By 2020 average income earners will be forced to buy private health insurance or pay extra tax after the government quietly extended a freeze in the threshold for the Medicare Levy Surcharge.

Remember that ghastly old table and chairs you ditched last kerbside collection day? Former steel industry worker Danielle McDonald has rescued dozens like it.

There are opportunities to put your ethics front and centre every time you open your wallet.

• COMMENT

Make your dollar go further with these tips.

• COMMENT

There's a great con job targeting younger Australians, and the government and insurance industry are in cahoots.

Get organised for the new financial year.

Some financial literacy is taught in schools but there's plenty that you can teach your kids at home.

When Elizabeth Blanchard wanted to check the car she was buying was legit, she almost paid $25 for a certificate she could get for $3.40.

• ASSET ALLOCATION

Kate Donnelly has tens of thousands of dollars saved. The problem is the money is held in an online saver and a bank account earning next to nothing.

• YOUR QUESTIONS

Financial expert George Cochrane answers readers' questions.

• MIND OVER MONEY

Haggling is not just for the markets or travel overseas, it's also becoming more common in the Aussie shopping mall.

• MONEY MENTOR

Prime Minister: This change would cost you nothing and save us a fortune.

• TIP OF THE WEEK

Fast broadband has reared its head as an election issue, with three out of four households not yet connected to the NBN. In the mean time, this is how to find the best broadband deal available now.

A previous rental turned into a horror story for 47-year-old Luke Fennell and his wife and two children.

• COMMENT

Some of my husband's 20-something colleagues like to rib him about having a "famous" wife and want me to talk to them about money.

• TRAVEL

Booking flights at particular times before departure can yield big savings. The busy Sydney/Melbourne route has the biggest variation in ticket prices among the mainland capitals.

• EXTREME BUDGETING

Consumerism is the norm for many Australians but not for Jasmine and Aaron Boothey who save two-thirds of their take-home pay.

• MIND OVER MONEY

If you feel that the winter sales are earlier and better every year, you're right. And this year the bargains will be more plentiful than usual.

• INNOVATION

Our mobile devices are becoming the go-to instruments of convenient commerce, offering something that consumers are only just beginning to come to terms with – a world of instantaneous self-wealth management.

Winter officially arrives this week and many households will be worried about the cost of keeping warm.

• TIP OF THE WEEK

Shopping on your mobile device is obviously convenient, but it also can create potential security risks.

• MIND OVER MONEY

Greens leader Richard Di Natale copped flak for having an au pair, but for those of us outside politics it might be worth considering.

Women are tackling budgeting and finance head-on with help from VicSuper's online financial fitness course.

Taking control of your finances is a bit like moving to a healthier lifestyle.

• INSIGHT

With interest rates at record lows, switching between high interest savings accounts could make you four times what you would otherwise earn in interest. But beware the catch.

• MIND OVER MONEY

I found myself sharing a stage last week with a hip hop artist, a jewellery designer and entrepreneur, a medical doctor and a singer-songwriter.

• TIP OF THE WEEK

Only Telstra, Optus and Vodafone operate mobile networks in Australia, but you don't have to buy your service through them.

• MONEY BRAIN

The requirements microfinance lender Grameen Australia places on poor borrowers in the developing world read like a play book for good financial management in any country, even Australia.

• INSIGHT

For years, we've been told "the cautious consumer" is making life harder for retailers and other businesses that rely on household spending.