1: Know What You Want: What is most important to you? Data? Minutes or texts? International Calls? Know exactly what you want and go after the deals that suit you. Try a comparison site like https://www.whistleout.com.au/MobilePhones/ and see just how much cheaper you could get what you already have – or better.  If you have Wi-fi at home, you could get low data and unlimited calls and texts from as little as $15pm. Shop around.

2: Stay away from long-term contracts: These can be traps, even if you can afford it right now. Try to BYO phone if you can, or buy your phone outright by either saving up or using a No-Interest-Loan scheme if you have a concession card. Try to get a month-to-month or pre-paid agreement so you can try out several different services without penalty if it turns out they’re not right for you. If you’re having a tight month, you can then reduce or exit your service without massive broken contracts penalties.

3: Know your phone’s protections: Many phones have a section under ‘Settings’ or ‘Data’ where you can not only track your data usage to-the-second but can also tell your phone which apps may or may not use your data and which can only use wi-fi. Some phones also let you generate your own warnings when you’re close to using all your data and auto-stop you when you do.

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