Bought 20 SIM cards - have I outsmarted myself?

GOCAT9 on 25/06/2018 - 16:22

ok, I bought 20, $25 SIM cards for just $10 each (no expiry date). They give me, per month, unlimited everything and 5GB data each.

I was hoping to use a different SIM card per month (to get the $25 of value from it).

The problem appears to be that I will port over to Belong for the first card (no problem here!), but in order to keep my same phone number for the next month with a new SIM card, I cannot port from Belong to Belong, it would have to be a new number and I would lose my original number.

Apparently, the only way to keep my number with every new SIM each month is to port out and then port back in to Belong. But this means I have to buy a non-Belong SIM card every month.

Does anybody know if there is a cheap or better still FREE way around this?

Mobile

Comments

  • No Username on 25/06/2018 - 16:31

    Request a free $2 sim from lyca mobile. Port the number to them then port back out.

    • Scrooge McDuck on 25/06/2018 - 18:24
      +17

      Request a free $2 sim from lyca mobile.
      a free $2 sim
      free $2
      free
      $2

      Hhhhmmm. 🤔

      • No Username on 25/06/2018 - 19:30

        As in the card gets sent to your house for free and if you activate it, you are rewarded with $2 to call anyone.

        • Scrooge McDuck on 25/06/2018 - 19:33

          Are you certain of that?

          If I keep ordering, I could have free phone service for life!

        • No Username on 25/06/2018 - 19:36

          @Scrooge McDuck: I guess. Takes a lot of time and effort though. Future orders may be canceled due to you using the same address.

        • resisting the urge on 26/06/2018 - 20:28

          @Scrooge McDuck: Not exactly. You'd have a lot of phone services each with $2 credit that will expire in 30 days.

          EDIT: Seems (below) there is a way to activate many using different emails, and gift the credits to one, then cancel the empty ones.

          And as soon as you get to 10 services or so, you may have trouble activating them. Activate enough using one identity, and you may attain government attention.

        • nocure on 26/06/2018 - 20:35
          -1

          @resisting the urge:

          I have activated 48 in two years, same accounts, same address, should I be concerned?

        • resisting the urge on 27/06/2018 - 09:48

          @nocure: Legally yes, but not practically

      • DemocracyManifest on 25/06/2018 - 19:31

        I got a shittone for free including pens from a vendor at a uni on a 0 Day! Keep your eyes peeled

        • savingM on 26/06/2018 - 08:43

          They are free at the airport 365 days a year! XD hahahah

    • AustriaBargain on 26/06/2018 - 06:34
      +1

      Sounds pretty inconvenient for $15 savings. and he's stuck with 20 months worth of sims with the one telco, if he positively has to get the value out of them then he's virtually on a 20 month contract already.

      • [Deactivated] on 30/06/2018 - 23:28

        Porting the number in and out would probably leave you with out any service for a few hours each time. Seems like a lot of stuffing around to me.

        Sometimes there is problems with porting and you have to call up from another phone and stuff around more while they fix the problem. Although once you have done it a few times I guess you will know exactly what to say to make it sure it goes smoothly.

        • lgacb08 on 01/07/2018 - 08:26

          Nah, you can use the old sim up until the moment of it being deregistered from provider network then switch to the new sim immediately. The only inconvenience is if the porting taking longer than expected and you might end up with no credit or data on the old sim until the port occur, especially if you choose to port outside normal hours (after 8pm weekday or after 6pm Saturday until Monday) although Ive seen number being ported well after 8pm

          Due to heightened security issues with porting and 2FA identity theft, some providers now give you a few hours delay when there's a porting request.

  • PissLUR on 25/06/2018 - 16:37
    +1

    Belong is a post-paid service. you could have issues.

    • GOCAT9 on 25/06/2018 - 16:38
      -2

      No, it is PRE PAID!

      • PissLUR on 25/06/2018 - 16:42
        +8

        nope. it is not.

        The Belong Team

        11/05/2018 17:50
        Hi PissLUR, Thanks for your query. Belong mobile is a post paid service which means each month we take payment for your plan amount and any add-ons. Should you have further clarification regarding this concern,feel free to respond to this support request. If you have further enquiries regarding Belong Mobile, please visit our Belong Mobile website - you will find a range of frequently asked questions that are really handy. (https://belong.com.au/support/mobile) Regards, The Belong Mobile Team

        • lost in transit on 25/06/2018 - 17:19
          +1

          I've been with Belong for about 6 months or so. The only option was what you have said above…

      • retiredfeline on 25/06/2018 - 17:23
        +1

        Belong states in its CIS that it's a postpaid service. What confuses the issue is that you are prebuying credit with this starter pack. But that fact that you have committed to periodic billing upon activating makes it postpaid.

