Now that many of us are budgeting for summer vacations, we will be dreading the arrival of bank balances and credit card statements. Adding up the cost of the annual holidays can be a painful business. With this in mind, we will be looking at ways to tighten our belts. One of the quickest and easiest ways of doing this is to look at our mobile phone expenditure. Not many people realise that there is a really quick way of making huge savings, just by using SIM only deals.
A SIM only deal is essentially a mobile phone contract, but without the mobile phone. – as the name ‘SIM Only’ suggests; you only pay your usage. SIM only is a very competitive market as this recent article suggests so mobile providers are really bending over backwards to offer the lowest costs.
If you’re lucky enough to be near the end of your contract, then getting a SIM only deal really couldn’t be easier. Simply find the very best dealusing a comparison site like Comparisim.
Of course there is always the small matter of cancelling your subscription to your current mobile phone provider. This is something that often needs to be done over the phone,or depending on the provider, may need to be done in writing.
Mobile phone providers will often fight tooth and nail to keep a customer from leaving their network. Often they try and bribe you with ‘Under the Table Offers’ which are essentially better deals than what they advertise publicly.
It’s really up to you to decide whether the Under the Table Offer from your current provider is in fact better than one offered by a competing network. Either way you save cash by taking action.
Mobile Phone Contract Break Down
When you initially take out a mobile phone contract your monthly bill typically accounts for three different elements; Harware (your mobile phone), your agreed usage bundle (minutes, texts data) and any charges for extra services/usage outside of the agreed bundle.
Leaving aside charges for extra usage; monthly tariffsare calculated so that over the duration of your contract, you will pay off both the cost of the hardware and your agreed monthly usage allowance.
With this in mind you might expect that at the end of your mobile contract term you would no longer need to pay the portion of your bill that accounts for the hardware, right? Unfortunately this is not the case as providers are more than happy to keep charging you the full amount because it means more profit for them. Moreover they are legally entitled to do this based on the contract terms and conditions.
Expired Contracts
If you are one of the many people whose contract has already expired or is about to expire then take action by getting on the phone to your provider right away.
You don’t necessarily even need to leave your provider you can just call them to get a SIM only deal.
If your mobile phone contract is already expired you will still need to give your provider about 30 days’ notice of cancelation. If you are coming to the end of a mobile phone contract you can provide this notice no sooner than 30 days before the end date of your existing contract.
Getting the best SIM only deal
The fastest and easiest way of getting the best deal is by using one of the many dedicated SIM only comparison websites.
Before you actually go ahead and place your order, you should call your existing provider and tell them you wish to cancel your current subscription because you have found a great SIM only deal.
If the deal you found is with a competing provider then they will try and beat that deal and if they can then great. But if they can’t then proceed with giving the 30 days’ notice of cancelation and remember to ask for a Pak code.
If you give the Pak code to your new network provider they can use it to transfer your mobile number across to their network hassle-free.