With the cost of living still biting many households, and projections of declining disposable incomes for the rest of the decade, many people are looking at ways of making extra cash. And around half of UK adults now have a second job, or a ‘side hustle’. Whilst average earnings are often modest, at around £200 a week, others can do well enough that it becomes their main form of income.

It is possible to pick up freebies for stocking fillers and get Christmas dinner bargains if you know the right places to look. The average person will spend over £1,100 this Christmas on gifts, food, drink and going out – a significant chunk of most people’s monthly pay at a time when we’re all feeling the pinch from the cost of living,” says Jane.

January is always a really hard month for everybody due to the aftermath of the overspend of Christmas. That January pay slip also always seems to take much longer to arrive. “It’s little wonder then that many people end up with the blues at this time of the month. “But as hard as it is, January can also be the springboard to financial change by adopting a few changes.

It’s that time of the year where shops, and online retailers will really be hoping to cash in. Brits plan to spend an estimated £3.8 billion in the 2024 Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales alone. 59 percent of us plan to spend during the Black Friday weekend – which adds up to nearly 32 million people.