{prltitle}

It's not just governments that are trying to lower their bills during the current economic downturn households are attempting to cut costs too, and quickly. From simply turning off lights to seeking alternative heating methods, even a small cut in your monthly outgoings can have a big impact over a year.

But what about lowering your phone bills? With the number of things you can do on a mobile phone increasing by the month, it seems harder than ever before to cut the cost of your phone bill. But by bearing a few simple tips in mind, you could see the numbers on your phone bill slowly climb down in the long term.

Easy ways to lower your mobile phone bill

Once you're committed to the goal of reducing how much you spend on your mobile phone, start by taking a hard look at your last bills. Where do you spend the most money? Do you regularly exceed your text, call or internet data allowance? What are the causes of these excess charges? For instance, perhaps you watch several videos on YouTube a day on your phone or you stream music from clients like Spotify using 3G. These activities can significantly eat into your monthly data.

To reduce or eliminate these charges, make a few simple changes in your mobile phone behaviour. Try limiting your YouTube and Spotify usage to when you have a wireless internet connection within range. Remember, Spotify playlists can also be made available offline, so you can play them without using your data allowance. Also think about the ways in which you call people perhaps a text would suffice instead of a phone call. If you work from a computer all day, sending an email instead is another alternative to using your mobile phone. And if you have a landline at home, you may even have free weekend calls to other landlines so turning to older phone technology could help reduce those bills too.

Alternatively, if you're no longer bound by a contract, consider changing mobile phone networks or downgrading to a cheaper tariff. Some major phone networks offer cheap monthly tariffs that you can leave when you like. What's more, if you're only an occasional phone user but you're still paying monthly for a phone contract with benefits you hardly use, consider switching to a pay as you go tariff, which requires you to top up only when you need to. If you are a light phone user, this could save you at least 10 a month. However, pay as you go is often only an affordable option for occasional mobile phone users if you're a heavy user, it's usually more economical to take out a contract with inclusive texts, minutes and data.

Texting and calling abroad for less

If you text or call friends or family abroad from your mobile, cutting your bill may be seem like hard work but it's not impossible. Call up your mobile network and ask them if they have any special offers for international numbers. Some networks may allow you to pay a lump sum for free or cheap calls from mobiles to the country of your choice. If your mobile network doesn't offer such a deal, take a look around the market and don't be afraid to switch to a rival if it means your bills will be lower.