When I was in my prime years but definitely not in my prime financially (still working on that, by the way), I read advice from a financial guru: “The only way to retire as a millionaire is to become a saver and investor in your twenties.” Another sage suggested finding a wealthy spouse. A third one, with considerable irony, suggested being born in a peaceful developed country to rich parents.

Since I spectacularly failed at all three and ended up in the loser camp alongside most of humanity, I still didn’t give up. Instead, I decided to follow the principle that investing even a little bit in the future is better than nothing. Guided by yet another piece of wisdom — that the best time to invest was 20 years ago, and the second-best time is now — I began exploring investments. Health and education expenses moved into the “investment projects” section of my household budget, and I traded a couple of bad habits for less harmful ones — in other words, I started doing all those adulting things.

As for personal spending, I started paying close attention even to the smallest expenses, trying to notice what they gave me — not just in terms of immediate consumption, but also as investments.

Cambridge Dictionary says that investment is “the act of putting money, effort, time, etc. into something to make a profit or get an advantage, or the money, effort, time, etc.”

Notice something? There’s nothing here about million-dollar portfolios or respected fund managers in shiny suits. Every few euros we spend wisely can yield impressive returns that would make a successful startup jealous — we drop ten euros here, another ten there, and over time these expenses add up to thousands and tens of thousands. But what do we get in return?

I want to talk about one particular micro-investment that many smart folks already take advantage of. This is for those who, like me, don’t want to miss out on making the smartest possible investment — even if it’s just €10. We’re about to focus on a narrow niche — staying connected while traveling. But life is made up of these little niches. And by the way, if you have any similar quick money hacks for other niches, I’d love to hear them.

So, meet MTX Connect Easy Start, €0.01 EUR per Mb, valid for 30 days, price: €10.

Let’s see exactly what this product actually offers and what kind of value you get in return.

First off, it doesn’t cost €10 — it costs zero. You’re just moving €10 from your bank account to your MTX Connect account. The money stays completely yours. After all, you don’t consider it “spent” when you put money in a bank account, right? For these zero euros, you immediately get an account in the MTX Connect ecosystem and an eSIM that you can install on your phone right away.

You might ask, why move €10 from your bank pocket to your MTX Connect pocket in advance, instead of doing it later, once your plane lands abroad? Here’s the catch. Remember? Investments must be made in advance. Actually, even more importantly, they should be made at the right moment — there’s a reason the ancient Greeks revered Kairos, the god of opportunity, luck, and favorable moments. When the plane lands, there could be a million reasons why setting up an eSIM isn’t convenient — maybe there won’t be any free Wi-Fi at the airport, and we’ve already covered such a case in our blog. By the way, using public Wi-Fi is generally not a great idea, but that’s a topic for another time.

So, you wisely put 10 euros into your MTX Connect account,  set up the eSIM in the peace and quiet of your armchair, and go on living your normal life, knowing that mobile internet anywhere in the world is now all set. Sure, these €10 won’t earn interest (with banks these days that’s questionable anyway), but mobile data prices keep dropping year after year — so your 10 euros will actually increase their purchasing power even if you don’t spend them.

Then, when the moment comes that you do find yourself in another country, your 10-euro investment starts working for you. How?

Let’s calculate how this money would work using the real-life example from the post mentioned above, and how much profit in savings it would bring. Quote from that story: “The plan was to connect to the internet at the airport, log into my banking app, add money to my phone, map the route to the house I was lucky enough to be staying at, and calmly get there by metro.”

If our hero had the Easy Start, here’s how much data they’d have used:

• Banking app: opening the app and topping up the phone usually takes around 1–3 MB. Let’s say 5 MB, in case we do it twice!
  
• Google Maps navigation without pre-downloaded maps: typical usage for standard navigation is around 3–5 MB per hour, let’s count 10 MB — we’re being generous!
  
• Google Translate: we might need an online translator. Google Translate typically uses around 1 MB per hour; let’s round it up to 5 MB.
  

