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Kate Hughes

Money Editor@hughesthehack
Ready for another 70?
Spend & Save

Would your savings survive a 100-year life?

<p>There’s a lot to think about when you decide to remove all waste from your life </p>
The Longer Read

How to unravel the habits of a lifetime and go zero waste

<p>Houses on the coastline in Skipsea, East Yorkshire</p>
Independent Premium

My Carbon Footprint: The danger of the status quo

Money

Start work aged four to match male savings pots, women told

<p>Organisers of the Qatar World Cup describe the Carbon Market Watch findings as ‘speculative and inaccurate’ </p>
Sustainable living

My Carbon Footprint: Fifa vs farming

<p>The cost of care homes varies dramatically across the UK</p>
Money

Postcode lottery over care bills revealed

<p>Only a third of young people believe that what the government does will have a positive impact on their lives </p>
Business

Children carry cost of living burden as half plan to move away

<p>Among those in Brussels on Tuesday for the extraordinary meeting of EU leaders to discuss Ukraine, energy and food security are (from left) Italian premier Mario Draghi, European Council president Charles Michel, Belgium’s prime minister Alexander de Croo, and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen</p>
Business

Anatomy of an energy crisis: now what?

<p>The amount of winter fuel payment received per person ranges from £100 to £300</p>
Business

How wealthy pensioners struggle to opt out of the winter fuel payment

<p>Shiny wrapping paper and sequins on cards are a no-go at this bash</p>
Independent Premium

My Carbon Footprint: Sorry, not sorry

<p>The cost of food has increased by 9.3% in the past year </p>
Business

How families are being hit hardest with 13% inflation

<p>There are some things we just don’t pass on... </p>
Sustainable living

My Carbon Footprint: the rise of the nearly new

<p>University students and graduates aged 40 and under have nearly double the amount of non-student loan debt compared with those who did not attend university, according to Equifax (Chris Radburn/PA)</p>
Money

Student loans are ‘gateway to more debt’, study finds

Money

Student loans are ‘gateway to more debt’, study finds

Head shot of Kate Hughes
Kate Hughes
<p>University students and graduates aged 40 and under have nearly double the amount of non-student loan debt compared with those who did not attend university, according to Equifax (Chris Radburn/PA)</p>
<p>A third of us are now buying sustainable domestic appliances</p>
Sustainable living

My Carbon Footprint: YouTube can’t save us from a white goods wipe out

<p>The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall with the Duke of Cambridge proceed behind the Imperial State Crown through the Royal Gallery during the state opening of parliament in the House of Lords</p>
Money

Queen’s Speech offers little in battle to curb cost of living crisis

<p>A quarter of us say the increase in everyday living costs is directly affecting our mental health</p>
Business

How to manage your money during a financial crisis

Independent Premium

My Carbon Footprint: I have a dirty little secret

Independent Premium

My Carbon Footprint: I have a dirty little secret

<p>Some pensioners making use of the freedoms are being unfairly hit with a big tax bill </p>
Money

Britons reclaim £858m in overpaid emergency pensions tax

<p>Almost half of under-34s say they are ‘particularly fearful’ about their finances </p>
Money

Credit card debt to hit almost £70bn in the next six months

Money

Relentless house price hikes spell gloom for renters

<p>A ‘refugees welcome’ banner in Bristol in support of Ukrainian refugees</p>
Money

‘Computer says no’ locks refugees out of vital financial services

<p>Like every other household in the UK containing a primary-aged small, it seems, chicken pox has arrived</p>
Independent Premium

My Carbon Footprint: Oat baths and make-up for badgers

<p>Many people unwittingly end up investing in sectors at odds with their ethical beliefs</p>
Business

Earth Day 2022: How to invest in our planet

<p>Groups such as Extinction Rebellion have put pressure on financial institutions </p>
Business

Earth Day 2022: 5 sites that take the legwork out of green money

<p>Omnipresent buying messages tell us that everything will be brighter with a consumer splurge</p>
Independent Premium

My Carbon Footprint: Refresh or fail, said nobody ever

<p>Many people unwittingly end up investing in sectors at odds with their ethical beliefs</p>
Business

Earth Day 2022: How to invest in our planet

<p>Groups such as Extinction Rebellion have put pressure on financial institutions </p>
Business

Earth Day 2022: 5 sites that take the legwork out of green money

<p>Omnipresent buying messages tell us that everything will be brighter with a consumer splurge</p>
Independent Premium

My Carbon Footprint: Refresh or fail, said nobody ever

<p>The 3.1% rise for pensioners and benefit claimants will actually turn out to be a drop in real terms </p>
Money

Benefits rise dwarfed by cost of living crisis as inflation hits 7%

Money

Benefits rise dwarfed by cost of living crisis as inflation hits 7%

<p>The 3.1% rise for pensioners and benefit claimants will actually turn out to be a drop in real terms </p>
<p>Would-be buyers in their mid-thirties are now reaching for loans they could still be paying long after they stop earning</p>
Business

Marathon mortgage: will a 35-year loan solve your house price problem?

