Tips On How To Choose The Best Deal That Meets Your Needs.

By Richard Akin .

In the previous post I highlighted the questions that you should be asking yourself before signing up for a mobile phone contract. This also included a brief checklist. Using the checklist which I have provided will ensure that you are one step to getting a good mobile phone deal and not paying over the odds. There are many amazing deals which can be found online from impartial mobile phone suppliers.

Now lets look at the questions individually and the reason why you can save money by knowing the answers to the questions

* The maximum you are willing to pay for a contract.  As we know the duration of contracts vary depending on networks, it can be between 12 - 24 months depending on the kind of arrangement you have with them. Some contracts may be even longer

Determining how much you can afford to pay for a contract enables you to budget and also minimizes the possibilities of defaulted payments, which some operators do not take kindly to at all. Defaulting a payment can result in additional charges being imposed by the network operators. Taking into consideration that you are entering into a legally binding contract with the network, this means you will have to meet your due payments.

Its is a good idea to calculate the monthly line rental and multiply it by the number of months which the contract runs for. This provides an estimate of the cost of the line rental for the duration of the contract, considering that you stick to the same price plan throughout. This calculation does not take call charges into account, (this will be discussed separately including methods to cut call cost). If it seems high and you feel that you might not be able to meet your obligation, it is time to rethink.

You may want to consider a cheaper line rental or opt for a prepayment phone, which I will be discussing about very soon. I hope this post has been able to provide you with valuable information. Please look out for the continuation and feel free to forward any of the posts to anyone you believe will benefit from reading it.

 * The number of free minutes / text or both that the contract offers.
This is another important aspect that needs to be looked into, the number of free minutes or text varies from network to network. The offers come in various forms such as. The free airtime can be restricted to calling your own network, or cross network, which means you are allowed to call specified networks, it can also apply to a specific period of the day or can be anytime of the day. The flexibility varies. Please ensure you read the small print to find out if some networks may be excluded.

Here is a list of the most common free airtime .

* Anytime any network.
This offers free calls to any other mobile phone networks as long as you stick within your free airtime you will not incur a charge. Ensure that you read the print to find out what the exclusions are.

*Off peak cross network.
This contract offers free calls during the evening to other mobile phone networks without a charge as long as you stick within your free minutes

*Local free evening calls.
This offers free evening calls to land-line numbers within the UK or as stated by the network operator.

* National free evening calls.
This offers free evening national calls to landline numbers as long as you stick within your free airtime allowance.

* Inclusive text.
This may vary it can be restricted to the same number or cross network. The number of free texts also varies from contract to contract.
If you have owned a mobile phone before, the best way forward will be to have a look at how many minutes you use a month or how many text you send a month, analyse the findings and that will give a rough idea of how many text V free minutes meets your needs.

Choosing a price plan that offers the right amount of text and free minutes at the right price ends up saving you money as you might be able to stick within the free airtime and text and not incur a charge.

If you are going to be calling other networks then you are better off on a contract that offers free airtime to other network operators, and also if you will be using your phone anytime of the day consider a phone that offers this facility of free airtime any time of the day to any network / or same network, this also depends on whether you will be calling other / same network. If you text a lot then you might also want to take that into consideration whilst selecting your contract.

Another question which you need to be asking yourself is whether you would be using the phone during peak hours (network specified day time) or off peak hours. (network specified evening/ night time). These hours vary from network and depending on the country you are based. Determining this will ensure that you select a suitable contract which will save you money. If you intend on using your phone during the day, you are better off with a contract which offers free day time minutes / cheaper day time rates.

On the other hand if you are intending on using your phone in the evening a suitable tariff will be one with free evening airtime or cheaper off peak minutes.

There are other tariffs available for individuals who intend on making a mixture of both evening and day time calls. These kinds of price plans offer you the facility to make calls anytime of the day without incurring a charge as long as you stick within your free minutes allowance and other guidelines. (ensure that you are aware of any restrictions by the network). I hope this information has been of great help to my readers and look out for the next post which will reveal the secrets on how to ensure that you never get a huge cellphone / mobile phone bill.