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I got a new phone number a few months ago which brought problems as I had to change a lot of 2FA authorities and the number needed to be updated in all the various places who have it like banks, taxation department and government agencies generally, health, technology and insurance providers and more; it took a while and was annoying. I had to change my number with friends and family as well, some whom didn't actually believe I was me, annoying in itself. I still had (have) my old number and a phone for that SIM card which made things a lot easier though.
I'm still paying for it, still find a need for it because every now and then something I've forgotten about and haven't changed pops up there. I'm actually keen to retain it for a while to be honest, but not so keen on paying for it.
I have three SIM's all bundled on a business account which makes them all cheaper.
One is my main phone, (the new number), the second is the old number (in a new cheaper phone), and the third is a SIM in a USB dongle-thing which connects a solar array to the internet at one of my properties at which I do not live (so it has no internet connection hence the SIM) - it reports on the solar collection and electricity usage at that property and I don't want to lose that functionality. The three cost me $137 Australian dollars a month, $1,644 a year, and I decided to see if I could reduce that without losing usability.
As it turns out I was able to do so by putting my old (nearly redundant) number on a prepaid plan (within the same business bundle) that now costs just $74 a year instead of the $52 a month I was paying - $52x12 is $624 so with it only costing $74 annually now I'm $550 a year better off; that's not bad right?
As for the plan itself, that pre paid plan for $74 gives 220 minutes of calls and 220 texts a year...I'll use none of that though because I don't use that phone for outbound calls or texts. The plan needs to be renewed every 12 months and I have that on auto-renewal so I'll not have to think about it and just like that I'm $550 better off a year and have lost no functionality at all. Eventually I'll get rid of that second phone number altogether but for now it suits me to have it and for $74 a year I reckon I've had a pretty good win.
What does $550 buy me?
- 2 tanks of diesel for my truck
- 4-5 Friday night dinners with my girlfriend
- 7.4 years of paying the $74 pre-paid SIM
- 3.4 months of my payTV service
- 1.25 weeks of grocery shopping
I think you get the idea, it's $550 I wouldn't have had and turning it into something tangible makes the effort to save it well worth it. I usually look at my outgoings to see where I could shave a bit off; I'm not obsessive about it but I also don't see the point in giving money away for no good reason.
Have you ever managed to reduce an outgoing expense by shifting things around, getting creative, or simply calling and negotiating a better deal? I think it's important in these financial times to make cost reductions where possible so what are you doing to make that happen? Comment below if you like.
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smart money move
Stupid comment reply
I can understand who's hesitant to belive it's you at first, there are loads of scams pretending it's someone you know, so can't blame them
Man that prices sounds a big theft to me... I currently pay 15€ x month and I have unlimited text, unlimited minutes and unlimited 5g connection... And other operators are cheaper but not so reliable... 74 dollars year are pretty good bargain instead, but how many GB internet it gives you?
I'm like you, not obsessed by cut expenses but if I can improve something it's welcome... For example, ordering medicines online from pharmacy stores (not alibaba ofc) saves you 20-30% average from phisical pharmacy, a product worth 28€ I paid 20€... Cat food too, I can save an other 20% with zooplus... Vegetables from local farm it's an other 20% saved from supermarket
I get unlimited GB of data and can share it amongst the accounts.
I think it's smart to look at ways to save provide those methods don't compromise anything such as health in the example you give. Why spend more when one does not need to right?
Yep, no health compromise, it's exactly the same product, just sold from pharmacy who do e-commerce instead of phisical one, all e-commerce are Italy based (I order from Napoli and it gets shipped here)
Exactly, here we say we don't poop money... Even gasoline, self service costs way less than served which is totally not worth it
Are you still with the same provider? Sometimes now I find I have to change company's to get the best deal.
I'm still with the same, the one that starts with T. I hate th m but the others just don't have the products and coverage I need despite advertising that they do. I'm not into changing, did it once, went to Optus, and it was a dog's breakfast.
Boost use the entire T network, but ... yeah.
After the Optus debacle I'm not willing to change, even were it free and they used fairies to transmit the messages.
I wouldn't use it if they used fae either. They're known not be trustworthy at all, particularly if you've read the Dresden Files series of books. :)
Indeed, tricksy little buggers.
You have three SIMS one user, we have one SIM, three users... 12 euro a month for unlimited this and that...how's that for savings! Anything I don't produce myself such as flour, coffee and honey, I buy in bulk every year or so. We have storage buckets in every nook and cranny.
I figured you'd have a fairly thrifty process going on, you seem the type and I mean that as a compliment.
Phone plans are costly here, people think of Australia as the lucky country but it's very costly to live here and telecommunications is one area that's highly priced.
Dang right we're lucky. Lucky we haven't completely fked it up yet ;)
Well said...but it's heading towards totally fucked up.
Last night booking.com pinged me to say our pre booked hotel for our next holiday was due for payment and they had charged it to my credit card. When I checked the app, the same hotel room and dates had reduced from £452 (just paid) to £388! Luckily we could cancel our booking without any fees, and saved 15% immediately. The only downside was that our original booking included a free airport taxi pick up but the cheaper one didn't as it was under £400. Then I checked my app again after a while, the free airport taxi offers popped up on my account.
That's what I call a double Win!!!
