Travel costs are set to soar this year thanks to the poor performance of the pound, so it is tempting to lock into prices sooner rather than later. But the January sales are not the only way to find an escape from the rising cost of holidays. Follow The Mail on Sunday's ingenious guide to saving a fortune on air fares and packaged trips.

Buried deep among that pile of unwanted festive gifts, overflowing storage boxes and never-used 'essentials' is an opportunity to make money. The Mail on Sunday shows you how to make a profit from decluttering the home. Bev Martin is pictured with her £40 clocks made from bike gears.

Of the 14million women at work in the UK, more than two million are now breadwinners - of whom two-thirds are single parents. But stay-at-home mums are far from idle, doing the equivalent of a £30,000 salary in unpaid work and childcare every year, according to insurance firm Sunlife. So here is our six-point plan to help supermums get financially fit in 2017.

Michael Bruce founded 24-hour online estate agent Purplebricks less than three years ago with his brother Kenny - and now the pair are multi-millionaires while their company is one of the fastest growing businesses in the country. Bruce reckons the housing market will be flat this year - stamp duty changes and fear of Brexit have already seen high street estate agents Foxtons and Countrywide issue profit warnings - but not for his business.

Since 1984 the FTSE 100 has gained in January in 19 out of 32 years, according to figures from Fidelity. In 15 of those 19 years, the market went on to finish the year higher than it began. So it's a good omen. In its first year of trading in 1984 the FTSE finished 6.2 per cent higher in January. It went on to gain a further 15.9 per cent, rising from 1000 to 1232.2 throughout the year.

Modern timber frame homes offer flexibility and can be installed onsite within days. Options range from the distinctive Huf Haus - with its large swathes of glass - to a £50,000 home for those on a smaller budget. We take a look at your options if you're thinking of building your own Grand Design.

Britons are forecast to have bought more second-hand cars last year than ever before and when it comes to the vehicles they are looking for, BMW's 3 Series tops the pile. Auto Trader said the German small saloon is the most searched for car on its site, amassing a massive 135 million advert views over 12 months.

Mortgage broker John Charcol is predicting a buy-to-let mortgage rate war in the so-called 'vanilla' end of the market next year as the big high street lenders to drop rates for smaller scale landlords with lots of equity, who they consider lower risk. But the broker warns that fierce competition for these smaller private landlords isn't likely to extend to professionals.

My father owned a house to which my sister was added as co-owner. She lived there to care for him. Unfortunately my father passed away, and we are settling his estate as joint executors. If she sells the house, what would I inherit? I do not want to involve a solicitor in case my sister finds out and thinks the worst.

After the turbulence of 2016, many investors will be wondering what this year could possibly have in store for them. While markets are impossible to predict, we have gathered the views of some investing experts who have examined all the factors and picked a selection of funds - and an investment trust - that they believe could be winners in 2017.

Whether it turns out to be less maligned than 2016 or not, 2017 is a year that will see great change. Never mind the unknowns yet to surface, the known elements already floating about should see to that. Over the past week, we've looked at what might affect your finances, but New Year is also a time for wishful thinking, so here too are the five headlines I'd like to see.

Theo Paphitis said his firm Theo Paphitis Group has had to adjust its business plan to accommodate changes in shoppers' habits and the fall in the pound.

If your New Year's resolution is to put aside some money each month, open a regular savings account now. Go for a Help To Buy Isa if you are saving for a deposit for your first home to earn a 25 per cent bonus from the Government. Otherwise ignore cash Isas. Traditionally, they were the best option because the interest is tax-free, but the combination of low interest rates and personal savings allowance turns this on its head for 98 per cent of savers. The top cash Isa rate is 1 per cent from National Savings & Investments, while you can earn 2.25 per cent to 5 per cent in an ordinary savings account.

The pension transfer market is gearing up for £30bn of liabilities to change hands this year, according to research by adviser Willis Towers Watson. Many schemes face multi-billion pound funding gaps, leaving firms desperate to pass responsibility for them onto someone else.

