How to Save Money on Your Cell Phone Plan
Here’s a guest blog post from Taqi at iUndergrad. It’s a strategy on how to save money on your cell phone bills using Petro Canada mobility. Make sure to check out the links below, and check out what people have discussed on RedFlagDeals before trying this out. This is often a great place to check out ways to get cheap retention plans as well, with Rogers, Fido etc. Stay tuned for another blog post about retention plans.
Note: I have not tried this out personally.
Thanks again Taqi for the guest post.
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Hey thanks for letting me write here. CSC has given me some great food ideas and has no doubt helped me save quite a bit of money. I’m glad to give something back.
Hey thanks for letting me write here. CSC has given me some great food ideas and has no doubt helped me save quite a bit of money. I’m glad to give something back.
To the reader: Hi, my name is Taqi and I go to school in Hamilton at McMaster University. I also write for iUndergrad
I’ve been in a terrible cell phone contract for the past 3 years, and just recently I came across a nifty way to cut my bill in half (and later cut it down even more to just a third). Here’s how I did it…
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First up, I’d like to mention that this method really only works in Canada. If you live in the states or abroad, then you’re out of luck. Also, I am in no way affiliated with any of the companies or websites mentioned in this post, aside from my aforementioned blog.
Now with the formalities out of the way, let’s get into it.
My 3-year contract was with Rogers and effectively drained my soul. You see, I’ve never been a fan of Rogers. Don’t care for their packages or their pricing. But at the time they were the only ones this side of the border who supported the iPhone 3G.
So after paying close to $60/month for 3 years (data not included), I finally reached the end of the contract in September 2011. Shortly after, I found a plan which allowed me unlimited texting, 100 Canada-wide minutes, and unlimited data for $28/month.
Now this is perfect for me because I’m an avid texter, and really only use the “phone” to call home long-distance, among other trivialities.
Don’t worry if 100 minutes seems to short for you. They also have 200, 300 and unlimited minute plans.
Since then, I’ve cut the data ($8), and today only pay $20/month.
So how did I manage this? Well anyone can get the plan I’m currently on now, but from what I’m aware (and this may have changed since September 2011), only iPhone and Blackberry users can utilize the unlimited data for an extra $8.
The way this works, or rather the way I did it was I took the bus down to the local Petro Canada gas station and got their cheapest prepaid phone. It was $15 plus a mandatory $50 paid towards your plan. I moseyed on over to mobility.petro-canada.ca and activated my phone, and chose the plan.
Next I removed the SIM card and inserted it into my iPhone 3G. This is where I hit a bit of a bump. The $8 addition is really only unlimited mobile browsing, not unlimited data. Here are the solutions I’ve found:
iPhone: http://forums.redflagdeals.com/petro-canada-mobility-internet-browsing-812089/#post10389075
Blackberry: http://forums.crackberry.com/rogers-f73/petro-canada-unlimited-internet-package-successfully-tethered-windows-640707/
Note: Can’t speak for BB, but the iPhone does NOT need to be jailbroken for this to work.
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So that’s it! Step-by-step guide how you can get a cheap no-contract cell plan (and a backup phone) for super cheap.
If you enjoyed this post, and would like to learn more ways to get ahead (in all respects) while in school, check out College Life: iUndergrad. iUndergrad is the blog where I share insanely long posts dedicated to ensure that YOU get the collegeexperience of your dreams.
Cheers,
Taqi