<p>The problem with all these ‘determined’, ‘committed’ statements is that we have run out of time for reductions and transitions</p>
Independent Premium

How to stop our hard-earned cash fuelling climate chaos

<p>If medical equipment could be more widely repaired and remanufactured it could reduce each item’s carbon footprint by up to 85 per cent</p>
Independent Premium

Tarzan and the case of the missing crutch

<p>‘Typically, women’s retirement prospects are already worse than men’s but add in a divorce and they deteriorate even further’ </p>
Money

Divorce law shake-up fails to tackle long-term financial inequalities

<p>‘Typically, women’s retirement prospects are already worse than men’s but add in a divorce and they deteriorate even further’ </p>
Money

Divorce law shake-up fails to tackle long-term financial inequalities

<p>High street names have been warning that affordability calculations would have to change because of the altered economic circumstances we are in </p>
Money

New warnings over mortgage imprisonment as lenders tighten borrowing

<p>Nearly 60% of workers would consider working remotely in a foreign country</p>
Business

Could a move overseas save you from the UK’s cost of living crisis?

<p>Environmentally friendly underwear is a minefield</p>
Sustainable living

My carbon footprint: The battle of the briefs

<p>How will the chancellor help ordinary households? </p>
Money

Spring statement: what to expect and why it may not help much

<p>How the hell do you renovate a home without producing any waste? </p>
Independent Premium

How hard can a zero-waste renovation really be?

<p>It’s never felt more right to blow out the candles on non-recyclable, single-use party bags </p>
Independent Premium

Going green is becoming more important than ever

<p>With the number of mortgages shrinking fast and rising interest rates on those that remain, the expected check-in with the real world has been swept aside by those who anticipate a ‘frenzied’ selling season</p>
Money

Millions pay over the odds in property rush as selling season returns

<p>If you are scammed, what can you do to fix your finances after the event?</p>
Money

How to fix your finances after fraud

Electricity suppliers should annually refund any cash over £150 that customers are in credit
Money

Britons borrow billions to cover energy price hikes

Banks in London performed well despite a poor day for the FTSE 100. (Aaron Chown/PA)
Money

Inflation fears expose gender investment gap

<p>Somewhere in the daydreams about veg patches, I’ve forgotten I’m a city girl</p>
Independent Premium

We’re escaping to the country. Wish us luck...

Independent Premium

We’re escaping to the country. Wish us luck...

Head shot of Kate Hughes
Kate Hughes
<p>Somewhere in the daydreams about veg patches, I’ve forgotten I’m a city girl</p>
<p>Pet hates: envelope windows, pension investments and a laminated flier for ‘Pirates of Penzance’</p>
Independent Premium

It’ll all come out in the greenwash

Business

New warnings over work as financial anxiety spreads

<p>UK consumers use 140l of water per day – one of the highest totals in Europe </p>
Independent Premium

£200 for being more green? Yes please

<p>Overall prices are up £24,500 compared with this time last year, and £37,500 higher than two years ago</p>
Money

Housing market braced for slowdown after 17-year high

<p>Overall prices are up £24,500 compared with this time last year, and £37,500 higher than two years ago</p>
Money

Housing market braced for slowdown after 17-year high

<p>Fraudsters are pretending to be in relationships to get their hands on cash</p>
Business

Thousands stolen from romance scam victims as cases double

<p>We have to feel like we are part of the eco-tribe</p>
Independent Premium

Image is everything in the race to save the world

<p>The Bank of England failed to act quickly enough to hike interest rates as rampant inflation took hold</p>
Money

How worried should we be about a base rate rise?

