Supermarkets are making as much as a third of their profits from suppliers by demanding the type of charges that have led to the accounting scandal at Tesco. The sums include penalty charges for late or incomplete shipments, bonuses for hitting sales targets, refunds for promotional discounts and one-off payments for a multitude of reasons such as launching new products.

Over the next four months the high street giant will quietly shut at least 27 branches across Britain of which 25 are the only ones left in their community. Its closure of last banks in town are countrywide, from Kirton in Lincolnshire to Marden, Kent and North Tawton in Devon.

An animal charity recently launched the world's first 'pet-nup', highlighting how Britain is a nation obsessed with its pets. As hysteria over internet sensations Grumpy Cat and Maru continues, we explore whether your animals can start earning you money, the importance of pet insurance - and the cost of food and pet funerals.

Mobile comparison website SellMyMobile has seen an 84 per cent rise in phone users cashing in their old handsets since the iPhone 6 was released. To find the best deal it is important to do your homework first – and possibly consider not selling the handset but putting it to a different use. Izzy was offered just £40 for an old iPhone 4, so she put it to different use.

Run by Thomas Moore, it currently has 43 per cent in FTSE 100 members, 44 per cent in middle-sized companies and the balance in smaller firms. Among the fund’s top 10 shares is Close Brothers, a conservatively run challenger bank that has picked up business, particularly lending to small firms, which have been eschewed by the big banks. Moore says: ‘It is also well placed because its small business customers are doing better in the recovery.’

Between now and December, thousands of borrowers will see their existing fixed, discounted or tracker rate deals expire and will want to lock into a low-cost alternative before interest rates head back up. In the past, borrowers have had to switch lender to get one of the best new rates. But this year a flood of new 'loyalty deals' is turning conventional wisdom on its head.

Step forward the Gloucestershire market town of Stroud, which has quietly become a hub for a heady mix of fashionistas, musicians and designers of all descriptions. It's a similar story in the Pennines, where the Yorkshire market town of Hebden Bridge, another Sixties hippy favourite, has also blossomed into the bohemian centre of a distinctly non-metropolitan arts scene.

Only Fools and Horses started in 1981, the year after Margaret Thatcher introduced the Housing Act extended right-to-buy council homes. Over 30 years on and Del Boy wouldn’t have quite been a property millionaire, however he would be a third of the way there. This type of local authority three bedroom flat in the Peckham area would now set you back at least £250,000, however with the floor space in Trotter onscreen example it’s likely to this would be valued at £330,000.

A survey suggests people who seek money help put by £98 a month more as a direct result - and that will grow into a much bigger sum which you can turn into a more comfortable income for old age. But is it still worth it after you factor in the cost of seeing a financial adviser, which could work out at £1k-2k for sorting out a £100k pension pot? Are advisers even interested in people with more modest savings? And can't you just start saving an extra £98 by yourself?

The latest step in the pensions revolution slashed the tax when pots are passed on - and also put inheritance back in the spotlight. The Tories promised to raise the threshold to £1m before the last election and then ditched their pledge, angering many voters. But is cutting tax on inheritance a victory for those who have saved hard, or a means of entrenching wealth? Perhaps there is another way round the problem.

Meet This is Money's new investing columnist John Rosier. He is a former fund manager who spent 26 years in the City and is now sharing the secrets of his own portfolio. He started up a website to detail his experience, JohnsInvestmentChronicle.com and will explain his approach and any changes in The Diary of a Private Investor.

An average family of four will spend at least £225 a month on food, according to the Office for National Statistics. Women’s lifestyle website goodtoknow.co.uk challenged their their resident mummy blogger Anneliese Giggins to feed her family of four on a budget of £20 a week. Here she explains to This is Money how she got on...

Using income drawdown to fund retirement could become more popular following tax changes on inheriting pension pots - and make annuities and even final salary schemes less appealing. The 55% tax rate applied to pension pots left to children will be scrapped in April, and beneficiaries will either pay no tax if the person dying is under 75, or their normal income tax rate if they are 75 or over. The tax advantage of income drawdown is 'a gamechanger', says one expert.

Growth has been revised upwards hot on the heels of Bank of England governor Mark Carney saying the point at which interest rates begin to rise is getting closer. Mr Carney stressed in a speech at an insurers' conference last week that rate hikes will be 'gradual and limited' because headwinds facing the economy are likely to take some time to die down.

The trouble for dividend hunters is that the UK market offers a very limited number of large stocks on attractive yields. That’s not helped by the fact that London only makes up 10 per cent of the total value of all world equity markets. By comparison, the equity value of the US market accounts for nearer 50 per cent of the world total. As a result, there are simply many more large stocks on eye-catching yields to choose from. Stockopedia's Ben Hobson highlights the top ten income-paying US companies on the S&P; 500.

People nearing retirement traditionally switch savings out of risky investments and into safer assets, but pension freedom reforms are likely to prompt a big rethink of this practice. That's because derisking - or 'lifestyling' as it's also known - is normally done in preparation for buying an annuity, but many more people will be opting to stay invested an draw down an iincome in future.

To clear the average national household debt of £13,000 at 6% interest with a monthly repayment of £100 will take around 17 years. There are, however, plenty of simple ways to make significant savings on your regular spending that could clear your debt - or boost your savings - in less than a year. This is Money's top 50 – updated – money-saving tips may appear light-hearted but are deadly serious.

Choosing the right DIY platform is crucial but a wealth of choice and changes to charges have left many investors scratching their heads. We pick some of the best. We also highlight why investing in an Isa makes sense, as it should protect your hopefully growing investments from tax forever.

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.