The best instant access account currently pays interest of just 1.7 per cent gross – but some ‘sleeping beauty’ accounts pay nearly twice that rate. Lucy, 27, from Malton, North Yorkshire, was searching for a new deal when she remembered her old instant access savings account from Skipton Building Society, and found it was paying 1.75 per cent.

Whether you have a half-term holiday looming or your Christmas break or ski trip is at the planning stage, it’s worth acting fast to make the most of your travel money. Showgirl and frequent traveller Amelia Kallman is a recent convert to pre-paid currency cards. Sort out your finances now and you can easily boost your pile of foreign currency by 6 per cent.

The ambition – as part of the Credit Union Expansion Project – is to save borrowers up to £1billion in loan interest repayments between now and March 2019, as well as encouraging good savings habits. Kerry Maxwell, 27, of Bermondsey, South-East London, recently asked for help from London Mutual Credit Union.

Ethical funds have come under scrutiny in the past for failing to produce satisfactory returns. But not all underperform the market. Alasdair Macdonald is happy with the performance of their holdings. According to a recent study by data scrutineer Moneyfacts, ethical funds have outperformed traditional funds in the past three years, returning on average 37 per centg=.

He admits the cut in the price paid to farmers was a mistake. Since then he has built bridges by pushing through rises to his customers. Allen is now fighting a new battle against the thousands of tons of cheese imported into Britain but sold with a UK label because of what he says are ridiculous EU rules.

The UK press is understandably awash with comments that taxpayers have been short-changed to the tune of £800million, while the Government insists that the sale price was fair. Who to believe? Should the British public be going postal over the sale of Royal Mail?

My husband years recently passed away leaving me as the sole inheritor. His daughters are now accusing me of cheating them out of their inheritance and are threatening legal action if I don't hand over his savings and sell our house. Where do I stand?

Households looking to sign up to the longest fix available now have a choice between npower and EDF which both offer tariffs locking down prices until March 2017. EDF has also launched a competitive mid-length fix, the Blue+Price Promise fixed until March 2015.

Both its five year bond and cash Isa come with a 3.15 per cent rate and can be opened with £1,000. They can be operated either in branch, online, via the telephone or by post. Its cash Isa only allows one deposit and no withdrawals until 2018, but it does allow transfers in from other providers.

The Royal Mail share offer price has been revealed to be 330p, with all investors who applied for less than £10,000 getting a flat £749.10 worth - or 227 shares. We explain what investors need to know and whether they may turn a quick profit.

Further details of the Help to Buy mortgages, which involve a guarantee up to 15 per cent of a mortgage from the government, have been trickling out and you should be able to start applying from today. RBS has revealed its first rates while, property websites are reporting record visitors, so what will help to Buy II deliver? We take a look.

O2 sent us a £490.14 bill for a 15-hour phone call caused because we were unable to cut calls on our Samsung Galaxy phone. O2 said they would investigate but we were eventually told we had to pay. We explained that we were pensioners and could not afford it but they took the money and suggested we phone our bank to request the money back. Can you help?

Aston Martin is ending the production of its Cygnet city car and in the process has taken a £8.5million hit related to scrapping it. It is an embarrasing blow for the brand. This is Money revealed other costly European motor flops and how much they cost each manufacturer.

The property market is blooming, while critics have warned that government meddling is creating a bubble. But there is more than one way to get into the market. Garry White, chief investment commentator for Charles Stanley, chooses his nine top stocks and we highlight a share that has seen both severe pain and bumper gains in recent years.

Midwives in the UK get paid on average £29,248: so where does your salary fit into the national league table, and how does it compare to the average in your profession? Our table lists hundreds of Britain's jobs from company executives and doctors to van drivers, waiters and textile machine operators.