I recently purchased the IPhone 11 Pro following intense research online for contracts offered by the likes of Vodafone, O2, EE and Three mobile. While these network giants have really good deals online, I found that they are actually not the best money saving options. However, you could be lucky.

Tip: If it is not Black Friday where I found Carphone Warehouse to have the best deals, then it is seasonal sales such as Boxing Day limited time offers. Keep your eye out for new deals particularly on money saving comparison sites like mobiles.co.uk.

What if the phone you want is a recent release and will hardly go in the sale, this is what I found with the IPhone 11 Pro. The network companies are bundling up useless packages for users such as unlimited minutes and texts , while data, which is the most desired is often restricted. Notwithstanding, total costs of a typical IPhone 11 Pro network contract or most new phones are unnecessarily high.

Tip: Always compare costs of phone and total cost of a network contract to see if it is a better deal buying the SIM and phone separately. With this comes with tailoring the SIM more specifically to your needs. Usually tailoring is easier if you are after a SIM only deal.

Following my price research I was reluctant to buy from the network companies as I found them a rip off. Total cost of the phone and contract would probably cost me up to 1500 pounds for a phone worth just over 1000 pounds (iPhone 11 pro 64GB). If you know the iPhone 11 Pro well, ample data is required to really enjoy its usage. At the same time, I did not want to pay cash for the phone as I have been enjoying upgrades every 2 years for the last 15 years. If you are in the same boat as me, you would know that phones are becoming smarter and upgrades are getting more expensive where network providers are no longer offering preferential rates to existing customers.

Little did I know though that Apple itself has patnered with a financing company Barclays Bank. This is like having your cake and shoving the leftover crumbs in the face of the network providers. If you are like me and don’t have an old phone to trade in and have to buy full price, the cost can be quite difficult to come to terms with. After all it is just a phone. Apple Laptops used to cost the same a few years ago

Tip: this partnership of Apple and Barclays Finance gives you the option to buy the phone and still pay for 2 years installmentally or you can join the Apple programme which allows you to upgrade phones every year paying a fee towards it.

Assuming you have a credit history in the UK, this finance option is not only relatively easy (as the loan amount is considered small and short term) to obtain but also helps build a good credit history by making sure you don’t miss a payment.

With 0% interest this was the best option, and I was able to cash pay for the phone using Barclays credit finance with quick credit decision it took minutes while coupling with a cheap SIM deal of 60GB data. I managed to save 32 pounds every month. If you know the phone contract market well, 32 pounds is the price for another latest phone deal.

Join me on every post to enjoy some big city financial tips, hacks and choices. My next post will be on car finance, stay tuned!

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