I don't obsess about it but will take the time (mostly) to save some money here and there such as the phone thing I mention. Insurances are another way to go, but they always seem to rise and in not one to skimp on it, use dodgy companies just to save a buck.
Good work on the booking, a reasonable saving. Do you think about the savings in terms of what the funds may buy or do you just think of it as the dollar value?
I found both my car and home insurance have gone down a little this year, which is amazing during these times. I've still shopped around because it means in general the market has reduced and have managed to save a little bit more by staying be with a reputable insurer. The amount wasn't hugh anyway, so there's limited savings.
As to the savings,I generally look at the absolute value and the effort needed to get it. Like I buy a lot of gift cards now at 2 to 5% discount and use it for my grocery shopping. It doesn't sound like an awful lot of savings but it all adds up in the long run. And it's not a lot more hassle when be I pay with gift card instead of credit card.
Lately, our family has had to make some financial adjustments to deal with certain unforeseen issues, and in making those adjustments, we ended up benefiting. That's what good management is all about. That extra money we didn't expect allowed us to invest in comfort.
Good management, that's what it's all about. Sadly, some prefer the no management process which rarely goes well.
Without planning and management, objectives cannot be achieved and the economy could end up in disaster... it is better to draw up strategies.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Blogging/comments/1lc0li0/saved_550_a_year_on_phone_bills/
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Cut costs wherever one can, or make some very rich doing little in return.
Data in our country is super expensive whether phone or computer related, always buy best deal for a year or two contract which has assisted in past.
Actual phone always save up and purchase directly from suppliers, most data companies here sell "special" phone/data deal on contracts, when you look properly are actually expensive.
Sounds like you struck a good deal, although tedious in switching phones, that is everywhere!
Data is expensive here too, I don't know why, maybe because there's fewer people than in the States and Europe, UK etc. Devices are quite costly too. The phone I have now was $2,000 AUD which is ridiculous and I'll not be spending that much again. I don't use my phone enough to warrant it.
Hand me down's from my son to me is how I have been for many years now, he never bought any Apple products as they are over the top expensive.
Invested into fibre line when that arrived, then purchase data there and separate on phone when away from house connection, or when fibre is down. ZAR1k/m which is an expense on it's own.
I'm not into Apple products either although used to be. I got annoyed that I had to keep putting my apple ID in all the time. I'll never have an Apple phone again.
Researched years ago, Apple if you have the money to integrate full system in phone, laptop etc. it may be viable in a country where it is supported. Not something I would touch with a barge pole, too expensive here.
When my wife and I first got together we had a bit of debt that had crept up on us. I was able to get it all consolidated and eliminated in a couple of years. It was a complex process, but I am glad I did it.
It takes some effort and action but how good is that feeling of being debt free!
Many times! It's one of my secret talents to keep a great balance between finding better deals and sticking to the same suppliers. Both things are very important. Just finding better deals is great short term, but here, one has to keep the connection to the local suppliers up and running. Comes the next nationwide strike or whatever emergency, I'll still get the supply I need. So, I only switch supplier when the deal is way, way better and very sustainably so.
And I'm still running on pre-paid. I pay 10,50$ a month for 100min, 4GB data and a lot of other things I never use. I get calls every 2 weeks about new offers for plans, but that was every 2 days before. I guess they figured out that they waste their time on me.
One of my favorites: Check the supermarkets for the in-house-brand, and see what of the other brands actually produces them. I eat a lot of pasta, and the in-house-brand is made by the same company that makes the pasta that costs 30% more. Sometimes, it's worth checking those details.
I remember when life wasn't so complicated and I liked it better when we didn't have phones with us all the time, the internet and all. I wish there was a big EMP and the power went out for the next hundred years!
I like your supermarket thing, we do the same and it's definitely worth doing.
It is ironic that 30 years ago we had way less ways to be connected all the time, but were way better connected.
I agree, I think humans have never been more disconnected to each other than they are now.
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STOPWe have our mobile on Woolies mobile, even though I used to work for their telco wholesaler. Saving 10% off the groceries once a month in store is a no brainer, and we tend to do one big grocery shop a month, which makes the mobile fundamentally free... or, 10% cheaper groceries.
Yep, getting thins aligned like this can work, although there's certainly some that don't...but are presented as being better value.
Here, the operators of television and mobile networks behave very strangely.
For new users, they provide various benefits, while for old users, they revoke privileges: they reduce the number of channels and thus force us to buy what we used to watch for free until yesterday, reduce the number of minutes and GB in the packages, justifying this reduction by inserting into the packages some traffic that we do not need (such as free international calls).
And that's why, before each contract expires, I announce a change of provider and then negotiate with them, what they will give me if I stay. If not, I switch to another one and get benefits there as a new user 🙂
They do the same here, preclude existing customers. It's shit. It seems like you're on the right track with your strategy though.
That's a hefty savings..good job. These days with the jacked up economy it pays to go over services, plans, menus etc. I dislike the need for a phone at all, but dislike depending on strangers even more. You just never know what kind of freaks you may run into anymore. Always been a bit of an issue here, but more so lately lol
Yep, I'm with you T, I don't like having to have a phone with me all the time but there's reasons why I have to, medical monitoring for one. It sucks, I wish mobile phones weren't a thing.
As for the freaks, it's the same here too; the world is nuts.
One of my neighbors still has a landline and no mobile.. I'm slightly jealous
Jeez, the last man standing maybe!
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