Find The Perfect Mobile Phone Tariff

Whether you're a high, medium, or pay as you go user, we pick out the best value mobile phone tariffs to suit you...

When it comes to choosing the right mobile phone, with so many different deals at the moment, you could easily end up feeling rather lost.

With hidden charges, complicated cashback deals and even tariffs named after animals out to confuse you even more, it's hard to know what the best deal is.

So, in an effort to make things a little bit clearer, here's a few of my favourite deals at the moment which provide good value whether you're a light, medium or high user...

Pay As You Go Players

Often dismissed as the convenient but poor-value choice, pay as you go price plans are not only more flexible, but much more appealing than they used to be.

Best Deal: If you're looking for all-round value, it's hard to pick between pay as you go frontrunners O2 and Orange, with both offering an excellent range of freebies every time you top up.

However, Orange wins it for me.

As well as your £10 top-up, Orange will not only give you a choice of 120 free evening and weekend minutes on the Canary plan or 300 free texts with the Dolphin option, but has a range of other perks, including two for one cinema tickets every Wednesday.

In addition, if you choose the Dolphin plan, you get free access to Facebook, Bebo and MySpace -- a handy bonus if you love to network, and one which won't cramp your style - or your wallet either.

There's even better news. If you're thinking of going pay as you go, order your free Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone, or O2 SIM right now! T-Mobile will even give you £5 credit if you register your SIM online. Not bad for nothing!

Middle Of The Road Champions

With a monthly cost of around £15 - £20 per month, these tariffs usually give you a basic phone for free, or a snazzier model for an additional subsidy.

Here's what the providers are currently offering. All plans cost £20 per month (except the 3 plan, which costs £21).

Best Deal: Of the five providers, 3 provides the best value for money. With their Mix and Match plan, one minute of voice calls equals one text, and users are free to use any combination of the two to make up their allowance, providing much more flexibility in your price plan.

Alternatively, you may want to consider one of T-Mobile's Flext plans. Similar to 3, Flext gives you an allowance similar to a pay as you go, which can use to mix and match texts and voice calls. As a bonus, T-Mobile online are currently offering their Flext 35 tariff which gives you £200 of calls and texts for just £22.50 a month. You also get a free phone.

Heavy Hitters

There are really some good deals available for big spenders at the moment, with top tariffs usually qualifying you for the latest phones at no extra charge.

Here's a snapshot of what's on offer at the moment:

Best Deal: T-Mobile's new `Combi' plan gives you the most value for what you get, with 1,000 minutes and unlimited texts, plus 10% off if you buy online and a free phone. As companies revamp their plans in an effort to be more competitive, I think this is the shape of things to come.

Alternatively, if you can't wait to get your hands on the new iPhone, take advantage of the perks of a higher tariff and get it free on O2's £45 a month plan (though you will have to sacrifice 500 of the 1,000 texts you would other get every month in order to qualify).

Best SIM-Only Deals

If you don't mind using your old phone, SIM-only plans offer some of the most Foolish deals on the market. I like these plans, as unlike mobile contracts which can last up to 24 months, you won't get tied in to a contract for more than 30 days. Plus, as you don't get a phone, the deals are packed with masses of minutes and texts for your phone to get its teeth into.

Here's what the networks are offering for £25 per month:

Best Deal: Although both Orange and T-Mobile give you more minutes, I think O2 provides the most value. This is because if you sign up online, you can choose an free `Bolt On' which includes free O2 to O2 calls, texts or unlimited internet on your phone, meaning you could turn your phone into a PC in your pocket for no extra charge.

You can read more about what the benefits of SIM-only deals, and how they could save you £270 off your bill here.

Maximise Your Benefits

Admittedly, these are only a small slice of the gigantic pie of deals currently out there, and obviously everyone's needs are different. So, here are a few more tips to get the most from your tariff, whatever your usage.

1.) Buy Online

All the tariffs I have mentioned so far quote online prices, and you will often find deals not available on the high street simply by shopping on the net.

For example, Orange will give you £5 a month off almost all of its plans if you order online, and O2 gives you extra texts on its online plans. In fact, almost all the networks provide incentives when you buy through the web.

2.) Play The Cashback Game (but with caution)

If you know where to look, you could even get most, if not all your calls and texts for free by taking out a contract with cashback. Be warned though, these deals are only for the most disciplined among us, as many people have fallen foul of their complex rules.

Read more about this and other scams in Serena Cowdy's aptly titled article, Avoid These Mobile Phone Rip-Offs!.

3.) Get The Most Out Of Your Deal

As competition continues to hot up in the mobile market, providers are increasingly tying you in for as long as they can. These days, the best deals can only be found on 18, or even 24 month tariffs.

So, it makes perfect sense to get the most of your existing deal. Remember that most providers will allow you to switch between tariffs after you've signed up, so if you're after a particular phone, it may be worthwhile signing a higher contract then downgrading later (though make sure you check the terms of your contract before doing this).

And, when it's time to upgrade, drive a hard bargain. If you're prepared to leave, threaten to -- you could get a better deal by choosing this tactic.

If you know of any good tariffs on networks not mentioned, please let us know! My tables weren't big enough to incorporate the smaller networks such as Virgin Mobile, and I'm curious to hear of other good deals out there. For now, happy hunting!

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