Shops are already full of Christmas offerings and scammers are ready to take advantage of the season of goodwill to con us out of money.

The message is to trust no-one and to remember that banks, energy companies and the HMRC never send messages out of the blue offering us money or asking for our bank account details to pay us some unexpected money.

Mrs Mean checks out new scams and some old favourites. Remember we are all vulnerable especially when we are busy and fraudsters are practised at getting us to act quickly.

There is a greater chance of getting your money back this year and by reporting fraud you are helping to protect others.

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As the Budget looms at the end of November everyone seems to be worried about tax increases that will cost them dear. Hundreds of millions of pounds are being invested in pensions to take advantage of tax relief and similar sums are being taken out of pensions to use the tax-free allowance, which they fear is going to be withdrawn.

Meanwhile there are lots of easier and less dramatic ways to pay less tax without taking big risks.

Make sure you use your personal tax allowance and if you do not earn enough your spouse or civil partner can benefit. It takes minutes to apply online for the marriage allowance that can give a couple more than £150 a year or £1,000 if backdated by four years.

Low earners can also keep more of their savings' interest than the rest of us. It is possible to earn more than £17,000 in bank or building society interest and pay no tax. Couples should organise their savings so they pay the least tax. Individual Savings Accounts are available to all of us and are free of income and capital gains tax on cash or stock market accounts.

Higher earners may also able to keep their entitlement to child benefit or free child care by paying more into their pensions.

Noone should pay more tax than they need to. Now is the time to claim your full allowances.

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Mortgages cause worry and uncertainty about how to get the best deals. While people with fixed rate mortgages at historically low interest rates are worried about making ends meet when they have to remortgage there are lots of people who took out loans two years ago and now face enormous exit fees if they want to change lender to get lower mortgage payments.

Both problems are tackled by Mrs Mean in today's podcast. One listener faces an £18,000 exit fee to leave his five year fix with more than 6% interest to move to a loan at 3.75%. The exit fee is horrendous but moving now could save £36,000. Brokers should help make such a deal work.

Moving from a very low mortgage rate to the current moderate mortgage payments can be daunting if your wages have not increased substantially in the last few years. Taking a lodger under the government's Rent-a-Room scheme may help to stretch budgets. It allows homeowners to earn £7,500 tax free and cover the higher mortgage payments.

Taking a part-time job can also boost your income, and generally in UK an employer cannot stop an employee from having a second job, unless it is specificaly prohibited in their employment contract or would bring the firm into disrepute. That means no to Only Fans but yes to dog walking.

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