The cheapest mobile phone tariffs

by Rachel Wait on 19 February 2010  |  5 comments
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We round up the best mobile tariffs to suit everyone...

Whether you only use your mobile phone for emergencies, or it's permanently stuck to your ear, you're bound to want to slash how much money you spend on it each month. So here are some of the best deals in town!

Bargain basement

If you're not fussed about having the latest mobile phone model and you're more concerned about keeping costs to a minimum, you may want to consider a pay-as-you-go deal.

Asda is still offering its top pay-as-you-go deal, where each text costs 4p and calls cost just 8p a minute. And Tesco is offering a similar deal with its Lite SIM deal - again, texts cost 4p, and calls are 8p per minute.

Alternatively, Tesco is also offering a deal where if you sign up to receive a free SIM card, and top up your mobile by £10, £15, or £20, your credit will be tripled! Calls costs 20p a minute, while texts cost 10p each. What's more, the price will be halved to 10p and 5p respectively for your five favourite numbers.

However, if you'd prefer to sign up to a pay monthly plan and receive a free phone, the cheapest one currently on offer comes from Orange. The Orange 5 deal is £5 a month and comes with 50 minutes and 50 texts a month. Just be aware that this is a 36 month contract - so you will need to be prepared to tie yourself in for three years. However, you will get a replacement phone after 18 months.

SIM only

If you haven't yet heard about SIM only deals, you must have been living under a rock for the past couple of years. These brilliant deals are growing in popularity because although you don't get a free mobile phone, you will get more texts/minutes for your money.

What's more, usually you don't have to be tied into a long contract. Instead, you can opt to be on a 30-day rolling contract - so if something better comes along, you'll only have to give a month's notice before you switch.

To give you an idea of some of the best deals, for a mere £10 a month, Virgin is offering a SIM only tariff which includes 200 minutes and unlimited texts! Or for £5 more you can get 500 minutes and unlimited texts.

Orange is offering a similar deal for £10 a month, with 200 minutes and unlimited texts - unfortunately, however, this is an 18 month contract. If you'd prefer to be on a monthly contract, you'll need to pay £5 more a month.

£20 a month

If SIM only isn't for you, but you're still hoping to save money on a monthly contract, you can still pick up some great deals.

The chart below highlights some of the best tariffs for around £20 a month from the top providers. These deals all include a free phone, although if you want a better model, you will have to pay extra.

*Choose a 24 month contract and you'll receive 200 mins and 400 texts, plus unlimited O2 to O2 calls.

**Choose a 24 month contract and you'll receive 400 mins and unlimited texts.

If you're a keen texter, Orange, Virgin and Vodafone all offer some pretty great tariffs, with unlimited texts. And if you need regular internet access, the Virgin £22 tariff should definitely tick the right box.

If it's flexibility you're after, however, you may prefer 3's Mix & Match 700 tariff. That's because one minute equals one text - so you can use any combination of the two to make up your total allowance of 700.

£35 a month

If you're a heavier user, you might be looking for more minutes for your money. So here are some of the top deals on offer for around £35 a month. Again, these deals include a free phone.

*Choose from the following bolt ons: unlimited O2 to O2 calls, unlimited texts, unlimited internet, unlimited weekend calls, unlimited landline calls, unlimited Wi-Fi, 200 extra anytime minutes.  

**Choose a 24 month contract and you'll receive 1200 mins and unlimited texts.

Personally, I think Orange and Virgin offer the best deals here. If you're a textaholic but you also regularly make calls, these deals certainly offer good value for money. And if you also need regular internet access on your mobile, the Virgin deal should be right up your street.

T-Mobile's new offering

You may have noticed that there's one major provider I haven't mentioned in the charts above, and that's T-Mobile.

The reason for this is because T-Mobile has recently re-vamped its tariffs and launched Flexible Boosters on all of its monthly price plans - and these deserve a mention all of their own. These Flexible Boosters are great for anyone looking for a lot of flexibility in their mobile tariff. They are designed to allow customers to personalise their monthly plan based on the type of handset they want, the way they use their phone, and how much they want to spend each month.

What's more, you also have the flexibility to change your plan each month if your needs change - so if you're about to go on holiday, you can select the Roaming Booster for the month, for example. Once you've returned home, you may choose to deselect the Roaming Booster and select the Unlimited Internet Booster instead.

Plans start from as little as £10. The chart below gives you some examples:

***Customers on any pay monthly price plan can choose from the following Flexible Boosters: unlimited internet on your phone, international calling, roaming, unlimited calls to landlines or unlimited calls to other T-mobile customers.

Of course, this is just a selection of deals on offer - there are plenty of others to choose from, so it's well worth checking out.

Unlimited internet

If you're more concerned with using the internet on your phone - rather than texting or phoning - T-Mobile's Flexible Booster plans could be well suited to your needs.

If not, O2 also offers unlimited web bolt ons for its tariffs above £35. Or if you're prepared to plump for a SIM only deal, you can select the Online 20 SIM for £20 a month and this includes 600 minutes, 1200 texts, and the option to have a unlimited web bolt on.

If you're hoping to keep the cost to a minimum, however, Virgin's £18 tariff might be worth considering. It comes with 150 minutes and 500 texts, but most importantly it has unlimited internet. Alternatively, the Virgin £18 SIM only deal offers 300 minutes, unlimited texts, and unlimited internet.

Finally, don't forget to take a look at 3 which offers internet texter plans. You can choose from a £15, £20, £25, or £35 plan depending on how many minutes you want - and all of these plans come with unlimited internet and unlimited texts.

As a final word of warning, don't forget that the best deals are usually found online - not on the high street. So make sure you do your research.

And if you'd like further advice on how to reduce your mobile phone bills, lovemoney.com can help. First, adopt this goal: Spend less on your mobile. And then why not have a wander over to Q&A and ask other lovemoney.com members for advice?

More: The iPhone: Orange vs. O2 | The top five worst mobile phone scams