The average cost of mobile phone bills is now considered a standard monthly cost.
This makes a mobile phone a considered purchase, especially when you compare this to the standard average household bills. It’s amazing to see that the average mobile phone cost is now more expensive than the average water bill.
The average bills are based on the entire household. When you consider how many mobile devices are in each home it appears that mobile phone bills could be the most expensive monthly bill outside of rent and mortgages.
The chart above shows how many mobile phones there are in each household. 79% of households have two or more devices with 40% of households having two. This means 40% of households spend £91.12 on mobile phone plans each month!
The key to reducing your monthly mobile phone bill is understanding how the monthly tariff is built. Most phone plans come with a free handset, unlimited minutes and texts and a data allowance. As the minutes and texts are now usually unlimited it’s the device and data allowance that drives the monthly cost.
Handset costs
The cost of handsets has risen in recent years. This is down to the fact that a mobile phone is now more powerful than a laptop. Keeping the device cost down is one of the key ways to reduce the monthly bill.
Each year mobile phone manufacturers release their latest models. For major manufactures like Apple and Samsung this is always in August and September. When new phones hit the market the previous generation phones will reduce in cost. This makes August and September the best time to start choosing the previous generations phone with a huge discount.
Are you a technology fan or a brand fan? Apple and Samsung have held the title of the best phone manufacturers for years. As technology has caught up, other manufacturers are now producing great devices too.
For example, Huawei have just been awarded the number 1 slot for the best hardware in Europe for the P20 PRO. Sony released the XZ2 last year which is one of the best devices on the market with a 4K HDR screen.
Consumers should assess a mobile phones technology as well as the reputation of the brand name. To check out phone specifications head over to https://www.gsmarena.com.
Data Usage
Managing data usage plays a huge part in cutting costs. The average consumer purchases 16GB data allowance. The average data usage in the UK is only 4.1 GB. This means most UK consumers could and should be saving money on their monthly bill.
The first step to staying in control of your data is understanding how your data is used. To make things simple www.fonehouse.co.uk have supplied this graphic which shows what 10GB of data can do each month. Check your last 6 months bills or device to see what you actually use versus what you pay for.
When and how you use your mobile phone effects how much data you need. If you are at home and at work most of the time, then WI-FI is usually within distance. If you’re stuck in the car then data will get used up quicker. Consider where you spend your time and if you have access to WI-FI.
Where do you fit into this chart?
Optimising mobile data usage
Device management is extremely important. The more APPs you have the more data is used. This is due to more activity on the device and each of these APP’s must update, using data allowance if not connected to WI-FI. Delete APP’s that are not used to save updating on the move.
The specific APP’s you have installed will also affect the data you use. Below shows the most installed APP’s for UK consumers.
Half of these APP’s use streaming and are using data constantly. You can manage this by checking your APP settings on your device. Set your APPs to ask to update rather than auto update. This means you can update when connecting to WI-FI.
Push notifications are extremely common now. Once limited to news sites they have spread to most apps that drive some form of revenue. You can setup each APP yourself and turn off notifications to control data usage.
Stream or Download
Watching TV, streaming music and movies drain data allowances. If it’s possible to download what you plan to watch or listen to on the move do it!
Setup data alerts
Most devices don’t automatically setup data alerts for you. Setting this up allows you know how much data you have used and what you have left. This often jogs the memory into logging into any free WI-FI available.
Log into WI-FI
Logging into WI-FI sounds like a no brainer. Most communal venues have free WI-FI, being lazy and not asking for the code will end up costing money. Even buses now offer free WI-FI, take a moment and ask for the password!
Taking control of your cost
Considering the advice above will help you know what you need, how much you should be spending and how to control your data allowance.
