21 Frugal Tips: Get 5% Discount Every Time You Recharge Your Phone, Get Cheap Data Bundles and More

I have so many tips here, but I will try to keep this concise, straight-to-the-point, and full of useful links. 

We all know that our mobile phone takes a large chunk of our money these days. In fact, a World Bank-funded survey released last year showed that  between 2012-2013, Nigerians spent N447 billion on prepaid recharge cards- more than they spend on other household items including food. 

Also, most of us browse the web using data plans bought from the Telecommunications company, using prepaid recharge card credit too.

So if we can get better financial deals on recharge cards, and by extension, our data bundles, then we will get to save more.

Let me share some ways in which I have been saving money recently on prepaid credit, and also some useful sites and apps that can help you save money while shopping online.

For Nigerians, get 5% back when you buy prepaid credit

 I have been using this site Clubkonnect to buy prepaid credit using my Debit card (i.e money in my bank account) and I get 5% back all all recharges. Though it might take up to one hour, depending on what time of the day you load (I think the administrator has to first confirm payment before funding you, or something).

This is from the website Clubkonnect:

Buy Cheap Internet/Mobile Browsing Data Plans
Data Bundle	Validity	Price
		MTN	Etisalat
250 MB	28-30 days	-	N350.00	Buy Now
500 MB	28-30 days	-	N600.00	Buy Now
750 MB	28-30 days	-	N850.00	Buy Now
1 GB	28-30 days	N1,100.00	N1,000.00	Buy Now
2 GB	28-30 days	N2,200.00	N1,800.00	Buy Now
3 GB	28-30 days	N3,300.00	N2,700.00	Buy Now
4 GB	28-30 days	N4,400.00	N3,600.00	Buy Now
5 GB	28-30 days	N5,500.00	N4,500.00	Buy Now

Buy Air Time (MTN, Etisalat & GLO) Instantly Get a 5% Discount when you purchase Air Time
Air Time	Price
200 Credit	N190	Buy Now
500 Credit	N475	Buy Now
1,000 Credit	N950	Buy Now
5,000 Credit	N4750	Buy Now

Apps that enable free and cheap (international) video calls, texts and chatting

1. Skype; the most popular at the moment but it only allows calls between users. A fellow blogger Olafusi Michael shared in a blog post how he saves on calls daily (especially international calls) by attaching his MTN line to his Skype account. You can check out the article.
   
   
   
2. Viber; I hear that Viber is cheaper than Skype for international calls. But I haven't tried it out myself.
   
   
   
3. Whatsapp; the world's most popular chatting app with 800 million users has now integrated free calls, and the $19 billion Facebook pet is marching on. It plans to also incorporate video calling features soon.
   
4. Line; not so popular here in Nigeria, Line is another fast-rising  app for video calling and chatting.
   
   
   
5. Google Hangouts allow for free texts and video chats.
   
   
   
6. Apple also has imessage/Facetime app, a chatting and video calling application for iphone and mac users.
   
7. Nimbuzz; more popular than Line but way behind Whatsapp, Nimbuzz is not doing badly at all. 
   

Tango and Zoom are others in this category.

Cheap data plans

I also use the site Clubkonnect, above to buy cheap MTN data.

However,

Airtel 1+1 android offer is back!

Get Airtel android data plan 4gb for N2000, and 9gb for N3,500:

Airtel Code is: *437*1# for N2000 and *438*1# for N3,500 [Check eligibility by dialing this on your airtel SIM before you load credit at all.]

Code to subscribe is: *437*1# for 4gb @ N2000

                                   *438*1# for 9gb'@ N3,500 

Code to check balance is: *223# or *140#

MTN

I read that you can use MTN's BIS on Android and PC but by using simpleserver VPN or TunnelGuru. I have not tried it out though, if you do let me know if it worked for you.

The MTN plan I presently use is the night plan of 3gb with 1.5gb daytime bonus @ N2,500. And the beauty of it is that you don't have to use up the 1.5gb bonus first. The two plans work concurrently.

Code to subscribe: Text 120, to 131. You will get 3gb to use at night from 9pm till 6am, and 1.5gb to use during the day from 6am till 9pm.

GLO 3Gb for N1000 on PC and Android

Like I shared in another article last year, I browse on my android and PC with GLO's BIS comonth 3Gb for N1000.

So, if you have a BB phone you are no longer using and you have/use an android phone that has 2 SIM ports, you can change one of your SIM port's IMEI to that of the BB phone's IMEI even if you use an HTC. Use any of those links to find out more.

For those of you who do not have a BB (IMEI), kindly check out this link to download BB IMEI Generator APK version.

For my international audience, 5 useful sites to get sales and price drop alerts when shopping online

I stumbled upon the app 'Invisible hands' and decided to research on it. I found many useful sites where you can get the best deals/prices when shopping online.

1. Invisible app: Install Invisible Hand Chrome extension first. Once installed it will show you in the top bar if the item you are about to buy is the best deal. Invisible hand will also tell you if there is a better deal somewhere else or if there is any coupon you could use.
2. Slick Deals: A great place to get the best deals. It was founded in 1999, and is a social commerce website featuring crowdsourced deals and coupons from retailers such as Amazon, eBay, Walmart and Macy's.
   
3. Shoppingnotes: Never miss a sale again…get alerts when the item goes on sale or the price drops. Just enter the URL of the product page or search for it in Google, enter your email address to receive alerts.
   
4. Price!pinx: similar to Shoppingnotes, you input the product you want to buy on Price!pinx, and it will notify you by email when the price drops. Not too good for impulse shoppers who can't wait.
   
5. Zingsale: works similarly to Price!pinx.
   

Other apps downloadable at Google playstore that can help you save money while shopping include RetailMeNot, Zappos, Shopsavvy, etc.

In Nigeria, we have Mall4Africa. They help make shopping on and shipping from international sites like eBay and Amazon, easy. Download the app or go to their website for more.

Best price checking apps for Nigerians, like I shared in my series 101 ways to spend less, these are two apps that can help you get the best deals online; Price check and Price hunter (I will probably write a review of them later).

When Credicoins takes off fully, we will also be sharing weekly 'Spend-Less' tips with members. and we also hope to negotiate better subscription deals for members.

That's all for now. I hope you get to spend less, save more, and be financially fulfilled as you enjoy your best life now. 

Cheers!