A savvy mum has revealed how she slashed her phone bill with just one simple trick.
Sian Emily, from Liverpool, has reduced her monthly bill from £50 to just £11, saving her almost £500 a year.
It’s one of many tweaks the 26-year-old has made to work her way out of £2,500-worth of debt, while keeping on top of nursery fees and general household costs.
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“I think, with my phone bill, it’s something that my parents taught me,” Sian, an assistant psychologist, told What’s The Jam.
“It’s one of the first things you have to get yourself.
“It was my stepdad that originally said to me, ‘You need to buy a phone outright.’
“He did a zero percent interest loan with me.
“So he loaned me the money to buy the refurbished model.
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“I paid him back and from then on, I just [used] sim card only.”
Sian dedicates a lot of her free time to sharing money hacks online to her thousands of online followers.
And she says a phone bill, which almost everyone has, is a good place to start.
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She said: “I’d always go for a cheaper or a refurbished phone.
“If you get money at birthdays or Christmas, put it to one side so you can buy something refurbished.
“Some places do zero percent loans on their phones – I know Apple definitely does one.
“Try to put money aside or, if you can, [make] over payments towards phones to get out of it [the contract].”
Sian says she currently spends around £70 per day on nursery fees and £81 a week on groceries.
After paying for the essentials, the mum is left with £200 to cover the rest of her family’s needs.
So cutting her phone bill has made a big difference.
She said: “It’s not another expense I’ve got to think about coming out every single month.”
According to Sian, stress testing is another good tip.
It involves pausing before taking a contract out or making a big purchase, and holding back a certain amount per month to see how much you miss it.
She said: “If you can’t cope then you know not to go through with it. If you can, then you sign up for it.
“I’m watching other money content-related videos and learning myself because I would love to have an overall better mindset with money.
“Nurseries are a big expense and it’s so important [to budget], especially with social media nowadays.
“You’re bombarded and it’s hard not to get stuck in that cycle of trying to keep up with everyone.
“You’ve got to show it’s not normal to fall into overconsumption.”
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