1. Make Use Of All The Offers From The Providers

Mobile phone providers have great offers for international phone calls where if you stick to certain timings you can call for much cheaper than what you normally would.  For example Etisalat allows you to make unlimited calls from your landline to one country of your choice, from a list of 64 countries. Calls can be made to both landlines and mobile devices. This packaged is called the ‘Unlimited International Calling plan’ for all existing fixed-lined customers and costs AED 150 per month.

Du, on the other hand, allows you to pay 25 fils/min to make unlimited international calls to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Egypt with du’s International Booster Pack.

2. Obey The Rules

Whatever plan you choose, you need to stay within its limits. For example, if your data usage is capped at 1GB or you have 300 free international minutes, don’t go over it. Find out from your carrier what their extra charges are because if there is a risk of overusing your existing mobile phone plan and running up high charges, it would be more cost-effective to upgrade.

Another option is to keep tabs on how much data you have used up. Du offers a mobile data portal that allows you to check how much you have used and upgrade data bundles when needed. And Etisalat sends notifications when you near the usage limit, so there is no excuse.

3. Be Careful When You Go Overseas

When traveling overseas, many users get stung with additional charges on top of their plan because they have not thought ahead. The simplest way to avoid extra fees is to turn off the mobile phone as no usage means no ugly bill particularly when you will be charged on your incoming and outgoing calls.  If that is not possible, then sign up for a roaming package that covers your needs.

Alternatively, why not buy a cheap phone and sim in the country you are travelling to. If it is your home country and you travel there every year, it makes financial sense.

4. Pay As You Go

If you’re really worried about how much you are spending, switch to pay as you go. That way you can buy a phone card and top up your credit when needed. If you really want to cut costs, you could go that extra mile and dump the Smartphone. For the less image-conscious, there are mobile phones out there for a couple of hundred dirhams that cover the basic needs.

5. Rely on Wi-Fi

Ditch the data plan and use Wi-Fi and you will see a huge difference in your monthly bills. It may mean you can’t send a tweet when you are in the middle of the desert but with most of us spending our time either in the office or at home, there will still be plenty of opportunities to check your email.  If you’re not ready to cut back on your data plan completely, then go on a data diet and search for the cheapest data plan possible. Just make sure you stick to it.