Before we go, we thought we'd leave you with a few ideas for dinner, courtesy of some of the country's best chefs.

Each month, we talk to a chef to get their best tips, pet peeves and favourite at-home recipes in our Cheap Eats series (you might have read today's instalment). We've spoken to TV foodies, Michelin-star holders, an air fryer queen and at least one pastry guru. 

Read their recipes below - and we'll see you back here tomorrow for live coverage of the Bank of England's first interest rate decision of the year...  

Most Britons think above-inflation interest rates on student loans are too much to charge graduates, a new YouGov survey has found. 

The survey follows headline-making rows over the high rates of interest that students on Plan 2 tuition loans have to pay. 

The interest rate on plan 2 loans is linked to the Retail Prices Index (RPI) rate of inflation plus 3% and can vary from month to month. That means, at the moment, students are charged 6.2% interest. 

When they graduate, the interest is charged at RPI plus up to 3% based on your earnings. 

A graduate on a salary of £51,245 would be charged 6.2%, while those earning £28,470 pay 3.2%. 

In the YouGov survey, 76% of people said an interest rate of 6% was too high. 

More than half (57%) believed an interest rate that matched inflation would be "about right". 

For many graduates, everything they earn from their salary is dwarfed by the interest that is added to their debt every month, with many now owing more than they ever borrowed. 

Listen to two graduates' experiences... 

The loans are written off after 30 years, even if they haven't been completely paid off, so many face repayments until their 50s.

The salary threshold, above which plan 2 graduates have to repay 9% of anything they earn, will rise to £29,385 in April.

In the YouGov survey, 63% of people believed paying 9% of earnings over the threshold was too much. 

Were it reduced to 6%, then the public are divided between 38% who say this is too high and 34% who see it as about right.

Experts have warned that interest payments have ballooned out of control and the system "looks like a shady tax scam".

Philly Ponniah, chartered wealth manager and financial coach said every extra pound earned above the threshold lost 9p straight away.

"I'm seeing this with some younger clients, and it's clearly disincentivising pay rises and progression at the margins. When people work harder or get promoted and feel worse off in real terms, something in the system is broken. If higher effort just means higher deductions with no realistic path to clearing the debt, motivation drops," she said. 

"For many, this no longer feels like borrowing for education, it feels like a permanent surcharge on success, and that's a dangerous message to bake into the tax system." 

Samuel Mather-Holgate, independent financial adviser at advice frm Mather and Murray Financial, told Newspage: "This system looks like a shady tax scam, with millions of students entering into what is, in effect, a graduate tax scheme without fully considering the implications of this. 

"For most of their lives they will be paying an effective income tax rate of 9% higher than other works on relevant earnings above £30,000 with little prospect of paying it off and getting out of this marginal rate unless they become a Premier League footballer." 

What do you think about student loans? Tell us your thoughts in the comment box above 

February could be the best month to get your home sold, according to analysis by Rightmove. 

Looking at millions of properties listed for sale over 10 years, the property site found that sellers were most likely to successfully find a buyer this month. 

Seven in 10 homes listed for sale in February found a buyer, the research found. 

January, typically when activity starts ramping up after a quieter Christmas period, and March, the popular Spring selling month, tied for second place, with 68.8% of homes listed for sale going on to find a buyer. 

October came bottom of the list, but 65.4% of homes listed in this month still managed to find a buyer. 

In other metrics, January was identified as the quickest month to sell a home on average. 

Homes listed for sale in January found a buyer in around 47 days. February was the next quickest at 48 days. 

Colleen Babcock, Rightmove's property expert, says: "It's a tight contest, but on average February is the best month to get your home sold, followed by further strong months during the upcoming and very important Spring home-moving season. 

"Sellers who are yet to act but are considering a 2026 move might consider coming to market soon to take advantage of the increase in home-buyer activity." 

Britons have been told to search their drawers to take advantage of the price of gold. 

"Gold has gone up to such a high level that, really, even so much as an earring back could be worth money," Jim Tannahill, director of Suttons and Robertsons, London's oldest pawnbrokers, told Money. 

