Know when your cellphone contract ends — or face a bill up to three times more

When your cellphone contract expires and you haven't given 30 days' notice to cancel or signed a new deal, your network can move you onto a month-to-month rate — at a dramatically higher price. Nadene's MTN contract was R189 a month. When it expired at the end of May, she got an SMS telling her it was converting to R580 a month. She asked for immediate cancellation and was told she'd have to give that 30-day notice first, meaning she has to pay that R580 for at least one month. So, check your contract end date now. Set a phone reminder three months out so you have time to negotiate, switch, or cancel on your terms, not theirs.