Hardly a day goes by without the cost of living hitting the headlines. For many homeowners the increasing costs of owning and running a home is having a huge impact on household budgets. For those borrowers with a fixed rate mortgage, the recent increase in mortgage interest rates may not have an immediate impact. However, as mortgages are more expensive now than they were two years ago, you may see your mortgage payments rise when you next come to remortgage.

Overpaying on your mortgage now could save you more on interest down the line and...

After several months of economic and political uncertainty the new chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has delivered his autumn statement.

With announcements relating to energy bills, Income Tax, the State Pension, tax allowances, and Stamp Duty, there are plenty of ways your finances could be affected in 2023 and beyond.

Here are the key points of the autumn statement and what they mean for you.

You may pay more Income Tax in 2023/4 

The chancellor’s announcements mean many millions of workers are likely to pay more Income Tax over the next few ye...

Now that the dust has started to settle, what do the recent announcements, and U-turns, mean for you and your finances?

What is still happening

The National Insurance contribution rate will fall from 6 November 2022.

In April 2022, the National Insurance contribution (NIC) rate increased by 1.25 percentage points to pay for additional health and social care services. In April 2023, a new Health and Social Care Levy was set to replace this rise.

In the Growth Plan in September, it was announced that this rise would be reversed from 6 Nove...

At 6.00 am on Monday 17 October, the Treasury issued a press release announcing that the (new) Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, would making a statement “bringing forward measures from the Medium-Term Fiscal Plan”. The timing of the press release suggested that the Treasury was concerned it had not done enough the previous Friday to calm markets ahead of the end of Bank of England gilt purchase support.

The Chancellor’s statement was in two parts: firstly, a pre-emptive media statement in the morning, then an official statement to the House of Comm...

After seeing their six-year-old son’s birthday list, Liz and Dan have realised it’s high time they started teaching Archie about the value of money. It’s true they both have reasonably well-paid jobs and only the one child but, even so, a Saint Bernard puppy, a quad bike, a horse and a life-size dalek don’t come cheap. So, what can Liz and Dan do to ensure Archie doesn’t end up bankrupting them before he goes to high school?

Pocket money

Archie is nearly seven - the age when most parents start giving their children pocket money, according ...