Need Help with a No Frills Mobile Plan

thrillhouse on 04/04/2024 - 20:05
Last edited 03/05/2024 - 12:31

My elderly neighbour - who is not very well off and has little assistance - came to ask me about her mobile plan. Effectively, Optus have put her on a new prepaid plan (Flex Plus?) that seems like pretty terrible value. She's a bit stressed out about it, and needs help to save some money.

Her use case is dead simple, text and calls. She doesn't use data (though I expect every service now comes with some sort of data, and who knows, she may come to enjoy the internet). She would recharge whenever she ran out of minutes, with no expiry period. She purchased these at the shops and recharged over the phone - real old school stuff.

I haven't recharged a service since I was 17 years old, and have been fortunate to have my mobile service subsidised through work, so I'm a bit out of the loop.

To complicate things, she's paying $20 a month for a landline which I told her to get rid of, but she insists she can hear better with it (more on that below).

What is the absolute cheapest, no frills service that has no expiry (or a very long one). Can she port her existing number to a new prepaid SIM? Can we do something about forwarding her landline to her mobile and cancelling that? I was thinking about getting her a plug in headset for her mobile that should improve her ability to hear. Her phone is pretty damn old (fortunately supports 4G, so can keep on trucking), and I doubt takes eSIM, either.

It seems that Coles Mobile yearly SIM is a decent buy at $16.25 a month (and is Optus so I know it'll work here). They also have Australian support apparently (which is great for her as she was going on a slightly racist tirade about the Optus support reps being "too difficult to understand").

But how does it work when the data runs out? Is the whole thing cooked, or can she keep making calls and texts until it expires?

I'm even half tempted to recommend her a month to month cheap plan so she doesn't need to worry about recharging again. The less help she needs with this, the better!

Thanks OzBargainers!

Update: Sorry all for not updating sooner. She ended up getting the yearly Woolworths plan, and my brother had an old Google Pixel I setup for her.
Not out of the woods yet (struggling to get everything moved over to the new phone), but the mobile plan is sorted now.

Thanks again!

Mobile Prepaid Mobile Plan

Comments

  • Mugsy on 04/04/2024 - 20:27
    +1

    If you don't need data, Amaysim has a $60/yr unlimited calls and text plan. You need to sign up on their As You Go plan first and then you will see it in the app/online web management.

    If you need data, I use Kogan mobile's Small plan… $120/yr with 120Gb data. But this is on Vodafone network.

    If you need a plan similarly priced to Kogan's but on Optus, consider Catch Connect or Flip Mobile.

  • jv on 04/04/2024 - 20:28
    +1

    Amaysim

    $60 per year.

    Unlimited calls and texts

    No data

  • jv on 04/04/2024 - 20:30
    +2

    To complicate things, she's paying $20 a month for a landline which I told her to get rid of, but she insists she can hear better with it

    Landlines don't exist anymore. It must be VOIP.

    Crazytel do $5 per year for that, just pay for each call…

  • vince088 on 04/04/2024 - 20:30
    +1

    just helped my mum get https://mobile.everyday.com.au/plans/long-expiry-plans

    $100 for 6 months = $16.66 per month
    $170 for 12 months = $14.16 per month

    and 10% off groceries a month

  • Sweet3st on 04/04/2024 - 20:59

    Vodafone have a 365 day pay and go for $40. Telstra have a 186 day plan for $35. Not much data but calls and text OK. I second CrazyTel, who pays more than pennies for calls these days. Get her both and teach her to call out with CrazyTel.

  • shxhshzhz on 04/04/2024 - 21:05

    Her phone is pretty damn old (fortunately supports 4G, so can keep on trucking)

    you should check if it supports VoLTE. Optus shuts down 3G in September so she may be left confused and without a working number to call with if it doesn't support it.

  • shxhshzhz on 04/04/2024 - 21:09

    if she never needed data before, it's better to get the Catch Connect (which uses Optus as well) $120 60GB per year plan which is on sale for $99 ($8.25 pm, $10pm after the first year) instead of the more expensive Coles plan. Calls and text will continue to work for the rest of the plan period if data is finished on all plans.
    https://catchconnect.com.au/

  • sumyungguy on 05/04/2024 - 00:07

    Flip Mobile $4 per month: 500MB of data, 100 SMS/MMS, 100 minutes for Standard calls (Landlines, Calls To Mobiles, Voicemail & 13 & 1300 numbers in Australia)

  • thrillhouse on 07/04/2024 - 09:40

    Thanks all! I’m going to share with her the Woolworths options to begin.

  • cupcake on 09/04/2024 - 13:38

    Amaysim.
    She can keep her number as well.

  • ThePensioner on 10/04/2024 - 01:29

    My elderly Aunt is in the same situation and needs help! She doesn't use data and only uses her phone for emergencies.

    I tried accessing the Amaysim link, but it seems like the "No data" prepaid plan has been removed???

    Link:
    https://www.amaysim.com.au/sim-plans/12-month-sim-plans/365-…

  • ThePensioner on 10/04/2024 - 07:02

    I did a lot of searching and I just came across this, but I'm not sure if it's good value or not?

    $10 prepaid with 365 day expiry and you pay for everything:

    https://www.amaysim.com.au/sim-plans/28-day-sim-plans/as-you…

    I just found this one as well, but I'm not sure if it's good value or not?

    https://www.aldimobile.com.au/products/payg?variant=36649941…

  • thrillhouse on 03/05/2024 - 12:31

    Sorry all for not updating here. She ended up getting the yearly Woolworths plan, and my brother had an old Google Pixel I setup for her.
    Not out of the woods yet (struggling to get everything moved over to the new phone), but the mobile plan is sorted now.

    Thanks again!

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