Most mobile phone users don’t pay enough attention to their mobile phone bills, and they waste hundreds or thousands of ringgit on their phone bills that they could easily save.
How can you save money by adjusting your mobile phone plan? It is easy and will just take a few minutes of your time with a little effort. The result? A better, budget-friendly phone bill the following month.
If you sign up for a plan, get an itemised bill and see if you really spend as much as your plan? Do you constantly exceed your data limit, resulting in exorbitant data charges? Check every little details in your statement and start trimming off unnecessary charges from you bill.
These tips are just the tip of the mobile-phone budget iceberg. Keep reading and we’ll show you how to chip away really huge chunks out of this silent money sucker called, your phone.
1. Use chat apps and not SMS
According to the Malaysian Communications & Multimedia Commission (MCMC), Malaysians sent a total of 90 billion SMSes in 2012. This adds up to RM13.5 billion spent on just text messages. However, if everyone changes to a smartphone with a data plan of 1GB a month, which costs about RM576 a year, we could have saved a staggering amount.
90 billion SMSes = 12.6 trillion characters = 11,800 GB
A 1GB data plan at one of the telecommunication companies in Malaysia can cost about RM48 a month, which comes up to RM576 a year.
Instead of spending RM13.5 million, we could have just spend RM576 a year, saving us a whopping RM13,499,424!
2. Subscribe to the same telecommunication provider as your friends and family
Many telecommunication service providers offer free on-network calls or allow you to choose a small group of on-network friends and family that you can call for free. So, change to the same service provider as your friends and family that you frequently call (or get them to change to the one you are using), and you could save big.
Here are some of the family and friends packages offered by the top telecommunication service providers in Malaysia:
3. Go prepaid
If you don’t really use your phone and always ended up paying the minimum payment as per plan on your mobile phone, it is time to re-evaluate. For occasional users, a prepaid plan may be the cheapest service option for you. Shop around, and you could spend as little as RM30 a month on your phone bill. However, do bear in mind that call and SMS rates for prepaid plans are higher than postpaid plans.
4. Choose your mobile phone plan wisely
Pick a plan that matches your talk time and habit. If you use call often during non-peak hours (4pm to 6pm), and send more SMSes, choose a plan that offers discounted rates during non-peak hours and more free SMSes. Examine your phone habits, and then, pick a plan that best matches them.
5. Constantly check your data usage
Data usage exceeding your plan can cost you a bomb. Your telecommunication service provider usually have a code that you can use to check your data usage at any one point. By knowing your usage pattern, you can also choose to downgrade or upgrade your data plan to save money.
If you are overseas, switch off your mobile data roaming. Data usage out of the country is not included in your data plan. And you might just get the shock of your life when you receive your bill the following month.
You can check your data usage regularly by:
6. Get your bills online
This will save the environment and your money. When you go for paperless, most service providers waive a charge of at least RM5. Avoid paying the extra RM5 by opting for an online statement that can be emailed to you.
If you really do observe your mobile habits and what you are paying to the service provider, you will find endless possibilities to trim your mobile phone spending. It’s all about right-sizing your mobile plan according to what you actually use.
