There aren’t many things more stressful than the last few days before payday, when you’re counting your pennies and finding that you have more month than money left. Mobile data’s the same. If you don’t budget carefully, you could run out before you’re able to top up.
If you use the budget strategy to manage your data, you’ll quickly see the benefits of eliminating wasteful spending and making the most of what you have.
Use our tips to save data when you’re streaming or listening to music on the go, and beware of the unexpected things that drain your data. You could also go completely offline, but that’s not always possible or practical.
With these points in mind, you're ready to put practical strategies into action. Ready to maximise your data? Put these smart moves into action and start seeing the benefits.
Buy What You Need
First, make sure you’re on the right data plan for your needs. If you budget your mobile data like you budget your household income, you’ll soon pick up where you’re spending too much, or where you need to set some limits.
You could start with a monthly limit, or even give yourself a daily data allowance. As a general rule, this is more or less what a typical person would need for a month:
- Light user (emails, WhatsApp, light browsing): 1 to 2GB/month
- Moderate user (social media junkie, with occasional video): 3 to 5GB/month
- Heavy user (streaming, video calls, heavy downloads): 10GB+/month
Pick your personality type, and divide the monthly estimate by 30 to get a daily baseline. Then use Vodacom’s Data Limit feature (which you can set via the VodaPay app or *135#), or enable data usage warnings on your phone to let you know when you’re about to run out of your daily data allowance.
Get Your Timing Right
One way to make sure your data lasts longer is to get the timing right. Vodacom’s Internet Daily bundle, for example, is a prepaid once-off data bundle that’s available until midnight on the day you buy it. The smart move is to buy one of these early in the day, so that the data runs out before the day does!
If you’re working the night shift or suffer from insomnia and pass the time by streaming music or videos (if you don't have access to WiFi), then get a Night Owl data bundle.
Oh, and here’s a pro tip: Vodacom regularly runs promotions throughout the month, so keep an eye on the Vodacom site and VodaPay app to take advantage of these flash deals when they happen.