        • SlickMick on 26/06/2018 - 18:49

          Yeah they tricked me with that one. Lucky it's easy to cancel with them.

      • hmac on 25/06/2018 - 18:51

        belong is definitely postpaid. If you want to port out, you need to open your invoice and get your account number from there

      • savingM on 26/06/2018 - 08:47

        Hey GOCAT9,

        They are free at the airport 365 days a year! XD hahahah

        They are Optus $2 sim kit, Telstra $2 sim kit and Vodafone $2 sim kit free.

        They are kept on the shelf at the Brisbane International Airport at the arrival hall. They get re-shelf on daily basis.

        Pm me if you need more infor. :)

  • payton on 25/06/2018 - 16:38
    +1

    Port into one of those $2 simcards and back again?

    • GOCAT9 on 25/06/2018 - 16:40
      -1

      ok good, is that my cheapest option. (I'm an OZBARGANER!!)

      • spackbace on 25/06/2018 - 16:53
        +3

        OZBARGANER

        You don't need to state this, you're a member on here… (incorrect spelling aside)

        • Scrooge McDuck on 25/06/2018 - 18:26
          +11

          OzBargan is a cheaper imitation.

    • dingdong3000 on 25/06/2018 - 20:27

      Which network(s)? I thought most network need you to topup minimum amount.

  • geek001 on 25/06/2018 - 16:39
    +1

    I did this for an entire year after I accumulated a large number of Telstra $30 sims for really cheap in 2017. I had the same problem as you, but luckily telcos starting giving away their sims for really cheap at the same time, so I would spend one month on Telstra, then port out to Optus for the next month, then back to Telstra for a month, then Kogan for another month, etc.

    $10 sims are easy to come by these days, just watch out for your local supermarket deals.

    • GOCAT9 on 25/06/2018 - 16:41

      Thanks, yes that's where I got mine, COLES, $25 SIM for $10! I understand your solution tho!

  • pantsparty on 25/06/2018 - 16:43
    +8

    Man this sounds like a lot of work. I signed up for the Telstra $59 deal a little while ago which came with a Google Pixel 2 XL. My plan cost works out to $7 a month with 25gb of data once you factor in the money I received from selling the phone and a discount Telstra gave me on the plan (which was well discussed on Ozbargain - wasn't a special deal just for me). Factor in the free Apple music for 6 months and I am pretty close to break even.

    I am all for getting good deals but changing sims every month sounds like a nightmare!

    • subywagon on 25/06/2018 - 18:46

      This sounds interesting. I wouldn't mind doing something similar. How much did you get for the Google Pixel 2 XL if you don't mind me asking? Also where did you sell it?

    • lgacb08 on 01/07/2018 - 11:16

      Where did you pull that magic $7/month from if don't mind me asking? From my calculation it's (59x24-950)/24=19.4 unless you managed something out of ordinary?

      • pantsparty on 02/07/2018 - 09:19

        I am paying $49 a month not $59. Lots of people who got this deal online chatted Telstra and received a $10 a month discount for being "loyal customers" even though this was our only account with them. This brings it down to $9.40 a month - I must have factored the Apple music into my calc too. Either way - what a deal!

  • spackbace on 25/06/2018 - 16:56
    +3

    WARNING, as mentioned before this is a POSTPAID service with no term, the way that it is sold makes it seem like a prepaid service- borderline deceptive in my opinion!! There is no official option to cancel your auto debit without cancelling your service(the PayPal method above seems like the only none official method). And it TAKES 2 DAYS TO PROCESS YOUR REQUEST TO CANCEL YOUR AUTO DEBIT. I ported my number out 12 days ago and they have tried to debit my credit card 11 times since then, with last night being the most recent attempt. Lucky for me I cancelled my credit card a month ago. I wonder how many times and how long they try to debit me after I have ported my number out.

    In the deal post…

    Have fun with that every month or 2

    • apokalypsez on 20/04/2019 - 18:56

      i got trick into belong… confused about porting out, just acivated and ported in from voda today which is 20th april, what next..when port out? i got $20 from join in and $40 sims.

