More than half of couples take on debt to finance their weddings. We asked some how they feel about it

Cale Weissman, 35, and his partner didn’t have an exact budget for their 2018 wedding, but they knew they couldn’t afford to spend more than $10,000 (£8,000).

“We thought in terms of, what do we want from the experience, and what are the ways we can make it feasible without putting us in dire financial straits,” he says.

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First-time buyers targeting smaller properties, with flats closing ‘growth gap’ on houses, says Halifax

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House prices in the UK were steady in April after falling in March, as higher mortgage rates prompt first-time buyers to go for smaller properties, according to the mortgage lender Halifax.

The price of a typical home rose by less than £200 last month to £288,949, a 0.1% monthly gain, compared with a 0.9% drop in March , which was the first decline in six months. On an annual basis, prices rose 1.1% in April, up from March’s rate of 0.4%, largely because there was weaker price growth this time last year, Halifax said.

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It’s still the magic milestone when senior citizenship begins … with a host of money-saving offers to take advantage of

The UK state pension age has risen but many companies and organisations still hold on to “the big 6-0” as the point at which senior citizenship begins, and it continues to represent a money-saving milestone as a result.

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It did not remind me my contract had ended, or tell me about the best deals

I’ve been a Sky TV customer for more than 20 years but fear I may have overpaid by thousands of pounds because I’ve been out of contract since 2005.

I recently discovered that, under Ofcom rules, your provider must remind you that your contract is ending, or has ended, and tell you about its best deals.

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Lower mortgage rates prompt property firm to change its outlook from 3% drop to a 2.5% increase

A decline in mortgage rates has prompted a forecaster to reverse its predictions of a fall in UK house prices in 2024, instead suggesting the average cost of a property could rise by £61,500 over the next five years.

The property company Savills had forecast in November that it expected the average price of a home to fall by 3% this year because recent rises in the Bank of England base rate had heightened the affordability pressures on would-be buyers.

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From baby clothes to popcorn makers, borrowing items rather than buying them is a growing trend

A year into motherhood and I can confirm two things: babies grow too fast and clothing them is an expensive business.

My solution has been to rent my daughter Stella’s wardrobe. Warm coats, swimming costumes, sleepsuits, sandals – all can be borrowed for a monthly subscription from any number of services such as Bundlee, Lullaloop and thelittleloop, amongst others.

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A roundup of scary dealings with those masters of suspense, obfuscation and in Scottish Power’s case – sheer invention

Periodically, I electrify readers with a drama about energy bills. Before you switch off, let me assure you that utilities companies are masters of suspense. Read on if you dare:

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Last month Reuters reported that Venezuela's state-run oil company "plans to increase digital currency usage in its crude and fuel exports as the U.S. reimposes oil sanctions on the country, three people familiar with the plan said." [The oil company] since last year had been slowly moving oil sales to USDT, a digital currency also known as Tether whose value is pegged to the U.S. dollar and designed to maintain a stable value. The return of oil sanctions is speeding up the shift, a move to reduce the risk of sale proceeds getting frozen in foreign bank accounts due to the measures, the people said... Tether said in an email it respects the U.S. Treasury's list of sanctioned entities and "is committed to working to ensure sanction addresses are frozen promptly." This week Reuters reported that now experts are saying the situation "will require greater scrutiny by regulators and law enforcement." They spoke to Kristofer Doucett, national security leader at U.S. blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis, who said "Structures must be set up to combat this type of money laundering." Reuters writes: Technology for digital transactions is changing fast and transactions are rapidly growing in developing regions including Latin America and Africa benefiting people without access to the banking system. But some corrupt governments are moving faster, making it difficult to prevent fraud, the experts said. Doucette and Sigal Mandelker, a lawyer who previously worked at the U.S. Treasury Department, said during a conference organized by the Wilson Center in Washington that the U.S. administration is making efforts to increase regulation and encourage other countries to improve supervision. Slashdot reader RossCWilliams asks a loaded question. Whether this is "the beginning of the end of unregulated cryptocurrencies... the recognition of cryptocurrency as a national security threat that threatens international financial controls."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Will Calls to Scrutinize Digital-Currency Purchases of Oil Bring New Regulations For Crypto?

What was once a niche product is being embraced by more people. We examine the options at a range of prices

They are de rigueur in Scandinavian and Nordic countries, with as many as one for every household in Finland, where the old saying goes: “First build the sauna, then the house”, and it appears Britons are now following suit. Google UK searches for “home sauna” rose by 84% between January and March 2024 and the same period in 2020, according to the marketing company Semrush.

Hampson Architects – based in Brighton and working across the south-east of England – has seen a large uptick in demand. “On the larger houses (3,000 sq ft-plus) it’s increased from 30% wanting saunas to as high as 80-90% now,” says the managing director, Andy Parsons. “I think it will stay at that level now as there’s a market expectation to have them.”

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