So even with a very generous buffer, we would have spent 20 MB of traffic getting to the hotel, which equals 0.01 × 20 = 0.2 EUR.

Starting to get it?

Meanwhile, our traveler, under even the most optimistic assumptions and considering the GBP exchange rate, spent at least 100 euros. Subtract the 25 euros they would have spent on public transport anyway, and we get a net loss of 75 euros.

What percentage return would the 0.2-euro investment have brought?

37500%.

Do you know many startups with this kind of ROI? Or investors who’ve done that well? I won’t be showing this calculation to our CFO — she might start lecturing me about boring financial definitions. But for anyone with common sense and basic percentage skills, my math is flawless.

Or take a typical situation, not as dramatic as our previous story: you’re at an airport during a layover. Two hours to kill. Wi-Fi doesn’t work or requires some sort of ritual dance to connect. You decide to buy a small data plan online, say 1GB just for this country, since that’s the cheapest option. Get ready to spend at least 4 EUR. Though honestly — how exactly will you buy it without Wi-Fi? 🤔 But let’s not get distracted. Let’s calculate:

Most travelers use their phones for web browsing, checking and scrolling social media, messaging, occasional music or a podcast — data usage for this kind of activity ranges from 30 to 100 MB per hour, so 60-200 MB while you wait. On Easy Start, you’d spend a maximum of 200 × 0.01 = 2 EUR. 

Compared to alternative options starting at 4 EUR, that gives you a minimum return of 200%.

If you’re a light traffic user, your return could easily reach 1000%. You’re not buying air in a data package — you’re paying only for what you actually use. And this kind of offer for travelers — pay-as-you-go per MB — you’ll only find at MTX Connect. 

As we’ve already written, MTX Connect isn’t just another eSIM reseller. It’s a mobile operator that controls its own billing system and can create the kind of offers it believes are genuinely useful to its users, rather than just resell prepackaged eSIM profiles with a fixed data plan, like most marketplaces do.

By the way, if you’re the type who prefers a good old physical SIM card that you can move from one phone to another, that’s definitely only MTX Connect. Ah, let’s sigh nostalgically, remembering the juggling of SIM cards on the plane during landing and digging under the seat of the passenger in front of you, searching for the SIM ejector pin. Those were the days.

Later, once you arrive at your destination, settle in, and understand your needs, you can easily buy a large data package from us using those same €10 (remember, that’s your money in your MTX Connect balance). You’re not locked into using Pay As You Go at 0.01 EUR per MB just because you started with Easy Start — you can switch to another plan anytime. And back again if needed. And again. You get the idea. You can even buy a data package from someone else, it’s your choice. Sometimes local operators do offer decent deals. But with Easy Start in your pocket, you’ll never be left without a connection when you need it most. No expensive connectivity gaps. Nowhere. Never.

At this point I remembered my friend from Spain, who didn’t understand why he needed Easy Start with Pay As You Go plan in particular and MTX Connect in general, since he mostly travels within the EU with free roaming from his home provider. Then he stepped off the plane in Belgrade.

And got it.

The Easy Start description mentions it works for 30 days — this needs clarification. It’s there to protect you. We don’t want you to come home, forget to switch back to your local SIM, and waste money. MTX Connect makes money from service, not robbery. You can always re-enable Pay as You Go mode with one button click.

Actually, I started wondering — maybe it would be more accurate to call Easy Start a kind of insurance rather than an investment. It protects you from unplanned expenses, overpriced offers, and public Wi-Fi threats. Then again, with insurance we pay a premium and in most cases get nothing back — we lose that money. MTX Connect, on the other hand, gives you some real value: peace of mind (which, let’s be honest, is a luxury these days) and mobile data that works across the entire planet, including places I couldn’t even point to on a map.

So it’s probably still an investment.

Or insurance?

Both. 

Jan Verny,
MTX Connect Chronicler