  • nocure on 25/06/2018 - 16:59
    +2

    Just port out to Telstra using the free $2 starter and back in each month. My monthly cost $1

  • jimbobaus on 25/06/2018 - 17:08

    Telstra $2
    Optus $2
    Lyca $2
    Vodafone $2

    All the above sims now require a recharge when activating (in store/online)

    • nocure on 25/06/2018 - 19:52
      +1

      Not Telstra, just ported today, waited for the SIM to be active and ported back to woolies, no recharge required

      • jimbobaus on 26/06/2018 - 02:41

        Nice.. i however was made to recharge.. maybe its the sim pack i bought.
        I was reading somewhere that most carriers are imposing recharge on activation now to prevent people using wifi calling etc without paying for the service.

  • tsunamisurfer on 25/06/2018 - 18:44
    +1

    This represents quite a bit of work per month just to save $15.

    • crentist on 25/06/2018 - 19:02

      it takes about 5 mins online to port between sims, and the port takes a few mins. a little hassle but nothing major

  • crentist on 25/06/2018 - 19:01

    i spent a few years porting between prepaids every month. pretty easy once you get used to it, never paid more than $15 a month, every now and then score a pile of under $5 sims.

    i think its not just belong-belong that causes trouble, but maybe any company on the same network.
    and i ran into an issue where you couldnt port back into the same network within a certain time. so a $2 sim might not work, because youd be going back to belong within 48 hours or whatever the limit was. that one stung me a couple of times, had to go with regular price or not use the phone for a bit.

    alternate months with other providers to be safe. woolies/coles always have something half price, and keep an eye out for other deals

    and, i think belong might allow credit sharing, and the $25 credit leaves a little left over? something to look into. probably not very useful, but there might be potential for a bit of extra value squeezed onto a second phone number (and possibly sent back to your main once its built up a bit?)

  • Quantumcat on 25/06/2018 - 19:16
    +2

    The solution

    • Set your main account to $10 a month
    • Activate all your other sims using new emails for each (can put dots in a Gmail address to make it look like a new address) using PayPal
    • Gift the data to your main account
    • Cancel the other sims and revoke the PayPal authorisations

    You'll have to pay $10/month but will have basically unlimited data for a very, very long time. And way less hassle than porting every month.

    • finbar on 26/06/2018 - 17:53
      +1

      Seems like good idea

  • HeWhoKnows on 25/06/2018 - 20:22
    +2

    As I keep saying go with Kogan

    Current offer is fantastic
    For $205 you get 7GB per month for 1 whole year and unlimited everything else.
    Thats $16.90 per 30 days with 40% more data

    Otherwise
    For $143 you get 3GB per month for 1 whole year and unlimited everything else.
    Thats only $11.80 per month without all the hassle of posting numbers every month and stil heaps of data

    • SnoozeAndLose on 25/06/2018 - 20:23

      Not internetal calls?

      • HeWhoKnows on 25/06/2018 - 20:25
        +2

        Not really!
        Have you heard of facebook calls, Whatsapp and Viber to name just a few and calls are FREE!
        And these can be made using somebody else's free wifi as well ha ha

        International PHONE calls are now so out of fashion

        • SnoozeAndLose on 25/06/2018 - 20:32

          Old generation still reply on lane line.

          So it is mpt unlimited of eveeything i am juat saying.

          And your slogan is so Kogan

    • Quantumcat on 25/06/2018 - 23:11

      I tried Kogan once, websites all took several minutes to load, the speed was basically unusable. Worse than dialup. Will never touch them again.

  • HeWhoKnows on 25/06/2018 - 20:26

    Yes OP. You have dudded yourself on the one LOL

  • daver on 25/06/2018 - 22:42

    A good path could be much as you've highlighted, just based on annual vouchers for entirely predated accounts rather. Good luck OP.

  • kasp on 25/06/2018 - 23:16
    +4

    People really don't value their time.

  • [Deactivated] on 25/06/2018 - 23:32
    +3

    I believe the best option is to try and sell 19 sim cards for a profit

  • LordNiksidor on 26/06/2018 - 09:23
    +1

    I would use a dual Sim phone, set all outgoing calls and data to Sim 2 (new Sims) and keep Sim 1 as your original Sim for all all the people calling you.

  • Toph Beifong on 26/06/2018 - 11:19

    Considering you will be porting at least a dozen times this year, there might be a small chance that you could run into porting issues.

