If your phone bills are eating away at your monthly budget, it’s time to get them under control. With our top ten tips you can reduce your bills and even get calls for free. Want to know how to save big on those bills? Read on.

• Change your provider
• Use an ‘override provider’ to save money on BT rates
• Don’t use 118 numbers
• Don’t use BT chargecard
• Phone for free on the internet (VoIP)
• 0870 and 0845
• Cheap international calls
• Send free texts from your computer
• Always check your bill for any charges that are wrong
• Recycle your old mobile

1. Change your provider

There are loads of great deals to be had, and if you haven’t switched phone company in the last 12 months, chances are there’s someone out there charging less than your current provider.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that BT is the only option – their basic line rental is £13.60 a month and that’s if you pay by direct debt and do online billing. Meanwhile Virgin Media will charge you £12.99 a month.

However, if you get your line rental in a broadband and calls bundle – it works out much cheaper. Take Talk Talk for instance – right now they have a special offer of 50% off their bundles for the first 6 months of their twelve month contracts. Included is free connection, unlimited evening and weekend calls to UK landlines (including 0870 and 0845 numbers), 40GB downloads each month and the fastest broadband they can provide in your area – all for £15.85 a month including line rental for six months and then £19.10 for the remainding six months.  And you don’t even need a BT line.

See if you could save money by switching your provider with our free  comparison service, and find out loads more about saving as much as £210 by bundling here.

2. Use an ‘override provider’ to save money on BT rates

Override providers are specialist phone providers that you access by dialling a code before the number you are calling. The calls made with them are mostly charged straight to your credit or debit card. You must already have a phone line to use them, but they work on all providers.

They charge an initial connection charge but then calls are generally a lot cheaper than with BT or other suppliers. The best one for UK landlines is 1899. You’ll pay a 4p connection charge and then the calls are free. For calling mobiles during the day the cheapest service is 18185 which is 6p/min plus a 5p connection charge (BT peak price is 12.5p/min).

These companies also offer ridiculously cheap international calls and are well worth using if you phone abroad a lot. 18185 rates start from just 0.5p per minute to a US mobile. You can sign up to all these services at the same time to get the best price for whatever call you’re making.

Take a look at:

• Alpha Telecom
• 18185
• 1899

3. Don’t use 118 numbers

We’ve all got the internet or just a phonebook, so there’s no excuse to waste money on phoning directory enquiries. It costs 30p just to connect to BT’s 118500 service and then 76p a minute – and that’s one of the cheaper ones. It’s even more if you get the number texted to you or if you call on your mobile.

If you do need to find a number, make sure you do so online for free from Yell.com, 192.com, thephonebook, 118.com or Uphonebook.

There are free numbers you can call if you’re out and about, but you’ll have to put up with listening to an advert. The Number is a free service on 0800 118 3733. Technically to use it you have to register on 118.com first, but it should work without. Free directory enquiries is another free service accessible on 0800 100 100. Again there are ads and you can only do one enquiry per call – but it’s still free.

If you’re calling from mobiles these numbers aren’t free as all UK networks charge for freephone numbers. The best way to get around this is find a public phone and call from there.

4. Don’t use BT chargecard

It’s convenient if you’ve got a BT line, to use the chargecard service and get billed for calls from payphones and abroad straight onto your BT bills. However, the cheapest UK rate is 18p a minute (not cheap) and the cheapest rate abroad is 46p (from the US – again not cheap).

If you don’t have a mobile and need to call from a phonebox, get a cheap phonecard online or from the newsagents that can be accessed using a freephone number. You won’t use all the minutes at once but keep it in your bag and you can use it until it runs out.

If you need to call from abroad – a phonecard, bought either on the internet or when you get there – will be cheaper even if you use the freephone access number. Get a cheap phone card from 1st4phonecards.

5. Phone for free on the internet (VoIP)

If you’ve got broadband you can phone on the internet for free using something called Voice over internet protocol. Sounds complicated, but it’s not – all you need is the right piece of free software.

Skype can be downloaded for free and once you’ve registered you can get started. Find the username of the person you want to call and then click the green phone. You’ll need earphones and a microphone but these can be bought for less than £10. Find out loads more about Skype here.

Skype also allows you to phone landlines from your computer, however it’s not the cheapest. The best on the market are VoIP Stunt and VoIP Cheap. Both offer free international calls and have no sign up fee, but you do have to put £10 credit on your account before you can use it.

