Will the credit crunch restrict your Christmas present buying? Photograph: Getty

I've seen the one-way graphs. I'm listening to the daily bad news of job cuts. But last week I watched hordes of shoppers elbow their way round Country Living magazine's Christmas fair and, temporarily, all notions of gloom were suspended.

These shoppers were determined: with their floor plans of the Business Design Centre in Islington, London, they were off. As Christmas decorations twinkled and wafts of festive cooking came from the food hall, one by one nephews and daughters and were ticked off shopping lists. Continue reading...

Tipping conundrum: How much is acceptable? Photograph: David Sillitoe

If they were big, fat and American-looking you rushed to the door to show them to your section. Any chance, any opening for a little chat with them you snapped it up. The reward was a 20% tip - compared to the French who, if you were lucky, rounded up the bill by a few pence and left it on the table. Always put the French on the section of the waiter you least liked.

That was in the early 1980s when I was a waiter at a pizza restaurant in Westminster. It was before the minimum wage, but the boss paid us a standard going rate and let us keep the tips, which soon became the majority of my wage. For someone out of college with no prospects for a proper job it didn't seem such a bad deal. Continue reading...

Does the cost of garden gear matter to you? Photograph: Martin Godwin

How have your living costs changed since this time last year? The official rate of inflation for October shows prices are up 4.5% year-on-year. It's fallen from 5.2% in September - the first time the rate of inflation has fallen since August 2007. But does this really show the way your cost of living is changing? Continue reading...

Office gossip: 'And she was like sooo drunk ...'. Photograph: Getty

A worker wonders how to live down gossip about events at last year's Christmas party

How do you tell a friend you don't trust his new love? Photograph: Rex Features

A reader is concerned about a friend's new girlfriend who has borrowed a large amount of money from him

Keep spending … 'it helps keep the economy, and morale, high', says Nancy Dell'Olio. Photograph: Rex Features

While we wait on tenterhooks to see what the chancellor really plans to do with our taxes, the financial press is still digesting the fallout from this month's base rate cut and the impact of the financial downturn on consumers. Many of this week's stories focus on changing prices - drops in the value of homes and shares and rises in the value of some of life's basics … Continue reading...

Estate agents are no longer finding it so easy to attract buyers. Photograph: Manchan/Photodisc

A year ago last summer I started looking for a flat in south-east London. Then the credit crunch happened and I put my search on hold. When I started looking again this year prices had started to come down and they are still falling. This week, two flats I looked at in June were repriced from £250,000 to £205,000 and £210,000. A significant drop.

But, the financial crisis, the talk of deflation (income goes down, debt stays the same) and the constipated mortgage market have given me the heebie-jeebies about buying anything. Continue reading...

Amazon: It's convenient, but at what cost? Photograph: Guardian/Frank Baron

It's the one-stop shop where many of this year's most wanted Christmas presents can be found at the best price (or thereabouts), but will you be shopping at Amazon this year? I don't know anyone who doesn't get at least some of their gifts from the site, and there are lots of good reasons why: it's good value, easy to use, has pretty much everything your family might ask for, and is more convenient than struggling up the high street laden with shopping bags. It's also greener than leaping in the car to go and get your shopping. Continue reading...

This week ... thoughts are already turning to Christmas shopping. Photograph: Getty Images/Christopher Furlong

• If your newspaper didn't mention "Winners and losers" this weekend, you were deprived. The 1.5% base rate cut last Thursday gave everyone the chance to examine who would gain: borrowers with tracker mortgages and some on their lender's standard variable rate and who would be worse off: savers and people who are about to retire. Continue reading...

How do you turn charity shop finds into cash? Photograph: Don McPhee

A reader wants advice on how to use eBay to turn charity shop bargains into cash

Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

Bullying is still shockingly rife in the workplace, finds Mira Katbamna, so it's little wonder workers in Wales are reducing the hours they spend in the office

Blimey! A 1.5% cut in interest rates is more than most people had dared to predict before the Bank of England announced its decision this lunchtime. There had been calls for it to be daring - and talk of a 1% reduction was growing - but it isn't overstating it to call this a shock decision. Continue reading...

Bank of England rate cuts are not being passed on to homeowners by lenders

Lenders have got us over a barrel. If the base rate falls they say they will not necessarily cut their standard variable rates (SVRs); the only way to be sure of a cut is to get a tracker mortgage (which offer a rate tied to the Bank of England base rate) and they have even started to withdraw them. Continue reading...

Got the feeling someone is avoiding you? Photograph: Alamy

Every fortnight Pamela Hutchinson presents a workplace dilemma for your consideration. This week: why does a colleague appear to be snubbing me?

Skiing: Is it worth borrowing to send a child on a school trip?

Every week a Guardian Money reader submits a question, and it's up to you to help him or her out - a selection of the best answers will appear in Saturday's paper. Continue reading...