Mobile phones in, coffee and shoes out

Millions of people across the country are trying to cut costs, but they are also looking for cheaper, more effective ways of paying for day-to-day expenditure - such as by choosing Pay-As-You-Go mobile phones and instant coffee, according to a new report out today from Post Office Telecoms.

The Post Office asked 2,000 people which things they’d give up if their finances were stretched, and whilst shoes and shop-bought coffees get the elbow, only 4 per cent of us would consider giving-up our mobile phones to save money.

Items we would cut out to help our cash-flow include:

21 per cent would give up coffee bought from a shop
15 per cent would sacrifice buying new shoes
15 per cent would stop buying alcohol
9 per cent would cut out chocolate
7 per cent would skip regular hair cuts
7 per cent would stop buying music
4 per cent would give up their mobile phone

Despite the fact that only 4 per cent of us would give up our mobiles, the report also shows that 12 per cent of us are currently reviewing how we pay for our mobile phones. Over one in ten customers currently on a pay-monthly mobile contract are in the process of, or are seriously considering changing to a Pay-As-You-Go mobile phone. In recent months some Post Office branches have seen an increase in sales of mobile top ups of over 100 per cent.

This news follows an earlier report by Post Office Telecoms released in 2008 which showed 53 per cent of mobile phone users could be suffering from ‘nomophobia’ – the fear of having no mobile phone.

As mobile phone technology becomes increasingly hi-tech and functional we are now using mobile phones to store more than just telephone numbers – 54 per cent of people store photos on their phone, 27 per cent music, 24 per cent diary appointments and 23 per cent store videos.

Men were twice as likely as women to give up their mobile phone, with 6 per cent of men compared to 3 per cent of women saying they’d cut it out for financial reasons.

Commenting on the role of the mobile in our lives, Post Office telephony manager Hugh Stacey said: “We’ve known for years that we are becoming increasingly reliant on our mobile phones, and it’s interesting to see how, within ten years, they have become vital to our everyday lives.”

“To help users make their pounds go further, we’d recommend making sure you carefully budget for your mobile phone and seek out cheaper payment options. Our research shows that one way mobile-users are doing this is by switching to Pay-As-You-Go phones, and in recent months we have seen an increasing number of people buying Pay-As-You-Go credit at the Post Office.”

The Post Office is the UK’s second largest retailer of electronic top-ups for mobile phones and covers all mobile phone networks.