The Lemon Fool

I appreciate they're not PAYG deals. The problem is the vast majority of a mobile phone networks costs are fixed rather than variable, so they're nudging/pushing/forcing the customer base in that direction.

I'm depressed. I have spent too much money on phone calls this year.

On 6th February 2021, I topped up my O2 PAYG phone with £10.00. Today I was down to £0.44 balance and had to put an extra £10.00 on it, which I hadn't expected to become necessary until about March 2022.

I know what caused this profligacy - I accidentally left the data switched on for a few days, so where I'd normally only check bus times, or make WhatsApp Messenger calls etc. using free wifi, I slipped up and spent real money instead of greedily sucking up free wi-fi wherever I went. I was sooo annoyed!

New Years' resolution - must stop being a spendthrift!

Giffgaff
Unlimited call and texts 1GB data £6
https://www.giffgaff.com/sim-only-deals

I was with them until Plusnet did better

Unlimited call and texts 4GB data £6
or 6GB if you have their broadband
https://www.plus.net/mobile/sim-only-30-days

Giffgaff goody bags only last a month, so the last eleven months would have cost me £66.00 with them. My £10 O2 top-up in February has lasted till now, a saving of £56.00.

Giffgaff calls - 25p/min : with O2's classic tariff I pay 3p/min
Giffgaff texts - 10p each: with O2's classic tariff I pay 2p each
Giffgaff data - 10p/mB : with O2's classic tariff I pay 1p/mB

I'm just miffed that I didn't get a year of usage out of my £10.00 on O2! I tried so hard to only make VOIP video calls or voice calls, but it was accidentally de-restricting apps from only working over wi-fi that ate up my credit.

CliffEdge wrote:

JohnB wrote:1pmobile are changing their minimum usage model from a £10 topup every 120 days to £2.50 usage per month. This is clearly a disadvantage for users with variable usage, as low usage one month does not compensate for high the next. Still, I can't see anyone offering less than £2.50 a month at the moment.

I got the email from them but didn't understand it. I paid £30 for a year's usage. Not sure what happens after October.

Be a pain to find an alternative but might have to.

Well, I got the email this morning - as I hadn't used £2.50 of calls/texts in the last month they deducted 79p from my balance to bring my monthly bill to £2.50. So now the "average" £2.50/month has become a minimum £2.50/month. Still about the cheapest I could find out there.

I also have mum's mobile now which is with Sky, as we added it to MrsF's plan as a second SIM we got unlimited calls and texts, plus 2Gb of data, for £3.50/month for 12 months (so not PAYG).

Me again!
I found an O2 offer that apparently said if you download their app, they'll give you GBP5.00.
I had an old 3-2-1 sim lying around, so tried to do it, but couldn't get the sim to work, I assume because it either hadn't been activated, or had been deactivated for not making a chargeable item within 6 months.

On an old MSE thread, I saw, "I’d treat these as if they are ‘new old stock’. O2 are no longer issuing them and the resellers will not be getting any more stock. Once the existing supplies are gone, that will be that. For 20p, if anyone has got the slightest interest in them, order one now before they're gone."

Just for curiosity, I looked to see if O2 sims were still available on Ebay, and they are.

I picked a random seller, and emailed asking if their sims could still be activated, and got the following email reply:

Hi yes mine can still be activated on the 321 classic tariff they have activate by date of jan 2023

to get the classic tariff when you receive the sim put in your phone this will activate the sim card

you can then topup and your ready to go you must activate the sim before topping up no matter what

method you use to add credit i also do this sim on special offer you get 2 classics for 20p for the offer

type in ebay search 323873641211

it will take you straight to advert my next post is monday"

Sure enough, have splashed out in case it all works OK. Two sims now purchased for the grand sum of 20p total (including postage). If its possible to get £5.00 credit for downloading the MyO2 app, then that could cover putting credit on each of them, I guess registering the app in different family members' names and with different email addresses.

https://www.o2.co.uk/shop/sim-cards/pay-as-you-go"
How do I claim my £5 free O2 credit for using My O2? "
Firstly, order your free sim. Once you’ve received your free sim, download the My O2 app and register your details. Your free O2 credit will be applied within 5 working days following your My O2 registration and verification of offer eligibility.
Will update...

Well, this follow-up message isn't to do with the £5 credit I was mentioning recently, it's regarding the O2 Classic tariff itself.

To recap, this offered UK calls @ 3p/minute, 2p/text and 1p/MB for data, but O2 no longer allow people to switch over to the tariff.

I bought two more Classic sims with an activation expiry date of 2023 from an Ebay vendor and put one in a spare phone.
Activated it, topped up £10.00 and happy days! It's running on the O2 Classic 3-2-1 tariff.

If anyone wants to make use of this, type in Ebay search "323873641211" and you should find the offer.
No connection with the seller, except a very contented purchaser.

If I remember correctly, I had discussions on the O2 user forum a year or so back, because O2 said you had to top-up every 6 months, but it transpired it was actually, "make a chargeable call every 6 months..."

