ive only got a really cheap one

You can buy relatively cheap phones these days if you are just after something basic. I would recommend purchasing phone credit as thats probably one of the cheaper options with no contracts. 😉

I would suggest you buy a phone handset that you are comfortable with, and then a prepaid SIM card to go with it. Optus and Virgin have good coverage and are fairly cheap providers.

My advice : look for a simple cheap prepaid phone with either Vodafone or with your preferred carrier online. Pick one with a long battery life & that’s easy to navigate. Then buy a starter sim (from around $30) which gives you about $350 of phone credit per month. When it runs out or expires at the end of each month you can recharge for another ($30) at 7eleven, Coles/woollies & a Miriad of other places – they just give you a special docket & you dial the number & enter the code. Hope this helped.

Prepaid would be cheaper you can recharge however much you can afford.

Yes I do think prepaid will end up the cheaper way to go.

I agree – prepaid is the best way to go until you figure out how much you will use it. Coles sell some pretty cheap telstra packs too

I’d start with prepaid because it gives you the opportunity to figure out what your usage is going to be before locking yourself into a contract with someone else. Also allows you to check that the network coverage of whichever provider you choose is right for the place you are going to be trying to make calls.

It all depends on what you want to use it for. If you want to surf the net, facebook, use it as a diary, business meetings and appointment etc you may want an iPhone or similar. If you just want a phone for text messages and to ring the occasional person I would by a simple standard one for about $40 to $100 and make sure it is a pre paid one. I had a basic one and used $20 a month on prepaid sometime even less although they take your credit off you if you don’t used it all at the end of the month. Still cheaper than any of the plans though. Cheapest one my hubby found was still $35 a month with limited downloads.

Since you are just strating to use a mobile, i suggest you get one that is easy and simple to use. none of those touch screen or complicated phones. I also think it’s best to get postpaid. they have cheap plans like 19dollar per month and comes with reminders about your usage. try vodafone

Aldi has some very cheap and great plans! or google one called Boost

You could get a decent mobile (nothing fancy) and a Telstra pre-paid card at the local Coles supermarket. This would be what I recommend. Obviously the handset won’t be an Apple iPhone 5S or Samsung Galaxy S3, but it serve the purpose of being a mobile, which should be good enough 🙂

I would get a cheap plan I personally find vodafone is probably the best value for money

Pre paid is the most expensive way to go, but you have total control over it. and there are a lot of cheap plans that come with phones but they don’t usually have good coverage, Do some research and check their coverage area before you jump into anything

There really is just so much choice out there – from the very basic phone that can only be used for calls and texts all the way through to ‘mini computers’. There are also a multitude of both pre paid and post paid plans. Best bet really, decide exactly what you want from the phone and the plan then take a day and talk to a few ‘different carriers’ explaing to them up front what you are looking for.

The kids and I have Telstra prepaid mobiles and charge monthly with a $30 recharge that allows more data than we ever use. My son and I both have basic Samsung phones – his came from Coles for around $89 (with something like 5000 bonus flybuy points) 2 years ago and has been brilliant – has enough functions to keep a teen happy while not being an expensive iphone. I’d suggest going into a sho that sells phones and having a look at what suits you then shopping around for the best price.

Like the others have said, it depends on what you want to do with it. You can get a smartphone on a plan with no additional charge for the phone. For example Virgin Mobile has a $40 cap plan which has quite a large allowance for calls and texts plus a GB of data and you get a certain phone for free. I’m on a cap plan and I use my mobile to make calls instead of my landline as I never go over my allowance so I know my bill will always be $40. You can get plans for less than that per month too although possibly you have less choice of “free” phones. Check out your options in one of those stores that offers plans by a number of different providers so you can easily compare.

I agree that it depends on what you plan to use it for – ? calls? surfing the web? messaging? plans very. I pay $24.95 a month. I have an iphone 4 that I paid for out right. And the $24.95 a month is enough for me with what I use it for. I’d go into the dealers and ask about.

It really depends on what you want to be able to do with your phone. We have prepaid accounts with Vodafone as we don’t like the extra bills & for $30 a month the amount of calls plus internet data is enough for us. I did buy a smart phone outright which does cost a bit more at the time but by going prepaid we can control how much we spend every month 🙂