Does Vodacom Think We're Dumb - and smart ways to save money on your next cellphone contract

So Vodacom has just released its June/July catalogue. Not bad, but no iPhone in sight. Sorry.
Before we look at it in finer detail, here's a primer. In their most recent televised ads Vodacom show a silly, bald white man who doesn't make much sense ("trees grow on money" etc), and then a hip young black chap who is wise to all the latest tech-know-how. The young guy humors the bald dope, patiently, and in good humor, showing him how things work. And at the end, the white guy imparts his 'wisdom' clumsily to an attractive brunette (also white), who walks away with thinly bridled contempt. Moral of the story: old white guys are stupid. Young black guys are where its at. Whether you want to take this with a pinch of salt or not, this is the psychology Vodacom is peddling right now.

Having been involved in advertising, my gut feel is that this patronising ad (it's patronising to the black diamonds they're so desperate to build market share with) was conceived by white okes. The wordplay is very white. Do young black men need to be played up against stupid white farts to prove they're smart? I don't think so. I think there's another way to be funny, and clever. Couldn't we see young black actors playing the part of spies (carrying their web-enabled phones) and basically kicking butt in a future-paradigm - in other words, no racial undertones, just a rendering of web/mobile savviness that is leveraged by a super-sleuth type persona. I don't know about you, but I'm guessing we're grown up enough and sophisticated enough to enjoy that over Vodacom's current toilet humor silliness.

That said, my Vodacom contract is coming up for renewal/termination. I'm renewing, but I'm going to make the decision to save as much as possible on the package that is going to take me up to 2010. My expenses each month are, in order of bank break ability:
1) rent
2) communication (mobile + internet)
3) Food
4) Transport
5) Entertainment

4 and 5 possibly trade places, but I'm guessing 4 is going to be chugging up to rival the number 2 expenditure pretty soon.

So having looked at their bundles, here are a few pointers, do's and don'ts.
1) FREE* isn't free. The * refers to terms and conditions, and that shiny new handset is paid for, each and every penny, in your subscription fee over 24 months.
2) Look carefully at your subscription. Anything over R200 is going to hurt you over the next to years (if you're middle income like me, at any rate).
3) If you like to talk a lot, think of a Business package, that allows a cheapish rate 7 days a week, and at any hour of the day.
4) Don't be tempted by Wii players, Camcorders and all the rest. They may seem like a steal, but you're paying much more for these extras than you would if you just went to the store and bought the damn things in a one of purchase. Vodacom are cleverly offering nice Mac-books at "incredible" prices under R1000 a month. Here's the catch - for 36 months. I'm not sure how much Mac-books cost, but hazarding a guess it's got to be a lot less than R36 000. And anyway, I wouldn't be interested if it was more than a third of that price at this point. Yes, you can get good new computers for around R12 000. Be smart.
5) If you have the internet at home, and can access Facebook at home (and at work), don't bother with Facebook enbaled phones. Also watch those upfront fees. Thing about what you really need, not what you want.

My cellphone bill has fluctuated from R900 to almost R2000. I need to get it in the R500 - R750 ballpark. If I continue with a subscription of over R400, that's not going to work. Remember, your subscription is important to lower your overall costs, but the proportion of your subscription can also raise the overall costs, so be careful with your sums. I am going for a lower subscription, probably R185. Business Talk. I like Samsung, so I might get the Samsung i560 or the GPS enabled Samsung i780 (pay in R900) - for geo-blogging, or the Sony Erickson K850i. I have an idea it's between the two Samsung's, and probably not the i780. I've already indicated that I want to blog less than I am. I also want to call less than I do.

It is when these sort of contracts expire that we have a choice: repeat our mistakes, or continue to buy more things we don't need? I'm going to err on the side of less is more, because we know to expect less and less, and by exercising a choice to cut back, I think we have a better sense that we can handle the increasingly tough times ahead. I hope more will do the same. It's the logical way to live.

Here's a final quote to send you on your way - from the seminal Jim Kunstler:

The trouble in the United States is we’re driving incessantly. We’re driving every kind of car there is, incessantly. And we’ve got to find a way out of the incessant motoring and a way to live without it, and a happy way to live without it—not a punishment way to live without it, but a way to be happy and do it. And it means, really, a completely different paradigm for everyday life.

I can hear you saying: 'what does that have to do with buying a mobile phone?' Everything. Energy prices have everything to do with everything, and we can start changing everything we do, by examining everything we do. I sincerely hope that if you read this, you will begin to respond, by critically looking at what you consume, and internally accepting that we need to consume less. Then, when it comes time to exercise your needs and want, perhaps you (and I) will choose to exercise our demands a little less.