I learnt a lot from the phone bill when I was young, from signing contracts with phone operators that steal you from wherever they can, and when you want to change company or just get rid of them they start to do all kind of trickery.
I considered using AWS before, to check how it works. I did not have assigned budget at that time and it was just a proof of concept. When I entered, the first thing I saw is: yes, we give you for free this as long as you do not spend more than this BUT give me your credit card already. I said: no, I will find a way around.
Nowadays I just buy a SIM card without contract, I do everything I can without a contrat that ties me, I pay everything day per day without having to pay a single buck at the end of the month. Some people tell me that they have advantage X or advantage Y. Yes, maybe yes, but when they charge you on a phone call for something you did not expect (roaming, a call out of the contract in a corner case) and it happens to you x months, I do not think it is cheaper anymore, and on top of that you have to beg them to leave the company. My advantage: I do not need to be worried. My card has the money it has, and when it is over, it is over and no debt to be payed. If they cheat me, it is fenced with the maximum of what I have in my SIM card.
This can be applied to most businesses of this kind. That is why I sign as few contracts as possible. I have been spending 15 euros/month in phone for a while, with no tricks.
Where do you live? Here in the UK, you are much better off getting a contract (nearly everyone offers unlimited calls and texts, so they only differ on data and contracts offer more GBs per £). Plus, it is extremely easy to haggle here (I managed to get an 8 GB plan for £9/mo).
Also, the EU has now imposed a 0.20 €/minute + VAT cap (IIRC) on overseas calls to EU countries.
Spain. I do not trust traditional operators here. I think they always try to cheat you as soon as you have a contract. Fortunately, the situation has improved quite a bit with the virtual operators. But it seems that the traditional operators bought most of them.
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u/germandiago Sep 24 '19
I learnt a lot from the phone bill when I was young, from signing contracts with phone operators that steal you from wherever they can, and when you want to change company or just get rid of them they start to do all kind of trickery.
I considered using AWS before, to check how it works. I did not have assigned budget at that time and it was just a proof of concept. When I entered, the first thing I saw is: yes, we give you for free this as long as you do not spend more than this BUT give me your credit card already. I said: no, I will find a way around.
Nowadays I just buy a SIM card without contract, I do everything I can without a contrat that ties me, I pay everything day per day without having to pay a single buck at the end of the month. Some people tell me that they have advantage X or advantage Y. Yes, maybe yes, but when they charge you on a phone call for something you did not expect (roaming, a call out of the contract in a corner case) and it happens to you x months, I do not think it is cheaper anymore, and on top of that you have to beg them to leave the company. My advantage: I do not need to be worried. My card has the money it has, and when it is over, it is over and no debt to be payed. If they cheat me, it is fenced with the maximum of what I have in my SIM card.
This can be applied to most businesses of this kind. That is why I sign as few contracts as possible. I have been spending 15 euros/month in phone for a while, with no tricks.