Unbelievably, it’s over two years since we last updated the website, and it was actually changing my phone that reminded me that it had been such a long time. As with most good ideas, I started out with a lot of enthusiasm when I started this mobile phone site, but after a couple of pages went live, things soon turned to procrastination!

Some things haven’t changed at all since we last posted, such as the deals available from the various networks remaining broadly the same, and that is evident from that two year gap since we last spoke – 24 month contracts are still very much the norm if you want a new phone as part of the deal.

What has evolved though, is just how much you can get in value as a freebie or cash back. We’ve touched on redemption style cash back deals before, which we’re not a great fan of simply because it’s so easy to forget to send the voucher at the right time, and after all they’re designed to be hard to get right, so the company can retain as much commission as possible on their sales.

Now though, you can get hundreds of pounds worth of freebies as a reward for taking out a new contract. For example, if you love gaming, companies offer consoles such as an XBox, Playstation or Wii U if you take out high end contracts like those on the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus. Of course, you’re paying for them indirectly as part of your contract, but you can’t simply get the money off your monthly airtime fee. The deals don’t stop there though, we’ve recently seen holiday vouchers and even a 2016 coffee machine best buy (you can see how great it is too in this Barista Express review at beantocupcoffeemachines.net). We all love coffee don’t we? So why wouldn’t you opt for a bean to cup coffee machine as a freebie if it’s worth over £500?

Whether you love a caffeine hit, or to spend a couple of hours with Mario, make sure that you get a great deal on your new phone. It’s now common to spend in excess of £65 a month on the latest handsets, and that will last at least 2 years in most cases – that means you’ll be shelling out over £1,500 – that’s why they can afford to buy you a luxury gift when you sign up! Let us know which choice you’re tempted by – if it’s the coffee machine, we’re more than happy to come and help you celebrate with a fresh brew!

There’s been a lot of scams about recently it seems, particularly those offering the chance to trial an iPhone 5 and in return for reporting back to Apple what you think you get to keep it. OK, let’s be clear here, I don’t know for a fact that its a scam, but I’m applying the old adage that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this life as they say, and as I pointed out on the homepage, free deals are out there, but they’re not free in the sense that you pay nothing, the cost of the incentive is rolled into the monthly fees, top ups or whatever.

Time and time again I see people looking for a freebie, and short of winning the daily This Morning prize draw (see entercompetitionsonline.co.uk for how to avoid the extortionate premium line to enter), most of us are stuck with the going rate for our mobiles.

That’s not to say we can’t get a bargain though, and if you’re heading out of contract there’s a couple of common pitfalls you really want to avoid. Firstly, don’t keep paying until you find the deal you want. I know it’s easy to just file it in the back of your mind like so many other things in life, but you’re paying through the nose when you don’t have to – once that renewal date passes, you’re under no obligation to keep paying, and the phone is yours. If you do nothing else, give the customer service line for your network a call, and tell them you want to switch to a 30 day sim only plan.

These sim only plans are designed for people who want the benefits of a mobile phone contract, in other words free minutes, texts web access, cinema tickets, whatever else is on offer, but don’t want the associated price. You keep your handset, and pay less for essentially the same contract. By opting for the 30 day option, you’re under no obligation to complete anything more than a month, so you can pick up the hunt for a new phone at any time after that. In fact, if you push them, most networks won’t even hold you to the 30 days if you stick with them for the new phone and contract!

Here’s the numbers for the main network customer service teams if you need to do this:

Orange

150 from a pay monthly Orange mobile

450 from a pay as you go Orange mobile

07973 100 150 from a landline

T-Mobile

From your mobile call 150

From a landline call 0845 412 5000

o2

202 from a pay monthly o2 mobile

0844 809 0202 from a landline about a pay monthly phone

4445 from a pay as you go mobile

0844 809 0222 from a landline about a pay as you go phone

Three

333 from your Three mobile

0843 373 3333

Vodafone

Call 191 from your Vodafone phone

Contract customers call 08700 700191

Pay as you go customers call 08700 776655

All the above numbers are taken from the respective company’s website, so if you want to know what it’s going to cost to call them, that’s where to find out.

Having talked about taking 30 day sim only plans out, if you know that you’re going to be sticking with your current plan for a while, ask your network about longer plans. Some networks do 90 day contracts and they all offer 12 month options, so if you’re sure you’ll stick on your handset for long enough you’ll get even better value.

So, there you have it, if you’re not insane enough to test out an iPhone 5 scam, and don’t fancy your luck with the Daybreak, This Morning or any other competition to get everything you want for free, there’s a nice way of saving some cash, even if only until you upgrade to a shiny new phone.

One final tip for when you do upgrade to welcome our mobile phone site visitors, don’t be afraid to haggle. Just because that iPhone is labelled as £34 a month on the website, doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t get it for less. Tell them you want it but only have £30 to spend – £4 a month over 2 years is a saving of nearly £100, so while its a bit cheeky it’s worth a punt!