<p>UK ranks last for sales of low-carbon heat pumps, analysis shows</p>
Independent Premium

Pass the blankets – we’re not taking part in the energy eco trap

<p>The proposed changes are set to create £12bn worth of ring-fenced revenue</p>
Money

‘Can’t pay tax’ searches up ninefold as calls grow to delay NI hike

<p>The number of young people seeking help for debt services has increased by 205 per cent</p>
Money

Complaints from youngest borrowers soar

<p>An enforced break from those high-pressure, high-waste get-togethers was brilliant</p>
Independent Premium

Brace yourselves for the return of the kids’ party

<p>Almost 15,300 pension pots worth in excess of £50,000 each were fully withdrawn in 2020-21</p>
Money

Savers to be ‘nudged’ into better pension decisions

HMRC is waiving late filing and late payment penalties for self-assessment taxpayers for one month(PA)
Money

Claim your own tax rebates warning as payers lose out to refund firms

<p>Time to turn over a new leaf </p>
Independent Premium

Can you stick it? Of course you can

<p>Rising cost of living is squeezing budgets across the country </p>
Money

Financial security eroding at fastest pace since 2020

Money

Financial security eroding at fastest pace since 2020

<p>Rising cost of living is squeezing budgets across the country </p>
<p>The bank of mum and dad doesn’t stop lending at first-time buyers’ deposits </p>
Money

Bank of mum and dad fuels financial inequality

<p>As a nation, we’ve found ourselves in a really weird place with “eco friendly” materials</p>
Sustainable living

Oxo what? Navigating the not-quite-plastic minefield

<p>A lightbulb moment: saving energy will be a priority this year </p>
Independent Premium

Why penny pinching will help achieve our eco aims

The Longer Read

How my family went zero-waste, and how you can too

The Longer Read

How my family went zero-waste, and how you can too

<p>Men herd their cattle away from an advancing fire in Turkey</p>
Long Reads

2021 and the race to save the world

<p>The amount of debris ending up in oceans each year is severely damaging the environment</p>
Independent Premium

Why 20p won’t solve our plastic problem

<p>Cutting back and cutting down – whether for environmental, financial or mental wellbeing reasons – seems to be the order of the day</p>
Independent Premium

There’s still time for a cheap and easy eco Christmas

<p>Doors closed shut: only third were able to secure on on there first attept </p>
Money

Two-thirds of first time buyers rejected for mortgages

Money

New warnings over misleading profit-making debt advice firms

<p>A new ‘default’ investment option to help DIY pension savers build bigger retirement pots has been proposed by the Financial Conduct Authority</p>
Money

Nine in 10 Britons doubt government pension capabilities

<p>The little black dress – with a big impact. But not in the way you might hope </p>
Independent Premium

We can’t afford Black Friday

<p>After 30 September 2022, the Atol scheme will stop picking up the bill on existing vouchers if the issuing company goes bankrupt</p>
Money

Use or lose £132m of Covid credit notes, travellers warned

<p>The PM took a private jet from Cop26 to London to go to dinner with a friend</p>
Independent Premium

Boris Johnson and the art of delayed gratification

<p>Ocean Rebellion activists stage a protest in Glasgow against deep sea fishing</p>
The Longer Read

Cop26: Compromise in the face of calamity

<p>Choice was an opportunity that came and went at some point in the past</p>
Independent Premium

Choice – the fantasy battleground for all things green

<p>Talking openly will help children build healthy financial habits later in life</p>
Money

Financial anxiety causing children to miss out on vital money lessons

<p>Before the recent spike in inflation and the related hike in gas prices, households owed a total of £510m – a rise of £77m in 12 months</p>
Money

Millions face winter of debt as energy costs heat up

You’ve been microwaving your food completely wrong, according to a Tik Tok star.
Independent Premium

If all else fails, embrace the ping

Campaigners say the value of ‘brownfield’ land is being overlooked
Money

Brownfield sites offer £487bn worth of property development

<p>The only way is up? An increase in rates is predicted </p>
Money

Be prepared for soaring mortgage costs, warns OBR

You’ve been microwaving your food completely wrong, according to a Tik Tok star.
Independent Premium

If all else fails, embrace the ping

Campaigners say the value of ‘brownfield’ land is being overlooked
Money

Brownfield sites offer £487bn worth of property development

<p>The only way is up? An increase in rates is predicted </p>
Money

Be prepared for soaring mortgage costs, warns OBR

<p>An artist paints a climate mural ahead of Cop26 </p>
Independent Premium

Is rage the antidote to eco anxiety?

Independent Premium

Go green, save a fortune

Servers are feeling the squeeze of labour market shortages
Money

Will your money survive the rise and rise of contactless payments?

<p>Lamentable lactose: but life has to be easy for it to be sustainable in every sense</p>
Independent Premium

My carbon footprint: sometimes it’s just about meat and dairy

<p>Despite the breathtaking volatility in this unregulated world, 1.2 million adults under the age of 34 have already invested</p>
Money

Is crypto really the answer to our property problems?

Money

Covid effect drives health insurance stampede among young adults

<p>Many people managed to save during lockdown. But where should they invest now? </p>
Money

Is it time to ditch the savings account?

<p>Food waste being turned to compost</p>
Independent Premium

My carbon footprint: I’ve got the doggy bag blues

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