With regards to the tax stories, in the Mirror, Tricia Phillips (@Triciaaphillips) outlined the hidden budget cuts and benefit changes which will hit families hardest. With childcare costs being chopped by 10 per cent and the recent cap on Housing Allowance affecting new claimants, it might be worth following Jessica Bown’s advice in the Express and giving your finances a spring clean. Moreover, if you’re one of the 700,000 extra people being dragged into paying higher-rate tax from today, then the ‘Seven easy ways to beat the higher rate tax trap’ in the Mail (@MailOnline) makes for an interesting read. Tips include using National Savings and Investments and making the most of your ISA allowance.

Focussing on pensions, in the Express, Holly Thomas (@holly_thomas_) explained how new reforms are set to divide pensioners who retire before 2015 and those who stop working later – with those retiring earlier being left out of pocket.  James Salmon, in the Mail, provided a useful explanation of what exactly the new £140-a-week State pension entails and how different people will be affected.

The rest of the scores on the board this week were as follows:

Charity                  5%               

Credit cards        0%      

Fraud/scams      5%     

IFAs                       0%                     

Insurance            0%   

Investment         5%   

Mortgages           10%    

Pensions              15%   

Property               0%      

Regulation           0%         

Savings                 15%          

Tax                          35%             

Utilities                 10%

A story that caught our eye was Jo Thornhill’s article in the Mail on Sunday (@mailonline) which focused on the campaign to block the pensions assault on the 50-something women who will be penalised by the reforms to the state pension coming in.

Although savings stories fell from 18 per cent to 16 per cent a subject that was widely covered was the launch of Junior Isas. This scheme has generally been very well received – Holly Thomas (@holly_thomas_) at the Sunday Express covered the ins and outs of how they will work. However, Merryn Somerset Webb (@MerrynSW), FT Money highlighted concerns that investors should be first of all thinking about their own finances before their children. Still on the subject of children’s savings Leah Milner (@leahmilner) wrote in The Times about how to teach kids to be wise with money which should be coming from both home and school.

The most prominent investment story was on Invesco Perpetual’s Neil Woodford and his view that now is the time to buy UK equities. Kathryn Cooper in The Sunday Times (@thesundaytimes) is backing him all the way while Julian Knight (@ukmoneyguru) in the Independent also looked at his investment views. 

And the rest of the scores on the board this week are as follows:

Charity                   2%

Credit cards           3%

Fraud/scams         4%

IFAs                          0%

Insurance               6%

Investment          30%

Mortgages            7%

Pensions                13%

Property                 8%

Regulation            2%

Savings                 16%

Tax                         8%

Utilities                 1%

Tilting the scoreboard towards tax, there was a nine per cent rise in articles to 21 per cent as the papers drilled down to the finer details of Osborne’s Parliamentary speech. In the Mail on Sunday (@MailOnline) Stephen Womack presented readers with a clear rundown of exactly when and where the core tax changes will bite, whilst Rosie Murray West in The Telegraph (@TeleFinance) explained how to make the cuts work in readers’ favour, with tips on home buying options and Enterprise Investment Schemes.

Looking at the Budget lows Alexandra Goss in The Sunday Times (@thesundaytimes) warned that the supposed gains of a raised tax threshold may not appear quite as kind when ballooning national insurance contributions are taken into account. In Saturday’s Times, Laura Whateley (@LWhateley) highlighted the possible knock-on effect to utility bills if energy companies pass the costs of carbon floor price tax on to already over-stretched households.

Taking a more positive look at post-Budget savings, the biggest cheers were for the return of NS&I’s savings bonds, which were heralded in the Sunday Times  (@thesundaytimes) and by Emma Wall in The Telegraph (@TeleFinance) as a bit of good news in the bid to beat inflation. With The Daily Express (@dailyexpressuk) alerting savers to the need to act quickly to avoid the inevitable “stampede”, The Mail on Sunday (@MailOnline) also noted that the certificates are bound to prove popular and may not be around for too long…

Savings still stood tall with 18 per cent (a one per cent drop from last week), but the other topic tallies on the board this week were:

Charity                  1%               

Credit cards         0%      

Fraud/scams       1%     

IFAs                       0%                     

Insurance             4%   

Investment          22%   

Mortgages           10%    

Pensions              10%   

Property              7%      

Regulation          1%         

Savings                18%          

Tax                        21%             

Utilities                 5%

Articles that caught our attention included Simon Read (@simonnread) in the Independent urging investors not to scrap their Isa plans as markets quickly recover from confusion and Kathryn Cooper in The Sunday Times (@thesundaytimes) who reported on advisers warning investors to stick with their funds in Japan.

