Families will be forced to spend £34bn of lockdown savings on credit card bills
Goldman has downgraded its forecasts for UK economic growth this year from 4.2pc to 3.9pc, which it blamed on “significant headwinds” arising from inflationary pressures, higher interest…
Five ways to have a slice of budget luxury
You probably saw the news that Travelodge is upgrading 60 of its hotels in its new ‘budget-luxe’ style, to meet the growing demand for… low-budget luxury. Apparently,…
How to tackle the cost-of-living crisis? Let them eat scrag end
Robin Lane Fox’s book, Thoughtful Gardening, by a classicist-turned-gardener (or maybe the other way round), includes a shocking essay in which he describes his bid to find…
How pensioners can beat rising inflation
The higher the rate at which prices rise, the faster the pension will be exhausted. Inflation is now 7pc, which would wipe 22 years off the lifetime…
Wage-starved Britain risks 1970s-style mass strikes
Tesco has announced that store staff on £9.55 an hour will be paid £10.10 from July. That’s a 5.8pc wage rise, which sounds pretty generous. Consider, though,…
‘I was pushed out of work because of my age’: mid-lifers face ruin as pensions run dry
Stuart Lewis of Rest Less, an online community for over-50s, said: “The mass exodus of mid-lifers is in full swing. There are thousands who have given up…
Londoners swap costly property for boating life as cost-of-living crisis mounts
The cost-of-living crisis is pushing Londoners to live on canal boats as they are priced out of the capital’s increasingly unaffordable property market. With house prices soaring,…
Shoplifting prosecutions at all-time low amid warnings thefts will soar due to cost of living crisis
Former Scotland detective chief inspector David McKelvey said this downgrading had been a green light to police to abandon prosecutions and investigations into such thefts which could…
How to beat inflation in the UK and make your pension pot last longer
Millions of pensioners will feel the squeeze as bills rise sharply and the cost of living rockets, but they should not turn to their pension to increase…
Why it’s still cheaper to run an electric car – despite rising electricity prices
It won’t be news to anyone that energy prices are rising in 2022. Gas and electricity bills are set to go up by an average of some…
Homeowners turn to new builds to beat the gas price rise
Rising energy prices have driven homeowners towards new-build properties as older and wealthier buyers spurn properties that have become too expensive to run. Applications for unbuilt properties…
Four more years of energy bills pain for households, economists warn
Families can expect another four years of sky-high energy bills, as economists warn that global gas prices are likely to remain elevated until at least 2026. This…
The Conservatives’ big state mentality is crippling the nation
You can tell when a government is in trouble when it starts to believe its own propaganda. Ministers answer straightforward questions in ways that have little bearing…
Don’t barbecue indoors, energy boss warns customers desperate to keep heating costs down
SSE Energy Service faced criticism in January for suggesting that pet owners should cuddle their animals in order to stay warm. A company blog post sent to…
How to cope with financial PTSD
Thompson’s situation worsened when she was sexually harassed at work and had to leave her role. Her relationship also ended and she was forced to find a…
Chill financial winds are about to be felt
Just as everyone was thinking the heating could be turned off until the autumn, winter returned with a vengeance yesterday with snow and biting winds across the…
Conservatives should be seeking to keep taxes down
In the Commons yesterday Boris Johnson reasserted his commitment to tax cuts. Yet this month, the taxes of millions of earners will go up, partly through the…
Surprise us, Sunak
We ask this more in hope than expectation, but will the Chancellor use his spring financial statement tomorrow to reverse the planned rise in National Insurance contributions?…
Boris Johnson has increased taxes as much as New Labour did, says IFS
The IFS report said: “If the Chancellor’s plans remain unchanged, next month will mark the beginning of a steep ascent in the path of UK taxation. “It…
A generation has been cut adrift because of unaffordable housing
I have in my hand a government White Paper, Fixing our Broken Housing Market, from five years ago. It includes the most important fact in modern British domestic…
Early retirees risk ‘sleepwalking’ into a financial disaster
Half a million older people have been squeezed out of the workforce during the pandemic and could face a retirement disaster as the cost of living crisis…
Doctor who saved Boris Johnson tells him: Save ventilator patients from huge energy bills
‘Something has got to give’ Vincenzo’s mother, Maria, said: “Our energy cost £1,500 last year, now it is estimated to be £5,000. Many families are in the…
How to beat UK inflation and make your pension pot last a lifetime
Millions of pensioners will feel the squeeze as bills rise sharply and the cost of living rockets, but they should not turn to their pension to increase…
Economic war will test the West’s resolve
Maersk of Denmark, Singapore’s Ocean Network Express, Swiss-based MSC, Germany’s Hapag Lloyd and CMA of France, five of world’s six biggest cargo-shipping lines, all announced their refusal…
Shop for victory! Now is the time to buy British food
We must face that it’s crunch time for British food shoppers – and not just because of Russia. According to market research specialists Kantar, grocery price inflation…