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: 

WhatsApp	Twitter	Instagram	Facebook
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.