A few months ago, I blogged about six cheap ways to make your home more sellable.

These included steps like de-cluttering, painting the walls in neutral tones, cleaning, removing allergy risks, giving your front door a lick of paint, advertising online and getting down to weeding your garden.

If you still haven't managed to shift your property, don't despair. I'm going to pass on four more tips that should help your property fly off the metaphorical shelf...

As I'm sure most of you know, the government will be increasing VAT back up to 17.5% from 1st January 2010. While it doesn't seem like much, many of us have been taking advantage of the slightly lower rate we've enjoyed in the last year.

While there's nothing you can actually do about this, you can make any of those important purchases now while VAT is still at 15%. What's more, the BBC reported recently that high street sales were likely to start early this year which means there's double reason to take advantage.

The festive season brings with it a heck of a lot of spending pressure. And if you're already operating on a tight budget, it can be the straw that breaks the camel's back and pushes you into a spiral of debt.

Don't let that happen to you. Here are seven top tips on how to save money this Christmas...

I've spent most of my life renting in two of the most expensive cities in the UK (Oxford and London). That means I'm used to spending an arm and a leg to live in tiny spaces that are tatty at best, and actually falling apart at worst.

Most 20-somethings I know are in the same boat. But imagine being offered the chance to live in huge place, in a location you love, for just a third of the rent you're currently paying!

I recently came across some schemes that help you do exactly that...

A few weeks ago, I received an email which made my stomach drop. It was from the Guardian Jobs website, telling me that its system had been the victim of a 'sophisticated and deliberate' hack and they had reason to believe my personal details may have been compromised.

Urgh. I've used the Guardian's website to apply for a few jobs, and of course it had my CV in its system - complete with full name, address, date of birth and loads of other details.

My bank details weren't on there; but with all the other information at their disposal, there was a fair chance that the hackers would be able to work out how to pose as me and apply for credit in my name.

Yesterday, many Britons faced more worries about ID theft, after it was revealed that a major credit card scam is thought to have taken place in Europe. So have you been affected, and what can we all do to protect ourselves against ID fraud?...

It's not a cheerful fact of life but one day we're all going to die. And if you die without a will, those you leave behind face the added trauma of huge financial complications.

Now, as well as not being a particularly pleasant thing to think about, making a will can also be extremely expensive. But November is the month of WillAid - A charity which teams up with thousands of solicitors across the country to offer people free wills.

Read on to find out more about making a will, and how to get one very cheaply or even free through WillAid.

A friend recently asked me whether finance journalists really take their own advice. My answer was - most of the time.

I do try to practice what I preach, mainly because I remember the bad old days when my finances were in a bit of a mess and I didn't have the financial know-how to sort them out properly.

Most of my money problems were caused by a combination of huge student debts and not being bothered to do anything about them.

I wasn't an enormous spender, and I never got into REALLY serious bother (I'm still solvent and my credit record is still in one piece) - but there's no doubt I could have saved hundreds if I'd made a few more sensible decisions.

Here, I'm going to highlight three of the money mistakes I made - so you can make sure they don't happen to you!...

Actor Joe Swash - of Eastenders and 'I'm a Celebrity...' fame - has just been declared officially bankrupt by the High Court of Justice after failing to pay his tax bill in full. Oops!

It seems likely that this situation has come about through negligence rather than destitution or any deliberate fiddling; Swash's agent has said the 'tax issue' was just a mix-up, and that steps are in place to pay the tax bill in full and seek to reverse the bankruptcy order.

However, this goes to show just how careful and vigilant we all need to be when it comes to tax matters. Apart from anything else, a bankruptcy ruling can leave a very nasty dent in your credit rating which can take years to put right. Here's how to take those painful first steps to getting your tax return sorted...

It's the season of nights drawing in and night-time goings on. While we all want to enjoy the festivities of this time of year, you need to prepare your home, so the only fireworks you experience are the pretty ones.