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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