Pay monthly phones at university...

Hello people!

I'm hoping to start university in September, and my phone has just completely broken! This leaves me with a dilemma; should I fork out for another pay as you go phone, which will not be a very reliable one (e.g. a cheap Blackberry) or go onto a 24 month contract? (E.g. Samsung Galaxy S3). I'm currently thinking of getting a contract which costs £22 p/m and includes 300 mins and unlimited texts.
I will be studying midwifery in London, therefore will get the bursary as well as a student loan and maintenance loan.

Is £22 too much money to be spending on a mobile phone contract whilst at university? I really have no idea of how much money I will have each month and don't want to get the contract out and not be able to comfortably afford it, but at the same time I don't want to miss out on a really good deal!

Please help, and advice from current students would be very helpful!

howeebee :smile:

Reply 1

Tiger Rag

Have you worked out how much you actually use? When I got my current contract, I went into Phones4U and spoke to an adviser. I said this is what I use and this is what I need from a phone.

You can pick up some decent cheap phones on PAYG now. And there are some really good deals out there too.

Reply 2

Baines_22

As long as you have the money already which I assume you do seeing as you were considering getting this and you can remember to claim the cashback, every 3 months from the 6 month then go with this

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/mobile-phones/brands/samsung/galaxy-s3/

Reply 3

howeebee

Original post by OU Student

It's irrelevant how much I use now, cos I'm gonna be away from home so I will be contacting family more. I don't really want a cheap phone because they're usually unreliable and don't do what I would like them to. /:

thanks for your advice :smile:

Reply 4

Sami'

Thought about using a sim only deal, then buying a phone?

Can work out cheaper and not tied into a 2 year contract

Reply 5

Aleeece123

Regardless of you potentially using your phone more to contact home, how much you use your phone at the moment is still important. There are plenty of other, cheaper ways to keep in contact with your family, eg skype, getting them to call you etc, and you don't want to get yourself stuck with a long, expensive contract that you may end up barely using, and barely able to afford. I'm not the best person to give you advice on getting a contract, as I currently use about £10-£15 per term on a payg phone, but as a student I'd be wary about committing to spending that much, just on the basis of it supposedly being a "good deal", rather than how much you'd use it.

Reply 6

boba

How do you not know how much money you will have? If you should be starting uni in September you should have your student finance information by now. Sit down and work out how much money you will have, if you don't know which accommodation you will get budget for the most expensive likely option. Noone here can tell you if you can afford that you are the only one who can work it out.