  • bargaino on 26/06/2018 - 14:40
    +2

    GOCAT9,
    I have a solution for you. First, you need to understand that Belong is not prepaid in the usual sense but invoiced.
    So forget about porting in and out. Fortunately there are other ways.

    • Activate one SIM in your real name and number. You will keep this. Use a referral code (mine of course).
    • Get your referral code, which will give you $20 credit for up to 10 friends referred.
    • switch to the $10/month plan
    • GIVE AWAY ten of your cards to friends and workmates, on condition that they activate using your referral code.
    • now have $200 credit, or 20 months.

    You still have some left. Activate a few in assorted names on $40 plans, get 2x 15GB data and gift it to yourself.

    Save a few for when Belong catches on to your scam and cancels the account.

    • hawkeye93 on 26/06/2018 - 16:06

      Does Belong really know if you cheat? And regarding the porting, if I use Belong service for a month, then port out to Optus for next month and come back to Belong for the 3th month, it's still possible, right?

      • bargaino on 26/06/2018 - 16:47

        Forget about porting. Way too much hassle when you can use referrals and "gifting" of data.

        They may not let you back. It is invoiced, not prepaid.

        • GOCAT9 on 28/06/2018 - 11:12
          +1

          Yes, but just before you leave Belong for a month, you could gift all your unused data to another Belong friend and when you come back, they gift it back to you!

  • AlienC on 30/06/2018 - 11:56

    I guess I'll piggyback on this thread since mods are not happy with me making a new thread for every little new variation of a same question.

    I need a 3 month prepaid sim card with the usual unlimited local national and mobile calls but the special part is I need also unlimited or a lot of minutes and I mean a lot to India landlines and mobiles.

    Person is staying here only until September 18 2018 so roughly 2.5 months.

    I can find local unlimited with some data fine but the India calls is difficult. Don't need much data as they will be mainly using house WiFi but a little is nice for when they are outside traveling.

    TL;DR cheapest 3 month sim card plan with local national landlines mobiles and unlimited or a lot of minutes to India landline and mobile calls.

    • nocure on 30/06/2018 - 16:28

      Woolworths

      • AlienC on 30/06/2018 - 20:45

        Woolworths do international unlimited to India?

        • nocure on 30/06/2018 - 20:59

          Yep, $30 and above.. plan or prepaid

        • AlienC on 30/06/2018 - 21:25

          @nocure: ok nice would you recommend over say an amaysim or lycamobile or lebara SIM card only plan? I think they are same price.. data might be 2gb or 6-7 IIRC.

        • nocure on 30/06/2018 - 21:29

          @AlienC:
          Definitely, $30 starter is 5GB

        • AlienC on 30/06/2018 - 21:40

          @nocure: something doesn't feel right I think the lycamobile plan seems better does the Woolworths $30 plan have unlimited landline mobile and special calls to Australia and India?

          What's the $100 credit for if the countries are unlimited.

  • [Deactivated] on 02/07/2018 - 09:22

    This is so flucking stupid to save a few bucks.

    • nocure on 02/07/2018 - 09:31

      Why? What's your monthly mobile expenses?

      • [Deactivated] on 02/07/2018 - 11:50

        $115 ish I think. My time is worth more than $100 a month dicking around with porting and sims.

        • nocure on 02/07/2018 - 12:04

          Mine is $1,
          time spent porting: 2 minutes
          downtime: none.

  • apokalypsez on 20/04/2019 - 17:31

    can any please explain porting out? got activate yesterday for $40 sims+$20 join belong..i don't like these whole deal with postpaid and advance payment thing…what selection i chose when port in to another provider..postpaid or prepaid?

  • Darwin on 23/07/2019 - 15:28
    +1

    I've payed $52.80 and have an extra 240gb to use in 8 months ($13.20x4=$52.80).
    $40 sim for $13.20 each from ebay/cellmate, x4.
    Activate each new sim on a day of month that isn't 4th, 12th, 20th, 28th to get 2 lots of 30gb, then gift data to my regular account. After gifted, cancel the extra sims.
    Use referal code each sim to gain $20x4credit regular account =$80 credit=8months @$10/month =8gb of data.

    While i see some comments saying it's a lot of effort. Yes, well I have been lazy and been paying $10/month for 1gb/month for several months. But when my data bank dropped below 100gb, I decided to spend time (whilst "working" so it's dead time to me anyway) to essentially spend $52.80 for 240gb and 8 months of credit.

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