Cut Your Mobile Phone Bills
- Adam Shaw - TheMoneyDoctor.TV
- Sep 20
- 4 min read
Updated: Sep 22
Q: How Easy is it to save money on your mobile phone bill?
Make £680 in 15 minutes...
Just 15 minutes spent comparing phone deals can save you a fortune. The consumer organisation Which? said you can save £680 by choosing the right deal, see below:
EE is selling the iPhone 15 on a 24-month contract with unlimited data for £67.32 per month, plus £30 up front - £1,645.68 over the term. Instead, purchase an iPhone 16 outright for £599, then get an unlimited data, rolling 30-day contract with iD Mobile for £15 per month, and you could pay £959 over the same period.
Source: Which? August 2025
Always check the latest deals.
Q: Is a rule of thumb about where to find the best deals?
Don't Always Go With The Big Brands
A 25GB Sim-only deal with EE costs £30 a month. Smarty is offering 40GB of data for £10 a month, giving you more data for less money, according to Which?
Q: What is the biggest mistake people make?
An Outrage
If you don’t switch or re-negotiate when your minimum contract ends, the mobile networks simply keep charging the same monthly fee you agreed to at the start. That can mean:
You keep paying for the phone even though it’s already fully paid off.
You miss out on newer SIM-only rates, which are usually much cheaper than bundled handset contracts or old tariffs.
Why this is allowed is a mystery to me. You are literally paying for nothing. You could be paying £30 a month and could be payin g £10 for the same deal. You are throwing £20 a month away just because you didn't put a note in your diary to remind oyurself to change the deal.
Get your phone to remind you when your phone contract is up, so you don't keep paying the high monthly fee for no reason at all.
There are fourteen million are out of contract on their mobile plan. To find out if you are, text INFO for free to 85075. The number should work on whichever network you are on.
In March 2025 mobile network providers including Vodafone & EE ( urged a London tribunal to throw out a mass lawsuit valued at over 3.2 billion pounds for allegedly overcharging customers. The case was brought on behalf of over 28 million British consumers. The networks are alleged to have charged customers who remained with the network after their minimum contract expired a "loyal penalty", by continuing to charge for mobile devices which had already been paid for in full. British consumer champion Justin Gutmann is bringing the claims and his lawyers asked the Competition Appeal Tribunal to certify the case to proceed, an early step in the proceedings. But the networks' lawyers said in court filings that the lawsuit is fundamentally flawed as it alleges anti-competitive behaviour "in an industry renowned for its competitiveness".
Q: One of the things people get confused about is how much data they might need - how do you know what you need to ensure you have enough but are not overpaying for data?
Don't Over Buy Data
You may well be paying over the top for more data than you need. Often the problem is knowing how much data you actually need. MoneySavingExpert has a great data calculator here
As an example if you:
MAINLY USING WIFI FOR VIDEO AND SOCIAL MEDIA
USING DATA FOR:
Web Browse: 15 mins/day
Social Media: 5 mins/day
Watch Video: 0 mins/day
Email: 10/day
1GB/MONTH
NOT USING WIFI AND USING DATA FOR:
Web Browse: 15 mins/day
Social Media: 30 mins/day
Watch Video: 30 mins/day
Email: 10/day
10GB/MONTH
Use A Comparison Site
Look for deals on a comparison website such as
Q: What about using your mobile abroad - what are the best tips there?
'Roaming' is what it's called when your phone connects to a mobile network in another country. It can be really expensive and was reintroduced when we left the EU after Brexit.
You can turn roaming off when abroad to stop the costs , but that will limit your access to all the data functions on your phone.
If you think you might need/want to use your phone abroad - look at the deals each network offers BEFORE you take out the contract. A saving on the yearly contract could be more than wiped out by a huge bill that you rack up when travelling.
There are big differences in the roaming costs from one prvider to the next. For instrance:
Smarty has NO roaming charges
Vodafone charge £9.50 for a 3GB pass for 8 days.
Deals change all the time - so do check them out
Q: Is it cheaper to buy the phone in one go or pay monthly for the phone with data?
You'd think the answer was yes - but it isn't always.
Comparedial.com compared a 24 month contract for an iPhone 14 with EE with ulimited data and text. Buying it with a monthly payment was £1,662 over the 2 years.
Buying it upfront was £1,519.
So if you had the cash to do it, you would save £143 by paying upfront.
But my personal experience if that there is hardly any difference between buying it upfront or paying monthly.
The advantage of paying upfront for the phone and using a SIM only deal - is that you can change the SIM deal more easily and can constantly move to better deals if you spot something special.
Q: Can you haggle over the price of your contract?
For a high tech world, there is a surprising amount of the old fashioned bazarre in negotiating your phone deal. A month or so before the contract ends, call up and press the button that says you are thinking of leaving. Have a better or different deal you can quote and ask them to match it or come close. It's amazing how muicuwuggle room there is to cut your costs.
For more commentary follow me on Twitter/X and BlueSkySocial @adamshawbiz
Please remember everything on this site is journalist commentary and is not financial advice or guidance in anyway.
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