texting, some of us simply can’t resist sending out thousands of the things a month and racking up huge bills in the process. Whether you’re a clingy partner, social butterfly or serial sexter, be sure to choose a contract that offers unlimited texts. Either that or just tone it down a touch.
Call me! – Are you always the one who picks up the phone to make the call? From time to time, it’s totally fine and smart to text a friend those two little words instead of using up your credit: ‘call me’.
To avoiding excessive charges from your voice calls, keep international calls to a minimum, keep tabs on your usage and only call when a text won’t do.
It’s a horrible feeling, being hit with an unexpectedly hefty phone bill. Play your cards right, and you’ll never have to experience it.
