Money for beginners: Mobiles honed (From The Northern Echo)

Money for beginners: Mobiles honed

11:04am Friday 12th February 2010 in

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When comparing mobile phone deals, it’s the tariff that counts, not the cool shape or the colour of the handset.

BE careful next time you spot a stunner with a gorgeously sleek body. See a sexy new mobile handset and often all you can think about is getting your hands on it. But it’s the tariff that’s important, so ignore tempting distractions like handsets or cashback.

The number of phone package combinations out there is vast. There are more than ten mobile networks, each with multiple tariffs, sold at different prices.

The networks make cash from our confusion, leaving many folks paying more than they need to – and this is big money.

Over the year, we’re talking hundreds of pounds wasted.

Before you start...

There’s nothing more important than working out exactly what you need. If you get a contract with too many minutes and texts, they’ll be unused so you’ll end up overpaying on the monthly fee.

Too few and you’ll be overpaying for the excess calls. So take a look at a few bills if you can, and see what you actually use, which often differs from what you think you use.

Things to check:

● How many calls and texts do you use on average?

● Do you phone mainly at peak times (usually 7am to 7pm midweek) or offpeak?

● Are most of your calls to other mobile networks or to landlines?

● How many texts do you send?

● Do you often use your phone to access the internet? If so, data costs are important too.

As a rough rule of thumb, if you use fewer than 150 minutes of calls and 100 texts a month then pay-as-you-go (PAYG) is cheaper than contract, as the higher call cost is offset by the lack of monthly fee. For everyone else, contract usually wins. Sadly, those with poor credit histories have no choice, contract applications are credit scored, so PAYG is the only option.

STEP ONE: Haggle with your network Now everyone’s got a mobile, the networks fight desperately to win new customers and retain the ones they’ve got, so you can use this to your advantage. If you’ve already got a mobile contract and it has expired or is close to expiring, you’re holstering a serious MoneySaving weapon... the threat of leaving.

If you’ve time, before doing this check out the cheapest tariffs elsewhere (see step two) as a benchmark, then call up and say you want a much better deal.

Remember, mobile prices tend to drop each year, so the same tariff should never be an option – you want better.

Ask what the best available tariff is, then if the offer isn’t good enough say you will consider leaving if it can’t match the deal. That’s because the crucial part of this technique is getting through to what it calls the “disconnections department”, but internally will be known as something like “customer retentions”.

In other words, its real job is to keep your business and, because of that, it has much more power and discretion to do it. If you’re pushing and your bluff is called with a “sorry, we can’t do that, I’ll arrange cancellation”, just back off. A quick “I need to think about it and I’ll call you back” is an easy way out.

To show the power of this, I remember when I had just started dating a girl, I spotted her £75-a-month mobile bill and baulked. So I got her on the phone and haggling. She got through to disconnections and was soon on £25 a month – a saving of £50 month, or £600 a year, in only ten minutes. Depending on how you view the romance of such a thing, you will be either shocked or unsurprised that she is now my wife.

For a full step-by-step guide on this (mobile haggling not dating), go to moneysavingexpert.com/mobilehaggle

STEP TWO: Finding the best tariff If the haggle didn’t work for you, or you’re not already on a contract, the core job is to hunt out the right tariff. This dictates the number of free minutes (if any), call costs, texts and data use included.

The same tariff can cost vastly different amounts, depending on the handset, retailer and cashback deals. Don’t let any of these distract you. In the long run, the tariff is the biggest factor impacting costs.

Contract mobiles

Tariff retailers use eye-catching cashback deals to coax you into buying. Ignore them and focus on picking the cheapest tariff first. Only afterwards, check if cashback is available. That way if the cashback goes pear-shaped, you’re on the cheapest deal anyway.

Pay as you go

Here, the danger is that you’ll be lured by a cool handset. Mobile providers often deliberately price these low, but the cost of the underlying tariff is high, so you think “wow the SexyPhoneY67 is only £10 here”, yet the savings made are dwarfed by huge call charges. For everyone other than emergency-only users, focus on getting the right tariff.

To help with this, there are a number of web comparison sites to give an indication of prices. These include , mobilephonechecker.co.uk and moneysupermarket.com

Tricks to cut the bill further

The mobile world is complex and there are lots more ways to cut costs.

