All too often I hear a tale of one of my mates being stung by a massive contract bill come the end of the month, and asking around it seems I am not alone in this.

I guess that’s why it’s worth examining the benefits of prepaid versus contract (HERE), but if you’ve already chosen the latter then a few tips might be in order.

Airtime is sold in denominations ranging from R2 000 to R2, we kid you not, and if you’re clever about it even the R2 option packs a punch.

Below are some expert tips from the the Mail & Guardian, although we usually like to let someone else do the work:

MTN is the only operator to offer a R2 recharge, said Chenai Chair, a researcher at Research ICT Africa. With just two bucks on your phone you could tap into the network’s Rush Hour product (only one per user per day), which offers you 10 minutes of voice calling. For R1.50 you can load a 10MB data bundle that’s valid for an hour. MTN’s Rush Hour promotion, however, comes to an end on July 31.

Vodacom and Cell C don’t offer R2 recharge bundles, but this amount on either network is equivalent to a megabyte out of bundle, Chair said. Vodacom offers a product where, for R6, you can call five other Vodacom users for 60 minutes. For R8, you can get 60 minutes of internet browsing. Vodacom’s Power Hour, a product that expires on July 3, costs R7 for 60 minutes of talk time between 6am and midnight.

The minimum recharge amount for Vodacom, Telkom Mobile and Cell C is R5. Cell C has introduced cheaper data bundles starting from R11.

Look who’s got a couple more tricks up the sleeve now, right?

Still, given that most of us don’t have time to sift through all the options, why not let someone analyse and monitor your cellphone usage and pick the best option for you specifically?

Happy bargain hunting!

[source:mg]

[imagesource:here]