Phone contract hack helped this mum save an impressive £135 a year

We’re always hearing about the importance of cutting back on spending, but the price of everything only seems to keep rising.

Essential household expenses like energy bills and mobile phone contracts have borne the brunt of these increases, leaving many of us struggling to balance our budgets. 

This was just the situation Faye Whitehead found herself in.

A business development manager and mother-of-one from Wandsworth in south-west London, she’s always been careful with money, and looks for ways to reduce her family’s monthly outgoings whenever possible.

So, imagine her horror when she found out that her mobile network contract was going to increase again this year by up to 8.8% – despite still being mid-contract.

‘I was shocked, I didn’t think they could increase prices mid-contract, but it seems that the big providers can do what they want and get away with it,’ she says. ‘It’s really not fair, especially when finances are already tight.’

It runs on the Vodafone network, but unlike some other providers who have been aggressively hiking up their prices, Lebara has kept them fixed since 2020.

Faye, 47, is saving £135 annually by joining Lebara – and will dodge an up to 8.8% rise which many of the big mobile providers are bringing in from 1 April.

‘I had never heard of them but saw somewhere that you could save £135 per year on your mobile phone bills,’ she says.

‘I had a look on their website, chose the tariff I wanted, completed a form online and was given a PAC code to transfer my existing number,’ Faye says.

Lebara is less well known than some of the old, established mobile network providers, so it’s understandable that Faye wanted to ensure it had a reliable network and good after service before making her purchase.

She explains: ‘I wasn’t sure how good they would be, but a few friends mentioned them in passing and then I saw they were a Which? Recommended Mobile Provider, and won Most Popular Mobile Network Award at the Uswitch Telecoms Awards.

‘My mind was made up to join Lebara, and it has proved to be very reliable.’

Faye needn’t have worried. Lebara uses the award-winning Vodafone network, so customers can be assured of a fast, robust, and reliable 5G network with high data speeds.

If you go abroad to a country in the EU or India, Lebara includes roaming in your plan at no extra cost so you can continue to stay connected as you would at home in the UK.

This is another plus for Faye, who says: ‘I haven’t used it yet but plan to use it in the future.

‘Free roaming in the EU is definitely something of value as I use my phone for everything so not being able to use the Internet or call people wouldn’t work for me.’

Faye urges others to follow her example in being smarter with their shopping on household essentials and not being afraid to step away from well-known brands.

Yes, they may have the stadium sponsorships and glitzy ad campaigns, but you can often find better value elsewhere.

It’s also cheaper to hold on to your current phone for longer, or even buy one outright or through a finance option, and just switch to a SIM Only provider like Lebara. They don’t hold you down in long expensive contracts, giving you the flexibility to change your plan as per your needs.

‘I personally prefer it when they don’t use Hollywood stars as I would like to think the money they would be spending on paying a celebrity to promote their product, is actually being passed onto their customers as a saving,’ she says.