The key to managing your finances effectively and avoiding debt is to draw up a simple budget – and stick to it. This should not take more than about 20 minutes and you will be well on the way to getting a gold star for money management.

When the new tax year starts on April 6th, a few changes are coming with it that could have more of an impact on your finances than you might think.

A Citigroup economist has warned that a hung parliament or a Labour victory at the next election would add an average of £65 to individual mortgage costs.

Spicerhaart has teamed up with Tesco to launch iSold.com, an online estate agency that offers to market a property for just £999. It describes itself as a “halfway house” between a traditional high street estate agent and an online service and will launch in Bristol before being rolled out across the country.

The CML says that for those in the formerly typical first-time age bracket of 25-34, the likelihood of buying at the moment is around half its level of a decade ago.

The taxman is on the war path for tax dodgers and evaders. Not only that, he’s backdating the rules to catch schemes that worked in the past. Should you be worried?

Average rates on best buy mortgage deals for borrowers with 40% deposits can be half the level charged for borrowers who need 90% loans, analysis from Evaluate Technologies shows.

Many people remain confused about what financial information is stored about us, and how this is used by lenders.

Industrial action by postal workers across much of the UK has led to delays of up to 10 days, with reports of huge backlogs at sorting offices.

Investment property financing can take a number of different forms, depending on the specific circumstances of the investor and the deal itself.