This credit expires 120 days after your last paying call which means you are forced to use it up to keep your free calls. These sites are great to use if you’re abroad and want to make cheap calls home. However lots of override providers can offer equally competitive deals that don’t rely on your internet connection.

You can also use the internet to call landline to landline. JaJah is a service that uses VoIP technology combined with your landline. All you’ve got to do is register and then enter your number and the number you’re calling. Your phone will then ring and when you pick up JaJah will phone the other number. It’s free to sign up and calls are free as long as:

• You and the person you are calling are registered on the site
• You are both using a landline in Europe, Australia, New Zealand or Taiwan or a landline or mobile in the US, Canada, China, Singapore of Hong Kong.

You’ve also got to make a call at least once every two weeks or send a text to keep your right to free calls. Otherwise you will be charged normal rates. You can only make up to one hour of free calls a day for up to five days a week.

Again, if your friends or relatives are not registered, override providers are often very competitive so always remember to check prices. You don’t have to choose between these services. You can use them all to make sure you get the cheapest calls possible.

6. 0870 and 0845

0870 numbers can be up to 10 times the cost of a normal landline call and are rarely included in free minutes packages. The companies who use 0870 numbers take a cut of the profits made by the line so they are squeezing even more out of you.

Luckily, there’s a brilliant website – saynot00870 – which has a search engine that finds alternative and often free numbers for the company you’re trying to call. Simply enter the number and the name of the company and you’ll be given a load of alternatives to call.

However, BT customers can call 0870 and 0845 numbers for free, depending on their calling plans. Subscribers to the Unlimited Weekend Plan get free calls at the weekend; users of the Unlimited Evening and Weekend Plan call for free at weekends and evenings; and Unlimited Anytime Plan consumers ring for free all the time. Click here to find out more.

7. Get cheap international calls on your mobile or landline

RebTel is a service that lets you make cheap international calls from your mobile. No need for a computer. It works in two ways:

Direct call – to call someone directly, first you send their number to Rebtel who then generate a unique local number for them. You then simply call that number, they connect you over the internet, and pass all te savings on to you.

Smart call – to set up a smart call, you dial someone on their RebTel number. You then ask them to phone you back on the number that has appeared on their phone. They hang up to phone you back, but you stay on the line. In a few seconds they will click back onto the line and your call will be free. You can only smart call between certain countries – see which ones here (they are highlighted in blue on the list).

The rates start from less than a penny – see them all here. When calling with RebTel you do still have to pay your main provider (o2, Orange etc) for the minutes you use. However they will only be charged at local rate.

RebTel really is good if you have a big free minutes bundle from your mobile provider and you have lots of friends abroad. It is a bit fiddly, but if you can be bothered to do it you can save as much as £1.48 per minute compared to your home provider.

If you’re taking your mobile abroad an international SIM card from a site like Go SIM is a great way to save. There are various packs available starting from just £10 that let you call the UK cheaply and receive calls for free.

8. Send free texts from your computer

You don’t have to rack up huge bills on your mobile to send texts. There are loads of sites online where you can send texts for absolutely nothing. Textmefree has over 200 sites where you can send texts for free. The site explains exactly what you need to do to get free texts on each different website it features.

9. Always check your bill for any charges that are wrong

Lots of companies make millions out of the lethargy of their customers. If you don’t look at your bills you could be paying for calls that you haven’t made. All companies are liable to make billing mistakes that are often just admin errors. However if you don’t look at your bills, you’ll never even notice.

Go through your bill carefully, even if it’s online, and check that all the numbers called look familiar. If there are any big charges make sure you know what they are and why they were called. If you have any queries, get in touch with your provider before you pay the bill – it’s a lot easier to do this than to get your money back once you’ve paid it. Remember to use saynoto0870 if they only give out an 0870 number.

10. Recycle your old mobile

Your old mobile can save your money on the phone calls you’re making now. Instead of chucking your it in the bin, you can recycle it online and get up to £100 for it. Simply type in the make and model number of your phone, and our comparison service will tell you which company will give you the most cash for it.

The company will send you everything you need to post it to them so it won’t cost a thing – all you need to do is wait for your cheque!

Useful links

• Talk Talk
• Textmefree
• JaJah
• saynoto0870
• VoIP Stunt
• Mobile phone recycling service