The price of gold has soared to record highs in the past year, buoyed by geopolitical uncertainty. It hit a record of $5,594.82 an ounce last week before suffering its steepest one-day fall since 1983 on Friday, but has rebounded since and is now around $5,050. 

Despite the dip, the price is significantly higher than this time last year, with investors flocking to safe-haven assets. 

That's pushed up the value of your gold at home, Tannahill said: "Tiny objects can really be worth quite a lot now, so do look in those drawers for things you never use." 

If you find an 18-carat earring back weighing one gram, "that's 80 odd pound", he said.

How will your gold be valued?

If you've seen headlines about the price of gold soaring past $5,000, don't think that's what your items will be valued on. 

First, that is the spot price for pure gold, so if you have a different carat, you need to take that into account. 

Second, the trade price of gold is less than the spot price, usually by around 2% or 3% less, Tannahill said.

Lastly, it is all quoted in dollars, so the price in sterling can vary depending on how the dollar is performing. 

Brokers will then factor in their margins, which can reduce it further. 

"High street pawn brokers will be offering a loan of somewhere between 50% and 75% of the price of gold. We are at the higher end, so we do 70% or 75% of the spot price of gold," Tannahill added. 

At the moment, that means an ounce of gold could allow you to borrow up to £2,750 or could be sold for around £3,350. 

Tannahill has seen an uptick in people wanting to sell gold, buoyed by news of soaring prices. 

"People start thinking about what's in the jewellery box, what's at the back of the drawer. All of a sudden, they've got a couple of sovereigns which are now worth £1,600 to £1,700," Tannahill said. 

"We're definitely seeing an increase in inquiries."

The most popular items sold were necklaces and rings, he said, which had "much higher intrinsic value than they did have as little as six months ago". 

Collectors will be looking for specific brands, so for watches, think Rolex or Patek Philippe and for jewellery, think Cartier, he said. 

Pieces from the 1920s or including coloured gemstones were also very popular, he added.

Items that are easy to sell, or collectables, will be kept by the pawnbroker, he said, but others will be melted down. 

Branded jewellery like Cartier, Tiffany and Van Cleef & Arpels would "definitely be polished and put in the window", he said. 

"If it's unbranded jewellery, more often than not, that's going to find its way back into the melting pot."

So what should you do if you think you have something valuable? 

The key is to research, according to Tannahill, who suggested taking an item to a few pawn brokers to compare prices.

You can work out a rough price by looking online and weighing your gold on the kitchen scales. 

But, he warned, you shouldn't rely on the information too much. 

"Not everything is always gold. Sometimes, links might have metal catches or there might be a component that is metal that might need to be factored in," he said. 

"Do a little bit of research before you sell anything." 

Glasgow and Aberdeen airports have increased the fees paid by drivers for dropping off and picking up passengers. 

Fifteen minutes of parking at both airports will now cost £7, up from £6 at Glasgow and £5.50 at Aberdeen. 

Drivers who stay longer than 15 minutes in the designated express drop-off zones will have to pay a "premium charge" on exit.

Every minute after the allotted time will be charged at £1. 

After 30 minutes, there will be a flat £50 fee to pay. 

AGS Airports, which operates both sites, blamed rising costs for the increases, but pointed out a free alternative: parking in the long-stay car park and taking a shuttle to the terminal. 

A spokesperson said: "We appreciate that this is not a popular decision; however, it is important the airport remains competitive and all money raised serves to strengthen our connectivity and help to attract new routes." 

London City, Gatwick, Heathrow and Bristol airports have also upped their drop-off prices this year.

A Co-op website advertising a price-match scheme with Aldi was misleading for failing to compare similar products, the UK's advertising regulator has ruled.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) started looking into the scheme after Aldi handed a list of 45 items used by the Co-op in an ad promoting its offer last August.

Aldi did not believe these were fair comparisons.

Just to fill the gap here, the ad stated:

"Everyday Essentials price matched to Aldi"

And, in smaller text, it added:

"We match the prices of certain Co-op products against comparable products available at Aldi." 

Here's how it looked...

The ASA did actually find there were products that were an exact match, both in variant and size - such as the Seeded Loaf, Tiger Bloomer, White Toastie Loaf and Wholemeal Loaf.