Both Rupert Neate (@rupertneate) in the Guide to Isas in the Telegraph and Melanie Wright (@melwrightmoney) in The Sunday Times focused on how readers can invest in Isas to boost their income. While Neate looked at income through dividends on stocks and shares Isas, Wright informed readers of how to save tax on nearly £9,000 a year on their retirement income with the clever use of Isas.

Moving on to look at insurance, the Mail on Sunday had an eclectic mix of stories including cover for musicians and urging readers to look closely at funeral insurance schemes to ensure they are not being lead up the garden path. Paul Farrow also looked at insurance in the Telegraph (@TeleFinance), using his own experience as a case study on the importance of taking out the right level of pet cover – we hope George the springer spaniel gets well soon!

Elsewhere, the other scores on the board were as follows:

Charity                  1%

Credit cards        5%

Fraud/scams      1%

IFAs                       0%

Insurance            10%

Investment        30%

Mortgages          7%

Pensions              3%

Property              6%

Regulation          2%

Savings                 19%

Tax                         12%

Utilities                 4%

With state pension reforms on the way, Sylvia Morris (@MailOnline) in the Daily Mail looked at the various ways annuity holders may be affected by the changes. Meanwhile, Harvey Jones (@dailyexpressuk) in the Daily Express recommended readers plan ahead for their pensions, with an article looking at the best ways to ensure today’s calculations add up when it is time to retire. One way to do this is to consolidate all pensions into a Sipp which has the benefit of online access and management.

Fraud stories also rallied in number for a mixed bag of reasons. The good news is that debit and credit card fraud has slipped to the lowest level for a decade, as Clinton Manning (@clintonmanning) in the Mirror reported. The bad news however is that those who are unlucky enough to become victims of fraudsters are facing a tough time getting the compensation they are owed from banks. Lauren Thompson (@MailOnline) in the Daily Mail noted how some banks are even shifting blame onto card holders for being negligent when their chip and pins have been scammed.

Sitting evenly with the number of pension and fraud stories, articles focusing on investments also took a 15 per cent share of the coverage table. In the Daily Mail, Tony Hazell’s column drew readers’ attention to the “canny” merits of the new five year fixed rate John Lewis Partnership bond paying an annual return of 6.5 per cent. Hazell (@TonyHazell) notes how this is an exciting chance for John Lewis partners and customers to invest in the business without the need for middle men.

The rest of the scores on the board this week were:

Charity                  5%         

Credit cards        5%         

Fraud/scams      15%       

IFAs                       0%         

Insurance            0%         

Investment        15%       

Mortgages          10%       

Pensions              15%      

Property              0%         

Regulation          0%         

Savings                 20%       

Tax                         5%         

Utilities                 10%

Savings stories that caught our eye included Rupert Jones’s (@rupert_jones) run down in the Guardian (@guardianmoney) of the fresh crop of high-paying Isa deals. Jeff Prestridge (@jeffprestridge) in the Mail on Sunday also focused on the swathes of new products that the big banks and building societies are bringing to market to tempt savers to part with their £5,100 allowance.

A non-Isa related story of interest was Julian Knight (@ukmoneyguru) and Maryrose Fison’s (@maryrosefison) report in the Independent on Sunday on how to fight back against banks which have been rewarding their better-off customers at the expense of poorer ones.

On the investment side, the Sunday Telegraph asked Citywire to pick three funds as the top income producing funds for your Isa, which ranged from UK-centric to a global fund. Mark Atherton (@MarkAthertonTim) in the Times looked at investing in the US and sees that 2011 is looking like a positive year for investors.

 The rest of the scores this week were as follows:

Charity                  2%

Credit cards        6%

Fraud/scams      0%

IFAs                       2%

Insurance            8%

Investment        27%

Mortgages          12%

Pensions              5%

Property              5%

Regulation          4%

Savings                 18%

Tax                         6%

Utilities                 5%

Thanks to recent fines levied by the FSA, the Daily Mail (@DMAILMoney) and the Daily Express (@dailyexpressuk) celebrated the payouts that homeowners who were miss-sold unaffordable mortgages will be receiving. News that DB Mortgages has been ordered to pay out for lending irresponsibly and failing to help borrowers in arrears is good news for up to 4,000 of those affected.

Meanwhile, after dominating the top of the tally scoreboard last week with a 38 per cent share, savings stories this week slipped by 14 per cent despite a continued interest in Isas. Pensions stories took an even bigger hit and nose-dived from 32 per cent of the tally last week to just 4 per cent, being squeezed out to make room for credit card and fraud stories.

Credit card articles doubled to 12 per cent of the tally and Tricia Phillips in the Daily Mirror (@DailyMirror) warned that some firms have been taking advantage of customers struggling with debt. Citizens Advice noted that complicated small print often results in missed payment charges and interest, which easily add up to damaged credit ratings and an even heavier debt burden.

