Remember back in the day when Please Call Me’s were a necessary evil and each SMS had to be carefully worked so as to fit into a single message?

Most of us have come a long way since then, and whether or not you’re rocking prepaid or contract we can rest easy in the fact that WhatsApp lets us type words out in full.

The debate does still rage though about where you’re getting more bang for your buck in the prepaid versus contract debate, and the team over at Tariffic have delved into this one to put some myths to bed.

They should know too, they’re the guys behind the science of cellular savings.

We’ll use some snippets from their excellent blog (HERE) to delve a little deeper:

Is prepaid really the cheaper option?

With prepaid, you pay for what you use and so you know exactly how much a call, MB of data, and SMS will cost you.

What we know for sure is that certain types of cellphone users are very well suited to contract rather than prepaid. If you’re a high-end user and are on your phone 24/7, then an unlimited post-paid package will work out much cheaper for you than prepaid. Likewise, if you’re someone who only tends to use data (in a 3G dongle, tablet, or router), then it may be beneficial to remain on post-paid as pre-paid data bundles can be more expensive than post-paid data packages.

It’s also important to highlight that the pre-paid option has a lot more time-based deals which can often be advantageous – if you’re willing to invest the time to use these deals properly. For example, unlimited calls for 60 minutes for R5, or X amount of Gigs until midnight. If you try to use these deals, you could end up saving a lot of money! Problem is, usage is on their terms, not yours.

Lastly, calls are GENERALLY cheaper on pre-paid.

So, when would moving to pre-paid be a wise idea?

• If you don’t really need a new phone… but your contract has expired (or, you’re taking one out for the first time); or if you’ve decided to rather buy your new phone through your bank (some banks offer finance plans for new phones)… so you don’t need a phone as part of your cellphone contract.
• If you’re happy to top up each time you run out of airtime … or you’re OK being unable to make calls for a while!
• If you’re concerned about over-spending on your cellphone (which happens to so many people) and would prefer to have a hard limit you can physically control … i.e. you literally can’t spend any more than the airtime you’ve bought.
• If you want the flexibility of having no tie-in to a specific contract and can easily move between networks as and when you need to.

So, when would moving to post-paid be a wise idea?

• If you need to get a new phone with your contract.
• If you travel overseas quite often and need the features of international roaming (it is possible to roam on prepaid, but it is limited).
• If you always need to be able to make calls (its not fun running out of airtime when you have an important call to make).
• If you want to be able to access the complete range of cellphone services including international roaming, data calls, faxing etc.

All that choice is enough to make me cross-eyed, so how do I decide what suits MY specific usage habits then? Here’s where Tariffic really plays out of its boots – their software analyses every call you make, every bit of data you use, and every SMS you send in order to build a model on your unique cellular behaviour.

Check that out HERE – punch in your details and you’re ready to rock.

They’ll then apply this model to every combination of contract and bundle available in the South African market to find you your perfect cellphone. They’re not affiliated with any networks either, so they’ll show you recommendations on every cellular network.

Maybe it’s time you put this one to bed and headed over to Tariffic – you’ll save some serious moola and they’ll make all the tough calls for you.

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