Good news for bankers. Oh good.

Apparently, the hiring market in the City has got off to a great start this year, with vacancies jumping by 60% in January from a year ago. There was a simultaneous surge in bankers looking for new roles in the New Year.

It seems more than a little unjust that those who got us into the financial crisis and recession are now among the first to see an upturn in fortunes.

The pound has perked up a bit lately but there is no escaping the fact that going abroad has become much more expensive in the last couple of years.

Anyone going skiing in France or Austria this winter will feel the pain as they have to shell out much more for ski passes, chalets and food than they used to.

Why has the pound fallen so much and is there any hope that it could become stronger by the time we go on our summer holidays?

It has been another grim year for the world economy, but 2009 could have been a lot worse than it was.

Some had predicted a re-run of the Great Depression of the 1930s, but to everyone's relief most major economies – with the notable exception of the UK – pulled out of recession by the summer. The year ended with fresh crises in Dubai and Greece, though.

Banks were little chastened by the crisis and were soon back to their old ways. Ignoring calls for restraint, they tried to pay themselves massive bonuses as though nothing had happened.

Walletpop looks at the main financial events of the year.

After the global economy suffered another bad year and recovery looks to be slow and protracted, we look back at some of the lighter moments of 2009.

Pundits were divided over what shape the global slump would take: a W i.e. double-dip downturn, or a saxophone-shaped recovery, anyone?

The most memorable moment in the chancellor's pre-budget report speech today was perhaps the reduction in bingo tax from 22% to 20%, which got a lot of laughs in the Commons.

That says it all.

As expected, Alistair Darling announced a tax on bankers' bonuses, which will no doubt cheer all those who have lost their jobs or seen their pay cut or frozen as a result of the financial crisis.

But there was little else to cheer about.

As far as day names go, My Budget Day is not exactly the catchiest.

But if insurance megalith Axa has its way then we'll all be celebrating My Budget Day alongside our birthdays and Christmas. We can swap calculators and household bills instead of presents. It'll be fun, honest!

The company is calling on business bosses to give their employees a dedicated 15 minutes every week to sort out their finances. 15 minutes? How much can be done in 900 seconds?

When Tesco announced its results yesterday, Sir Terry Leahy took the opportunity to wax lyrical about the recovery - which he seems to think is just around the corner. His evidence lay in the fact people were shopping more at Tesco, and that non-food lines and posh lines were increasing.

But I think he's wrong. These are signs that we're settling in for the long haul.

It seems our furry, feathered and scaly friends are being hit very hard by the recession.

Animal rescue centres are reporting a sharp rise in abandoned pets, as people decide they simply can't (or don't want to have to) deal with the expense involved.

In fact, some centres are now at crisis point. Last month, Battersea Dogs and Cats Home announced it was facing a 'cat emergency', with 143 out of 145 of the shelter's cat pens full, and 174 cats waiting for places at the home.

So how can we make sure pets get a fair deal when economic conditions get tough?

So France and Germany are out of recession. Well, good for them. Isn't it nice to think that our friendly European neighbours are doing so well? But it seems reasonable to ask what about us? When is the UK going to come out of recession?

Iceland has been in dire straights for a while. In the glory days, Icelandic entrepreneurs went on shopping sprees, buying up the likes of Hamleys and Karen Millen. And the Icelandic banks pushed into the UK consumer market.

Then the fish hit the fan, the banks collapsed, and consumers and British high street chains were left to pick themselves up from the rubble.

The country itself hit a brick wall, started casting around for a solution to their problems... and it decided it may as well try EU membership

But what does it mean for us?

There are a few phrases we are all thoroughly bored of: the recession, the credit crunch, the downturn, the financial crisis.... yawn yawn yawn.

So it's time for an exciting new catchphrase - bring on the lipstick effect.

So what the hell is it?

Peter McGahan is the Managing Director of Worldwide Financial Planning. Worldwide are FT Award winning independent financial advisers - having won 16 FT awards in 4 years. Peter is now widely recognised as an expert and specialist within the financial arena, who features regularly for local and national publications.

Peter will be available to respond to your queries from 12.30 - 3pm UK time on 22 April. To submit a question, simply post it in the comments field below.

Updated frequently...Hit refresh to see the latest post

11:44AM Hi

I'm Barry Newton. Myself and Peter McGahan will be here waiting to answer your questions in regard to how today's budget will affect you from 12:30pm until 3pm so please ask away !!

Read the latest question and answer after the jump.

With the credit crunch and financial crisis constantly in the news, we're bombarded with an endless array of numbers:

• $1 Trillion global stimulus package
• 6.1% unemployment rate in the UK
• 1.16 Million seeking jobless allowances
• 45% of unemployed below the age of 25

The list goes on and on. With all these figures, it can be easy to forget the stories of the people behind the facts.

With the UK predicting a steep rise in eviction in the coming months, some given only a few days to clear their homes, many more will be affected.

Click the image to launch the gallery and see the true faces of the financial crisis. And if you or anyone you know has been affected, tell us in the comments.

Any news of optimism in the housing market is viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism, with no one really prepared to predict an end to the current mortgage and house sales nightmare... until now.

Finance giant Legal and General has released the results of a survey showing that more than half (53%) of their network of mortgage advisers are expecting business to improve over the next three months.

The last time they asked the advisers whether they felt business was on the up was just before Christmas. Then, only 27% were expecting things to get better.

The survey, based on a poll of 166 mortgage advisers in Legal and General's network, also found only 16% of the advisers remain die hard pessimists and expect business to get worse over the next three months. In a strange way, that's good because at the peak of their misery in July last year, 45% of the mortgage advisers were expecting things to deteriorate further.

Here's what's been going on this morning while you've been catching up on your zzzzz's:

• Gordon Brown has promised to fast track redundant workers into teaching careers within six months say the Times.

• Soon you could use your mobile phone to pay for items instead of a credit card say The Mirror.

• Half of Asda's price cut are worth just 1p report The Guardian.

• There have been 'disappointing sales' this winter according to The Sun. Yes, but didn't everyone know that already?

• You face an £800 bill to bail out the treasury say the Daily Mail.