Save on bills without switching providers & pay for everything on a credit card – how to make 2025 your richest year yet
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POST-Christmas money worries starting to bite?. With the cost of living crisis, sky-high mortgage rates and inflation, women in the UK are grappling with a host of unprecedented financial challenges. Meanwhile, the gender pay gap still sees us earn more than 15% less than men per hour, women make up 55% of those in debt, and by the time we retire, we have £100k less than men in our pension pots.
![[Construction cranes building a structure from twenty pound notes.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/newspress-collage-e2345bjgm-1736119110632.jpg?1736119140&strip=all&w=960)
But help is at hand. Here, three experts advise how to make this year financially healthier. Jasmine Birtles is a personal finance and business expert, presenter, and the founder of Money Magpie. They were one of the hottest financial topics of 2024 and I don’t see that changing this year.
![[Jasmine Birtles]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/jasmine_birtles_head_and_shoulders__brown_suitjpg-JS106269391jpg-JS956315372.jpg?strip=all&w=692)
Unfortunately, there’s still a lot of upward pressure on inflation and I don’t believe rates will drop more than a quarter or half a per cent, if at all, for the foreseeable future, so it’s important to be realistic about what you can afford. If you’re trying to get a deposit together, there are some schemes that may help – for example, the Lifetime ISA, for people aged 18-39 buying their first home (up to £450,000) anywhere in the UK.
![[New Fab Daily coloumist GEMMA BIRD aka Money Mum on Instagram. Jenny Hodges/Fab Daily]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/6400f3e2-f9f1-463d-a809-22364666c353.jpg?strip=all&w=766)
You can pay in up to £4,000 each tax year and the government will top that up by 25%. You must have opened your LISA at least a year before purchasing your home. Some lenders offer guarantor mortgages, so if your parents are willing and in a position to help, they would be liable for your repayments.
![[Financial expert Claire Seal - Photographed by Emma Croman]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Clare_Seal_May22_web-0004_copyjpg-JS956314758.jpg?strip=all&w=640)
