This post is a part of an ongoing series about mobile data usage. 

During October, we hosted a Data Horror Stories Contest, where thousands of individuals who have previously been burned by their data plans submitted their tales of mobile-data-overage woes.

Within those submissions, we started to see some recurring complaints about how users went over their monthly data plan limit. Below is a rundown of the most common.

Forgetting to use Wi-Fi 

Have you ever turned your Wi-Fi off and realized later that you’re still using mobile data even though you’re sitting at home, 2 feet from your router? Or gone to a bar only to realize at the end of the night they had free Wi-Fi? Don’t worry, it’s happened to a lot of us.

https://twitter.com/mcgillc_10/status/519921149745303552

https://twitter.com/cstiger_viki/status/520532629037146113

Streaming from music & video apps

We all know how easy it is to get lost in a music video or zone out listening to Pandora on the way to work. The problem is that apps utilizing video & music tend to eat up a lot of data, and fast!

https://twitter.com/kattasere/status/519933705000083456

Teenager having a 1D-Day party streaming One Direction via YouTube
off our data plan #datahorrorstories #operamax

— Cipher_Simian (@Binary_Anon) October 23, 2014

Traveling abroad

Sure it’s fun seeing the Eiffel Tour or the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but you know what’s not fun? A $200 roaming bill.

https://twitter.com/DenisManusa/status/521010817689735169

#datahorrorstories I went to China for a great vacation. When I came back, I realized that 50mb of data equals about $100. 🙁

— Caleb Tara (@hellodbyw) October 19, 2014

Auto-updates

Whether it’s auto-updating apps or automatic backup of emails, pictures, etc., these automatic events that happen in the background, often without a user’s knowledge, can rip through data plans.

https://twitter.com/flaviomartins/status/523847813634220032

Shared data plans

You may love your sister/brother/cousin/girlfriend, but you don’t have to love how much data they use from your “shared” plan.

https://twitter.com/LogicalForm/status/521428102430208001

https://twitter.com/paul_mmitja/status/519961968829276160

Do you have a data horror story? Share it with us in the comments! And, if you’re an Android user, don’t forget to  download and try Opera Max to save up to 50% on your data plan.

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