Mortgage lenders have launched into 2017 with a flurry of rate cuts, product launches and enticing freebies after suspending some of the lowest rates ever seen before Christmas. Halifax is now offering both homeowners and landlords buying, moving or remortgaging from a different lender before 26 March 2017 a £500 cash bung on a range of deals from today.

Before a momentous year slips any further into the memory bank, find out what you remember about the big financial news by taking This is Money's  Quiz of 2016. From Brexit and Trump to new savings accounts and pension changes we have 10 questions to test just how carefully you followed the big stories.

Customers locked into one or two-year contracts are being over charged by up to £230 if they leave before the end of their agreement, an investigation by Money Mail has found. Three, which has six million customers, is accused of pocketing millions of pounds in unfair termination charges because of a loophole in contracts.

Holidaymakers are being tricked out of thousands of pounds in a cruel villa scam that has led to arrests in Spain. A Money Mail investigation has uncovered dozens of suspected fraud victims sold 'bargain' holidays in the Canary and Balearic Islands that didn't exist. Families are being lured in by apparently genuine websites that appear in search results when they browse Google for holiday deals. The slick sites are filled with photos of luxury villas and 'customer service' staff appear helpful in the emails they send out.

I have my own small business and want to be able to retire at 55 with a good income, and possibly a second home. I am in my late thirties and at this stage of my life I am prepared to take higher risk to see higher returns. In the second of our new series Money Pit Stop, we ask an investing expert to give one of our readers a portfolio makeover

Will this year bring any good news for savers? Or will it be another horrible year? This is Money asks five experts whether rates will head higher next year, if big banks will continue to avoid the best buy tables, if easy-access rates will continue to crumble and what changes they would like to see to the savings world.

New research has revealed that may major department stores will discount the price if you haggle and three in four shoppers who have tried haggling at John Lewis, TK Maxx and Carphone Warehouse have been successful at scoring cheaper prices so we challenged our writer to it out.

The scheme, first announced by former Chancellor George Osborne in 2014, is designed to support first-time buyers aged between 23 and 40 by giving them 20 per cent off the asking price of a new build home. Outside London, homes up to the value of £250,000 will be eligible for the scheme while first-time buyers in the capital will be able to apply for the discount on properties up to £450,000.

For a few lucky readers, 2016 will have finished on a high with a big win on the Lotto or Euromillions. But how would you invest an unexpected cash lump sum? Five of the country's leading investment experts revealed what they would do if they had a surprise £100,000 windfall.

Junior executives; family saloons; rep mobiles: there are plenty of terms for this calibre of car. But which one is the best value when you're buying second hand? From left to right: Audi A5, BMW 3 Series, Volkswagen Passat CC, Mercedes-Benz C-Class.

Under EU Regulation 261/2004, passengers are entitled to up to £460 in compensation when their flight lands at their destination more than three hours late. Airlines can avoid paying out if the delay is caused by an extraordinary circumstance, such as bad weather or crew strikes.

January is a time when many people take stock and think about what they want to achieve in the year ahead. Being your own boss has a lot of advantages - if you've you always wanted to set up on your own, here are five tips to help you succeed.

To clear the average national household debt of ?13,000 at 6% interest with a monthly repayment of ?100 will take around 17 years. There are, however, plenty of simple ways to make significant savings on your regular spending that could clear your debt - or boost your savings - in less than a year. This is Money's top 50 - updated - money-saving tips may appear light-hearted but are deadly serious.

Choosing the right DIY platform is crucial but a wealth of choice and changes to charges have left many investors scratching their heads. We pick some of the best. We also highlight why investing in an Isa makes sense, as it should protect your hopefully growing investments from tax forever.

Despite endless media coverage of the political wrangling and financial speculation, the average Briton can be forgiven for remaining confused about what 'soft' and 'hard' Brexit really mean. About the difference between the 'Norway model' for the UK's post-Brexit relationship with the UK and the 'Swiss solution'. But a clever table put together by HSBC in a report called 'Is Brexit Getting Harder?' cleaves some clarity from the murk.

An interest rate cut before the end of the year looks less likely following the plunge in the pound. However, the Bank of England has indicated that higher inflation driven by rising import costs won't make it lift rates.