3 reasons why you should switch from prepaid to postpaid

(rawpixel.com pic)

They always say pick a mobile plan that works for you. But they never really explain how to find that one elusive plan, do they?

Well, here it is:

Track your mobile usage: You can do this by going to your phone settings.

Track your cost per month: The expense-tracking app called Money Lover z can track multiple categories, including mobile phone costs.

Why switch from prepaid to postpaid

1. Prepaid plans are now crap – deactivates monthly

Prepaid plans these days are charged monthly. If you don’t re-subscribe to the monthly plan, you can’t use data/make calls/send text messages anymore, despite having a positive balance in your prepaid account.

Previously, if you wanted to save money on your prepaid plan, you could simply reduce your mobile usage and make your balance stretch longer. You could have just RM10 left but still have a six-month to one-year “active” account where you can still use mobile services, albeit sparingly.

However, you can’t do this anymore. If you have a RM10 balance but do not renew the monthly prepaid plan, you can’t use it for anything, not even calls. The account deactivates itself.

2. Many postpaid plans now are non-contractual

Some like the flexibility of a non-contractual plan. You should continually check new mobile plans that come out because telco wars will (almost always) end up with better value-for-money plans for customers.

So now that non-contractual postpaid plans are available and you’re not locked in, you’re free to switch providers if you want to in the future. You can also downgrade/upgrade to other plans from the same provider without much hassle.

3. You use a high amount of data

If you use a small amount of data, like one to two GB a month or so, you can justify sticking to a prepaid plan. There are many providers that offer one or more GB a month absolutely free.

But if you use a lot of data, and it’s emotionally painful to always buy extra data – your provider sells one GB for RM10, valid for three days – but you top up data like five or more times a month.

Plus, you have to be extremely frugal and save data to the point that you avoid visiting certain websites.

At the end of the day, postpaid plans tend to offer the most value for money for higher bundles of data.

How to keep your mobile spending low

1. Find out how much data you need.

2. Find plans that offer the cheapest price. Plus, cash back whenever possible.

This article first appeared in ringgitohringgit.com

Suraya is a corporate writer-for-hire and the blogger behind personal finance website Ringgit Oh Ringgit. She is more of a minimalist, less of a consumerist, a konon DIY enthusiast, a let’s-support-small-businesses-over-big-corporations kinda girl. Prior to her current role, she worked in various capacities within the non-profit industry. - FMT