Cheap iPhone – if you’re after the overpriced Apple, be prepared to sign up to a much costlier tariff than necessary. Normally, I’d say no one should be paying much more than £30 a month on their mobile bill, no matter how many calls made (apart from overseas), but not with an iPhone. Bizarrely, this means the cheapest way to get an iphone is to pay more per month but on a shorter contract.

For details, see moneysavingexpert.com/cheapiphone

Text for free. It’s amazing you can send the mass of info in an email from your phone for fractions of a penny, yet a 100-odd character text message can cost 10p.

Networks make a fortune from these, so if you’re near a computer, just text free from the web using sites such as cbfsms.com, or you can install software on your phone that sneakily sends texts for a fraction of the cost via your mobile internet. For step-by-step instructions, see moneysavingexpert.com/freetexts

Unlock your handset. If you don’t want a new phone, then you can get a Sim-only deal for next to nothing. A Sim is the little card you shove in the back of your mobile that gives it its identity. These can often be dirt cheap, although as most handsets are “locked” to a specific network, you need to unlock it first (it’s legal, it’s unblocking that’s illegal).

Sometimes there are free codes on the internet, or you may need to pay your network.

Recycle your old mobile for up to £150.

If you do get a new handset, you can sell your old one at speed and get up to £150 in cash using mobile recycling sites. Yet as these all pay different amounts for handsets, use my mobilevaluer.com website, which tells you who pays the most.

TOP SAVER Marks & Spencer online is selling a dozen Fair Trade red roses for £19.50.

Go to marksandspencer.com to get them delivered by courier on Valentine’s Day. Order by 5pm today to ensure Sunday delivery.

■ TV money guru Martin Lewis runs the consumer revenge website MoneySavingExpert.com. Ensure you get his weekly email so you’re constantly saving money.

Top of the farm shops

KNITSLEY Farm Shop, near Consett, County Durham, has won the title of Own and Local Farm Shop of the Year.

The award, presented by the Farm Retail Awards of the National Farmers’ Retail and Markets Association, celebrates the best of what makes farm shops special, including food they have grown and reared themselves, complemented by produce from neighbouring farmers.

The Knitsley shop, owned by Edward and Rachael Jewson, prides itself on its home-grown beef, lamb, mutton and pork, which accounts for half of its sales. The meat is butchered and prepared on site, turned into prime and unusual cuts, smoked, roasted, glazed, or turned into bacon, terrines, pates and pies, for sale over the counter in the farm shop and in the popular restaurant.

The shop also makes cakes, scones and other sweet treats, and there are plans to create a fresh herb garden.

How to be a farmers’ friend

IF you care about where your food comes from and are keen to support local food producers, North East England Farmers’ Markets wants to hear from you. On Sunday, at the Hartlepool market, it will be launching the UK’s first Friends of Farmers’ Market Scheme, which will then be rolled out across the North-East.

For an annual subscription of £10, friends will receive previews and discounts from stallholders, VIP event invitations and have a chance to visit producers to see how their food is made.

■ To find out more about becoming a friend of the Hartlepool market, call Kathryn Potts on 01665-576148, email kathryn@local-living.org.uk or visit neefm.org.uk

COUPLES can relax sideby- side this Valentine’s Day in the dual-treatment room at Bannatyne’s Spa, Darlington.

The specially-equipped room allows loved ones to enjoy treatments designed to either invigorate or relax the mind, body, and soul.

Couples can also enjoy heated loungers in the relaxation room, to unwind their muscles as they enjoy a refreshing and healthy drink.

The Darlington Spa is open to all, including nonmembers, and has free parking. It also offers a range of routine, exotic and specialist treatments from Elemis, which will cleanse people of everyday stresses and strains of life.

RELAX AND UNWIND TOGETHER

Two-for-one pamper day

THE Bannatyne Spa in Darlington is offering readers the chance to experience the fantastic dual treatment room and luxurious relaxation room with a pamper day for two for only £59 – a saving of up to £51!

The Spa is open to all, welcomes non-members, and has free parking. It provides a range of treatments to invigorate and relax; including massage, facials and self-tanning.

For details visit www.bannatyne.co.uk or call 01325-487488 To claim your Pamper Day for Two for £59 quote Darlington15 when booking.

All bookings must be made before February 27.