Fraud stories also witnessed a comeback, leaping from nought to 12 per cent. Property scams were the hot topic, with warnings this week for both young people and families who are renting. First off, Holly Thomas (@holly_thomas_) in the Daily Express reported on the worrying figures from Experian which revealed that young people living in shared rental accommodation are two-and-a-half times as likely to fall victim to identity fraud because of shady flatmates and the availability of personal documents.

Elsewhere in the Daily Express, Thomas looked at the dangers of resorting to ‘sale-and-rent-back’ schemes, which have been found to pay under the market value for family properties before charging excessive rent back to the occupiers – often resulting in eviction.

The other scores on the board this week were:

Charity                  0%

Credit cards        12%

Fraud/scams      12%

IFAs                       0%

Insurance            8%

Investment        4%

Mortgages          16%

Pensions              4%

Property              8%

Regulation          0%

Savings                 24%

Tax                         4%

Utilities                 8%

Utilities                 8%

Elsewhere, with the spectre of inflation rearing its head the money pages dedicated a number of articles on how to combat the hike. Jim Leaviss in the Mail (@MoneyMail_News) looked at where investors can turn to get a real return, which includes index-linked gilts and commodities. Chiara Cavaglieri and Julian Knight (@ukmoneyguru) in the Independent (@TheIndyNews) suggested ways to make the most of your portfolio, rating each asset class out of ten for its inflation beating abilities. Emma Simon (@SimpleSimonEmma) at the Telegraph focused on gold and whether it is really the ultimate inflation hedge.

Moving on to the more classic Isa articles, the Sunday Times (@thesundaytimes) pulled together 10 reasons to take out an Isa which included the incentive of becoming an Isa millionaire and Steve Lodge in FT Money (@ftmoney) warned investors of the Isa accounts that could be losing thousands of pounds on previously popular funds.  Advisers have suggested reviewing these funds in the overall portfolio rather than cutting and running.

The rest of the scores this week are as follows:

Charity                  0%

Credit cards        5%

Fraud/scams      2%

IFAs                       0%

Insurance            10%

Investment        35%

Mortgages          13%

Pensions              8%

Property              5%

Regulation          1%

Savings                 17%

Tax                         2%

Utilities                 2%

Yet with a click of a mouse or the tap of a screen, enter the virtual world and it is clear to all that the Tech Geek is King. To celebrate all things weird and whizzkid, we declare this week’s Friday Links blog an ‘Ode to the Nerds of the Net’.

On your journey to the centre of the digital earth, why not travel in style with your very own Geek-mobile? The less ostentatious amongst us might prefer an old banger and an artistic pile of dirt – rolling up at Comic Con won’t have quite the same impact we know, but at least there will be spare change for a human washing machine to keep the dust at bay.

Perhaps you’re so much of a Tech Geek that an addiction to Facebook makes a baby mop look like too much effort? If you’re not too busy stalking friends or ‘liking’ videos of your nephew spewing during choir practice (what a champ!) then maybe this incredibly stat-tastic Facebook infograph is more up your street.

Now don’t get us wrong, here at MRM we have been absorbed all week by our new iPhones and we willingly admit to a bit of smartphone geekiness, but even we almost spilt our Apple water when we checked out this particularly fanatic group of boffins. To quote one inked-up T Mobile user’s back, “OMFG” indeed.

The overwhelming theme on mortgages was that although low rates have been good news for homebuyers up to now, nothing lasts forever. In the Independent, Julian Knight (@ukmoneyguru) and Chiara Cavaglieri highlighted the unparalleled stability of low interest rates that we are experiencing at the moment and how this translates to good news for mortgage holders. However, with the Confederation of British Industry predicting an imminent interest rate rise, anyone looking for a low fixed rate ought to act now.

Rosie Murray-West in the Telegraph (@TeleFinance)  also drew upon this theme, pointing out that while many lenders are already putting up the price of fixed-rate mortgages, this trend only likely to continue as swap rates are soaring on the expectation of a Bank of England rate rise.

Which?’s campaign against the surcharges placed on credit cards was responsible for a spike in credit card stories this week (@WhichMoney). The consumer body will launch a ‘super-complaint’ to force the Office of Fair Trading to examine these ‘rip-off’ charges. Simon Read’s column in the Independent looked at the companies who are guilty of excessive charges on credit card transactions. While each transaction only costs a business 20p to carry out, the consumer is often charged a massive £5.50. The Telegraph advised shoppers to use debit cards rather than credit cards to try to avoid the “ “rip-off” charges. The rest of the scores this week were as follows:

  The rest of the scores this week were as follows:

Charity                  1%

Credit cards        8%

Fraud/scams      0%

IFAs                       0%

Insurance            9%

Investment        29%

Mortgages          17%

Pensions              11%

Property              1%

Regulation          3%

Savings                 14%

Tax                         6%

Utilities                 1%