Some products, however, were matched to similar alternatives where no identical product was sold at Aldi.

This included:

• Co-op's Linguini Pasta with Aldi's Cucina Spaghetti;
• Co-op's Summer Fruits Flavoured Still Spring Water with Aldi's Apple & Blackcurrant Flavoured Still Water;
• and Co-op Meaty Chunks in Jelly with Turkey with Aldi's Earls Meaty Chunks with Chicken in Jelly.

The ASA also found, in some cases, products were compared with a less similar alternative. That's despite a closer match sold elsewhere by Aldi.

One such example was Co-op matching their Wholemeal Farmhouse Loaf with an Aldi White Farmhouse Loaf.

Co-op said Aldi did not sell a Wholemeal Farmhouse Loaf and that the bread being a "farmhouse" style was a more significant detail than the loaf being wholemeal.

Here's what the ASA had to say:

"...because Aldi's nearest comparable individual product had not always been selected by Co-op for inclusion in the price match, and because no sufficiently prominent information was provided or adequately signposted to explain how products were deemed 'comparable', and to verify the claim, we concluded that the basis of the comparison had not been made clear and that the ad was therefore misleading."

A Co-op spokesman said they ensure "the product comparisons utilised in our Aldi price-match offer are presented clearly on our website to enable shoppers to easily verify the matches". 

"In response to the ruling, we have now made changes to our T&Cs online," they added.

'Look beyond the label'

Retail editor at consumer rights group Which?, Reena Sewraz, said Aldi "almost always comes out as the cheapest supermarket in our monthly pricing analysis".

"...so price-match schemes can sound like a win for shoppers, especially for those who don't have an Aldi nearby or prefer to shop elsewhere," she added.

"But this ASA ruling underlines why price-match claims should be treated with caution. Previous Which? research found that some price-matched products weren't like-for-like on ingredients, quality or pack size.

"Shoppers shouldn't assume a price match guarantees the same product or the best value - it pays to look beyond the label and check what you're really getting."

By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire, business and economics reporter

An AI update has again moved markets.

A new tool by a big tech-backed AI startup, Anthropic, caused a sharp sell-off of software companies' stock.

The company, part-owned by Google and Amazon, said it had developed a tool to automate legal research. It sparked fear the new product could do work that traditionally required paid databases.

Shares in companies that sell data analytics and decision-making tools to lawyers, banks and corporates fell sharply.

The London Stock Exchange Group, which sell data portals, had a 12% drop.

Other software-selling companies listed on the London Stock Exchange were also hit: Experian fell 7.5% and Sage lost 9.6%.

Meanwhile, the pound's doing well, buying €1.159, a high last seen in August, and $1.37, close to a more than four-year high. 

NatWest will close more than 30 bank branches this year and next.

The move comes as banks face increasing demand for their mobile and online services, with others like Lloyds Banking Group also closing branches.

The majority of NatWest's closures will take place in May and June of this year.

A NatWest spokesperson told Money: "Our branch network is a central part of how we serve customers, and we continue to invest in this for the future, with an increase in our investment into branches planned over the next three years. 

"However, how our customers choose to bank with us is changing, and our network and services need to reflect customer demand and ensure we are set up to deliver the best possible support."

Check if your local branch has been affected in the list below...

Asda has lost its place as the UK's cheapest supermarket for a big shop for the first time in more than two years, according to the latest Which? price rankings.

Tesco pipped it to first place by less than £2, with a trolley shop of 228 items costing £588.96 for Clubcard members, compared to Asda's £590.41. 

Without a Clubcard, the shop at Tesco was more expensive at £641.09. 

It's the first time Asda has fallen down the rankings since December 2024. 

Aldi and Lidl are not included in this "big shop" comparison as they have a smaller range of products. 

But Which? does analyse their prices for a smaller 89-item shop. 

In that ranking, Aldi came out as the cheapest, with the list of groceries costing £164.74. 

Lidl was £1.79 more expensive than its fellow discounter this month at £166.33 on average for members of its loyalty scheme Lidl Plus, or £166.53 for non-members. 

Waitrose was found to be the most expensive in both instances.