Are you wasting money on your mobile phone?

Having a mobile phone is not so much a luxury these days, but more of a necessity. Trust me, after six weeks of having a phone that didn't work (you might have seen my Instagram story rants!) I know what a necessity they can be. Having the latest smart phone can be costly – are you wasting money on your mobile phone?

I usually buy my new phone outright and use a SIM only contract to get a great deal. Over the life of a contract (24 months) I have saved over £200 by not taking out a traditional contract, which fits in with HandsetExpert's findings that on average you can save £92 per year by taking out a SIM only contract.

How to save money on your mobile phone contract

Despite the high cost of some contracts, especially if you are picking the latest phone model, there are plenty of ways to save money on your mobile phone contract.

If you have the funds available to purchase your handset outright then you might want to consider doing that and taking out a SIM only contract, saving you around £92 per year.

Another great way to save money on your mobile phone contract is to look closely at the allowances on offer. If you have too much data, minutes and text messages then you could be paying for services you don't use, but if you don't have enough data, minutes and text messages then you could end up paying more in addition to your monthly contract.

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Another way to save money on your mobile phone bill is to ensure that you are calling phone numbers that are in your call allowance. Some phone providers charge a higher rate for 0844 or 0344 numbers. You can use an app like WeQ4U with this 08 phone numbers hack to save yourself money.

When your contract is up for renewal then of course you can haggle and ask for a great deal. This is what I tried to do recently, and I wasn't offered any deal despite being a loyal customer for over 7 years. Instead I took out a brand new contract and ported my phone number over. This is usually an easy and quick process, meaning that you can keep your number.

Phone Contracts in numbers

HandsetExpert have put together the following infographic with some stats on mobile phone spending:

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