NomoneyNohoney wrote:Sure enough, have splashed out in case it all works OK. Two sims now purchased for the grand sum of 20p total (including postage). If its possible to get £5.00 credit for downloading the MyO2 app, then that could cover putting credit on each of them, I guess registering the app in different family members' names and with different email addresses.

https://www.o2.co.uk/shop/sim-cards/pay-as-you-go"
How do I claim my £5 free O2 credit for using My O2? "
Firstly, order your free sim. Once you’ve received your free sim, download the My O2 app and register your details. Your free O2 credit will be applied within 5 working days following your My O2 registration and verification of offer eligibility.
Will update...

It's worth noting that according to the T&Cs here:

https://www.o2.co.uk/termsandconditions ... y-o2-users

To participate, Eligible Customers must go online to o2.co.uk, to register for a My O2 account for the first time. App registration is excluded.

which seems at odds with: Once you’ve received your free sim, download the My O2 app and register your details.

Considering this thread goes back for over two and a half years, would it not be nice if someone in the know did a summary or listed the 'best money saving bits'?

Regards,
ep

Regarding pure PAYG, I think the following is pretty accurate, but just use it for a guideline and check with each operator's website if you want to be sure.

Validity 11th March 2022

1pmobile does not have a internet/day charge, and they now have a minimum usage of £2.50 a month rather than requiring a £10 top up every 4 months. The difference is that you can't have underspend months offset against overspend ones.

JohnB wrote:1pmobile does not have a internet/day charge, and they now have a minimum usage of £2.50 a month rather than requiring a £10 top up every 4 months.

AFAIK that depends on whether you joined before or after 1st Jan 2021, see here:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/ ... 2-50-ever/

I'm so sorry, I have slightly misled readers. In my table, I put "internet cost per day." That isn't mandatory, it's purely indicative, based on presumed 10mB/day data usage.

Stompa said

To participate, Eligible Customers must go online to o2.co.uk, to register for a My O2 account for the first time. App registration is excluded.
which seems at odds with: Once you’ve received your free sim, download the My O2 app and register your details.

I mentioned that I had bought two 3-2-1 Classic PAYG O2 sims for 20p incl. postage from Ebay.
I used a different email address and a spare unlocked phone to activate the first sim, then downloaded the O2 app to that phone, and now, a week or so later, my credit has automatically risen by an extra £5.00. That's what worked for me. "Every little bit helps," to borrow a phrase.

Banging on again about the same subject of the O2 Classic 3-2-1 tariff ( are you bored yet?) we have mislaid a phone with the PAYG card in, so I activated the last Classic sim card that I bought back in March on a spare phone. Activated it on 11th June, put £10.00 credit on it and then downloaded the MyO2 app. A few days later received a bonus £5.00 for loading the app, so now have £15 credit total and the tariff is again 3p/minute, 2p a text and 1p/MB..

What's wrong with that? Look back further in this thread to see where on Ebay I bought the sims from, if you're interested enough.

JohnB wrote:1pmobile does not have a internet/day charge, and they now have a minimum usage of £2.50 a month rather than requiring a £10 top up every 4 months. The difference is that you can't have underspend months offset against overspend ones.

Just moved my wife's phone over from Three PAYG. They upped their rates from 3p/minute to 10p/minute and now 35p/minute... ouch.
She's now with 1p mobile who now have a new tariff called 'talker'. £36 for the year with unlimited calls and texts, and 250Mb data each month. Not bad for £3/month. She doesn't use a smartphone so data is not an issue.

RWG now have 100 mins, 100 SMS, 750MB data per month, for a one-off payment of £15 (which remains as credit on your account).

https://www.rwgmobile.wales/webshop/pay ... 50mb-data/

NomoneyNohoney wrote:Banging on again about the same subject of the O2 Classic 3-2-1 tariff ( are you bored yet?) we have mislaid a phone with the PAYG card in, so I activated the last Classic sim card that I bought back in March on a spare phone. Activated it on 11th June, put £10.00 credit on it and then downloaded the MyO2 app. A few days later received a bonus £5.00 for loading the app, so now have £15 credit total and the tariff is again 3p/minute, 2p a text and 1p/MB..

What's wrong with that? Look back further in this thread to see where on Ebay I bought the sims from, if you're interested enough.

If I get one of these sims can I change the phone number to my current mobile phone number?

smokey01 wrote:If I get one of these sims can I change the phone number to my current mobile phone number?

Yes ask your current provider for the PAC code and give that to the the new one

Just as a heads-up, the latest email from MoneySavingExpert warns that, "Asda Mobile pay-as-you-go (PAYG) customers will be charged more for calls, texts and data from 26 September, when the provider will hike prices by at least 150%...

From 26 September, prices will increase as follows:

Calls will cost 15p/minute (up from 4p/minute). However, it'll become free to call voicemail (currently 4p/minute).
Texts will cost 10p each (up from 4p each).
Data will cost 10p/MB (up from 4p/MB)."