There’s no doubt but that the Irish love to talk. With our mobile phone usage one of the highest in Europe per head of population, our phones are certainly an area where many of us can afford to make savings.
Callcosts.ie: If you’re looking for ways to cut money on your mobile phone bill, callcosts.ie is your new favourite website. A comparison site set up by ComReg, it will help you figure out which provider offers the best value package for your level of usage. Saving you the hassle of shopping around, you simply answer a few questions regarding your phone habits, et voila, a list of your options is returned. Now all you have to do is follow up on the advice to make those savings!
Text for free: With almost 25million text messages sent every day (ComReg 2008) there’s no doubting that we Irish also love to text. At typically 10cent a text, do you ever stop to think how much sending those cupla focal is costing you? Apart from checking out callcosts.ie to make sure you are on the most appropriate package (see above), you can use the internet again to cut your communication costs. Simply log on to your mobile provider’s website, register and start sending ‘web texts’. Most providers offer 300 FREE text messages a month saving you up to €30 a month. Not convenient for every occasion, but when you can, it’s an easy way to mind your few cents.
Recycle your old phones for cash: Many of you have old mobile phones lying around at home and may not be aware that they can be recycled, not only doing the environment a favour but also putting a few euro back in your pocket or raising money for charity.
Website www.envirofone.com offers competitive rates for your old phones, whether working or not. Higher spec models will command higher prices. Recycling my Samsung L760 for example would return €34.59 back in to my bank account.
Alternatively, you could log on to www.jackandjill.ie or freepost phones to The Jack & Jill Appeal, Freepost, Ratoath Road, Finglas, Dublin 11. They will be delighted to receive your donation.
Don’t use your phone when driving: Be careful you don’t get caught out by this one. The Road Traffic Act 2006 introduced the new offence of holding a mobile phone when driving a vehicle in a public place. If caught, a fixed charge offence of €60 will apply along with two penalty points on your licence. A conviction in court will cost you up to €2,000 and four penalty points on your licence. With statistics showing people who use mobile phones are four times more likely to have a crash, it’s better for your pocket and your health to invest in a hands free kit!
Subscription services: Lured by catchy ringtones, easy entrance competitions and quirky applications, many Irish people have unwittingly subscribed to premium subscription services. Instead of being a once-off transaction, subscription services can deduct up to €10 a day from your account. Ignore any advertising for ringtones, wallpapers, etc and if you have children, make sure you warn them about using these scams. If you have subscribed and would like to stop be sure to hit the reply button on your mobile and text the word STOP. Your subscription should be cancelled within 48 hours. See the RegTel website for more.
Free calls for iPhone users: Lucky owners of iPhones can make free phone calls using a Skype application. Offering the same Skype service as on computers, phone calls are free between other Skype users and are less than normal network rates for calls to other landlines and mobiles. Unfortunately VOIP connections are not always perfect, but it’s a small price to pay for the privlage!
Useful sites:
www.callcosts.ie
www.regtel.ie
Tags: mobile phones, money saving tips
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I’m single and like to chat to my friends quite a bit in the evenings, most of whom don’t seem to have landlines anymore, just mobiles. I tend to ring them from my landline and my last phone bill was EIR 180!! I was so shocked that I decided to shop around for a cheaper landline.
I went onto Call Costs.ie to evaluate a cheaper alternative and put in an estimate of my current usage. A list of estimated costs from suppliers was returned to me. I was surprised that I had never heard of some of the alternative providers, also Perlico whom I believe is quite cheap did not seem to show up on the list at all.
Does anyone know, does Call Costs display costs from all suppliers in Ireland? Also, as the costs and packages vary from supplier to supplier, can anyone recommend a good supplier / package for a typical single girl, who tends to chat quite a bit in the evenings?
Hi Emma, for chat in the evenings I would definitely be looking at Skype on the PC.
One other little thing on the iPhone, I always recall a few years ago reading an interview with a guy who was offering mobile Internet.
He said the problem with mobile Internet was the perception that it was dear.
So when I was signing up for the iPhone, I asked him about mobile browsing. To my surprise, he said you get 1GB free.
I’m no techy, but I know enough that as long as you stay away from YouTube and music and stick to your blogs you’re on a freebie.
Plus I had previously using Internet cafes, which can be dear. I nice suprising few bob saved.
Emma,
I have a similar problem. However, I got the Bill Pay Max plan with Meteor. It is €85 and is inclusive of all calls and texts, plus you get 1GB of data. You can call your friends from anywhere then and not have to worry about varying bills!
Enjoy!!