I’ve finally done it. I’ve got one. It’s shiny and new and has changed my life. Yes, I’ve bought an iphone.

Never again will I miss an important email, be without my entire music collection, get lost, find myself with a perfect photo opportunity but without a camera or not know the current state of the FTSE.

How things have changed. I remember my first mobile phone. It was on Vodafone and was the size of brick. It did texting and everything – but quaintly only to people also on Vodafone (I didn't mind, back then we all thought texts would never catch on anyway!)

Getting a mobile was a big decision; Was it going to work out expensive? Did I really need it? Wasn’t the landline I shared with my four flatmates enough?

Fast forward 12 years and leaving the house without full internet access at my fingertips seems a little crazy. My god, anything could happen.

It’s expensive of course. I haven’t even got the latest all-singing all-dancing 3GS 16GB model and it still cost me £59 upfront and £30 a month. Comparing tariffs was a nightmare. You’d need a degree in maths to work out which one was actually the most cost effective.

But, not to worry, my new toy’s actually going to save me money.

I’m not going to miss the train any more for starters. The handy London Journey Planner (59p)is quick to tell me the next train and where to change. So no more sitting in a pub in Central London and casually wondering what time the last train home is. Oh dear, missed it again. £30 in a cab? Oh well, I do live South of the river I suppose.

And with email at my fingertips I won’t be missing out on any work opportunities. Gone are the days when I’d take a day off but later to get home to find an email from an editor saying something like “Are you free today? If so can you just knock out 1,000 words on ISAs before lunch? It pays £200. If you don’t get back to me by 10am I’ll find someone else.”

As an intrepid traveller the Currency app (free) is crucial. Need to know the latest exchange rates? It’s all there and updates in seconds. So never again will I find myself in a foreign market or hotel thinking “how much is that in pounds?” or casually spending my life’s savings on a cup of coffee because I couldn’t work out how much it really cost.

There’s even a Tax Calculator app (59p) You simply enter your annual salary and a few more details — such as how much you contribute to your pension, your tax code and whether or not you’re making any student loan repayments — click “calculate” and this app will do the rest. Result! It sounds a lot quicker than dealing with my super-slow accountant.

A couple of weeks ago I was musing over whether one should tip or not on this very blog. But while the iphone doesn’t answer the moral or etiquette questions surrounding tipping, the Tipulator app (£1.19) can take the guesswork out of restaurant tipping. Users simply enter the bill amount, select a percentage and the number of people the tip is being split between, and Tipulator will crunch the numbers for you.

Shopping addicts will love RedLaser (£1.19). Ever wondered if the item you are about to buy is cheaper elsewhere? This app lets you scan barcodes with your iphone camera and search online for lower prices.

If you drive a lot then Petrol Prices Pro (£2.99) might be worth investing in. It’s basically petrolprices.com on the move. Your iphone knows where you are (it’s so clever) and the app finds the cheapest petrol prices in your area. You can also search for a location by town or postcode. If you buy 60 litres of petrol a week, cutting the cost of petrol by 4p a litre will save you £2.40 a week – or £124.80 over a year.

If you liked saynoto0870.com you’ll love the 0870 app (free). It works along the same lines. 0870 numbers are pricey to call, up to 15p a minute, but this app searches for a cheaper alternative number when you tell it the 0870 you want to call or company you need to speak to.

So, that’s the iphone. Can anyone tell me how to make calls on this thing?