While we wait for data to fall even more, I thought I’d put together ways to make this wait bearable by saving you some costs. Let’s look at ways you can use less data to save money.
- Firstly, getting started is cheap. All you need is a prepaid MTN SIM card which costs R0.49 at PEP. Please remember to always have your RICA documents on hand when trying to purchase a SIM card.
- You can enjoy streaming (YouTube, Netflix, DStv now) with less data consumption. With a smaller smartphone screen and lower video quality, you use less megabytes per hour than you would with a PC screen. You can also download your favourite shows when you have access to Wi-Fi to watch later.
- Music streaming Apps like Google music play, Simfy and many more have an offline feature. Meaning you download your favourite songs once, then listen to your playlists as often as you like without using any data.
- Social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have a disable auto-play feature. This means videos will not download automatically, you will only view them on demand. See examples of where to go to disable this feature:
| Open the WhatsApp application | Open the Twitter application | Open the Instagram application | Open the Facebook App |
| Tap on the 3 dots on the top right corner | Tap on Home | Tap menu in the top right. | Tap menu in the top right. |
| Tap on Settings | Tap on Settings and Privacy | Tap on Settings | Scroll down and tap Settings & Privacy > Settings |
| Tap on Data and storage usage | Tap on Data usage | Tap on Account | Scroll down and tap Media and Contacts. |
| Under Media auto-download, select what to download when connected on Mobile data Wi-Fi Roaming | Tap the check box on Data saver and this will Ensure videos don’t auto-play Lower the quality of images | Tap on Mobile data use and click the checkbox to enable Data saver | Tap Autoplay to select the following options On Mobile data and Wi-Fi connections On W-Fi connections only Never Auto-play videos |
- Google maps has an offline feature, meaning you can navigate without using any of your data. Check out how this can be done
| Google maps |
| Open the Google maps App |
| Find the area you want to download |
| Press and hold somewhere on the map to make the section show up then tap on it to display more options |
| Hit “Download” |
| You can now pinch-to-zoom in or out to make the area smaller or larger |
| After making your selection, hit “Download” in the lower right corner. |
I hope you found this article helpful. Please check our article on what you can do with a gig. If you have more tips to share please add them to the comments below or on our social media pages.