COMMENT
Cut The Cost Of Your Mobile Phone Bill!

How much does your mobile phone cost each month to run? Do you hide from the bill and rue the day you set up the direct debit – or do you open it happily, knowing you've never gone over budget?

According to a recent survey from Clerical Medical, we each spend, on average, £23.50 each month in mobile phone calls. This works out to be around £280 each year – adding up to around £13,250 over the course of a lifetime – which means we're spending a whopping £15bn as a nation. And many people spend much more than £23.50 each month – with some admitting monthly bills of nearly £74!

It does seem that we love our phones. The survey found that we make, on average, six calls each day from our mobiles, and send over eight texts. And although many of us receive inclusive minutes and texts each month as part of our package, a fifth surveyed regularly exceeds this quota. And parents who foot the bill for their child's mobile phone can expect to pay an extra £18 each month, on average No wonder 8% of those surveyed have banned their children from using mobile phones!

Mobile phones have certainly soared in popularity in the last five years – I even know someone who regularly carries two. But owning a mobile phone need not cost a fortune – it all depends on how you handle them. If you're prepared to spend a few minutes checking out your bill every now and again you could save yourself a lot of money.

One way to save money on your mobile phone bill is to ensure that your tariff is correct. Essentially, this means you never pay extra for calls or texts as your usage comes below the limit of what is included. To do this you need to:

• Examine your bill and work out how many minutes you used last month, before 7pm each day. Now do the same for evenings, weekends and finally, note how many texts you send each month. Also note if you regularly call friends on networks other that your own. Finally, note how many inclusive minutes and texts you receive each month. You are now armed with your 'usage' figures and are ready for step two.
• Use this comparison tool to quickly work out which tariff would be cheapest for you (the '3' network generally does quite well). Although this tool does not ask for minutes spent calling other networks (it seems to assume you need cross network minutes) it should give you an idea of how much you could be spending each month – if this is far less than what you are paying, it's time to take action.
• Additionally, check out the websites of the each mobile phone provider for tariffs that suit you.
• When you find one that fits your usage (and wallet), call your mobile phone provider. If the tariff is with your provider, ask to switch. If it isn't, inform it of the offer from its competitor and ask to match it.
• If it refuses, and you would save a lot from switching, it can be worth informing your provider that you wish to leave (– as long as you aren't tied in by your contract). You will often be put through to a special team who can match the deal (or offer something similar) in order to keep you. Alternatively, move provider – you can often secure yourself a great new deal and brand new handset for the price of a phone number change. And if you move to a network that you regularly call anyway, you'll potentially be saving more money.
• Remember, if you never call other networks (all of your calls are to landlines or mobiles on your network) you can usually save money (or gain more inclusive minutes) by choosing a tariff that doesn't give cross network minutes.
• If you're happy with your present tariff but spend a lot on texts, ask your provider if you can pay for a text bundle each month – this will also save money.

And finally, if you regularly call mobiles from your landline, consider using call1899 – you'll pay just 10p/min during the day and 3p/min in the evening and weekends.

> Search for cheaper gas, electricity and home phone suppliers here.