Maybe you are working from home now and don't need as much roaming data for commutes or perhaps you are sick of being glued to the screen over lockdown and want a phone contract to match your new minimal phone habit.
Or you might just want to see how much money you can save by switching contracts.
Whatever your motivation, money-saving professionals make a habit of tracking the best mobile phone deals and regularly come up with new ways for us to save money.
If your phone contract is coming to an end or has already ended, it could be the perfect time to rethink your loyalty to a phone company and contract.
For those who want the latest iPhone, a contract can cost upwards of £35 a year but Andy Webb, the money saver behind Be Clever With Your Cash, says he gets by with an £8 per month commitment.
How to get the best price on your mobile phone contract
A single household can have multiple mobile phone contracts that most of us enter into without much thought because it's accepted as an essential cost- here is how you can change that.
Go SIM-only
A good phone can last up to 10 years and while a 10-year-old iPhone won't get any more updates it will still work so if you are in it for the long haul this could be a great tip.
And Webb says the best prices are often with SIM-only deals and while this might seem like a scary option for those who love to surf their social media he does have a few good points to make.
Here you keep your old handset or buy a new one separately and pay just for your minutes, texts and data.
Since you aren’t paying for a new phone, the monthly costs are also considerably less.
You can get contracts that run from 30 days to a year, giving you far more flexibility than the 18, 24 and even 36-month deals you’re tied to with handsets.
Andy said: "At the time of writing you should be able to get 8GB to 12GB plans for around £8 or £10."
Don’t get your handset via your network
Keeping a phone for 10 years is quite a big ask because screens break, batteries ware and with so many new phones on the market we are bound to want an update.
This doesn't mean that we cant still save money on a phone we plan to keep for three to four years.
Andy said: "Once you go SIM-only you’re no longer caught in that bi-annual cycle of getting a new phone when you don’t really need to.
"Ideally you’ll keep your handset for more than three or four years.
"However, you should avoid getting one as part of your contract.
"Most networks will charge you a premium on top of the handset price to get a new phone bundled with your SIM."
He added that it's very rare for these deals to work out cheaper, especially for the newest phone contracts so he suggests saving money by buying it outright from Apple, Samsung or the likes of John Lewis.
Of course, the high cost of these handsets can be a barrier, but even then you don’t need to resort to including it in a contract but Apple and Samsung offer 0% finance for two years or you could choose a 0% purchase credit card instead.
Don’t pay for more data than you’ll actually use
Money-saving professionals know that one of the biggest ways we waste money is via upselling and mobile phones are no exception.
It's all about getting us to pay for more data than we need.
Andy said "When I last got a new contract with Three, the salesperson said 'It’s only £3 more for 20GB'. Sounds good. Except I didn’t need 20GB. I didn’t really need the 12GB I have, but that was bizarrely cheaper than the 5GB option.
"And I see this upselling all the time. There are always a number of promotions offering unlimited data at what looks like fantastic prices. But you really don’t need unlimited data, so however good the price, you’re still overpaying."
4GB or 5GB, perhaps less, is fine for most of us but if you use less don't pay more- it's a waste.
If your network has an app or online account, there’s a good chance you can check your usage through it and if you don’t have this, you can call up your network and ask them to share this data with you.
Factor in the extras and freebies
Experts don't recommend choosing a new phone network based purely on extras, but if prices are similar it’s worth seeing what you can get.
Andy said: "The reason I first chose Three over similarly priced networks was they let you use your inclusive data, texts and minutes abroad in countries such as the USA rather than just Europe, which saved me a fortune on our honeymoon.
But a year later I switched to BT Mobile as I didn’t need this worldwide roaming. When I had another trip to the States I switched back to Three.
And during lockdown when there was no overseas travel at all I moved to Smarty in search of the perfect lockdown SIM."
EE is bringing back roaming charges in Europe so if you are planning a holiday see if you can get a contract that offers free-roaming.
O2 Priority or Vodafone’s VeryMe rewards may also have offered that interest you and 5G is being suggested for many of us but it's only available in big cities so might not be worth paying for (yet).
Don’t just stick to the big companies
Smaller companies have been known to offer up cheaper deals and while you must make sure that where you live and work gets coverage you could save money by going for a less obvious choice.
O2, EE, Three and Vodafone are the main providers and the rest “piggyback” on one of these.
Andy said: "This means you get exactly the same reception as someone on the host network but at a far lower price.
"The only real difference will be in customer service, though you’ll also lose network-specific benefits from the big brands, such as O2 Priority Moments or Three’s global roaming."
Don’t wait for your contract to end
Experts say that one of the worst tricks networks use to make extra cash is to let you keep paying for a phone and SIM after a contract had ended.
However, rules from Ofcom mean most mobile networks will let you know when your contract is due to end and if you can get a better deal with them.
Andy said that the best way to make sure you get the best deal online and instore is to negotiate 30 days before the end of the contract and added: "This gives you the chance to see if you can get a better deal with your current network, and if not start the process of moving to a cheaper one."
Then you have to compare prices like you would any other purchase, check for cashback just in case and look out for new member bonuses that work for you.
Haggling
Money Saving Expert says that of those who tried to haggle, 65% of them were successful in getting a better deal.
One customer said: "Thank you for giving me a spur to check my mobile phone tariffs, across the year we will make a saving of just under £400"
This can come from asking for a better tariff, telling them your current deal is too expensive, speaking directly to 'disconnections' and being persistent.
More of Andy's money-saving tips can be found on his website.
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