This year has already been a rollercoaster for our household finances, with consumers forced to weather rising food and energy costs, a removal of the £20 Universal Credit uplift, the end of furlough and more.
But with less than two months to go, 2021 is not letting up when it comes to big changes that will affect our wallets.
But it's not all bad news, as some changes will actually leave you better off - a rare bit of good fortune in an otherwise gloomy year financially.
Here is our run-down of five of the big money changes coming before the new year.
Changes to working tax credits
From November 25 if you get working tax credit and your working hours change, you have to tell HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) or face a £300 fine.
This benefit is paid to 2million people who are working but on low incomes, and is slowly being replaced by Universal Credit.
During the pandemic millions of workers were furloughed and not working, which normally would affect how much working tax credit they get.
How will the changes affect you? Let us know in the comments section below
To make life simpler, HMRC suspended its normal rule that claimants who have changes to their working hours should let it know.
But from November 25 the normal rules will come back.
That means if you get working tax credit and your hours change, make sure you let HMRC know.
Not doing so can land you with a £300 fine .
You can only claim working tax credit if you already claim child tax credit, and dependent on your age must work a certain amount in order to receive the allowance.
600,000 more families can apply for Universal Credit
This is meant to come in no later then December 1, according to chancellor Rishi Sunak.
Around 600,000 more families will be entitled to the support under changes to the benefit's taper rate unveiled in the Budget last month .
But it will only help claimants who are currently working. Universal Credit payments are reduced if you have a job, and these changes increase how much extra employed claimants get.
The taper rate has been cut from 63% to 55%.
That means that for every extra pound earned the benefit payment will be reduced by 55p, an extra 8p per pound in the pockets of claimants.
Working Universal Credit claimants will also be able to keep more of what they earn before the taper applies to them.
If you work and get Universal Credit plus housing support, you can keep £293 a month before the taper kicks in. This will rise to £335 by December 1 at the latest.
If your benefit does not include housing support, you get to keep £515 before the taper. This will be going up to £557.
Christmas will come early for benefits claimants
Well, sort of.
Universal Credit claimants should get Christmas payments earlier than usual this year due to bank holidays.
This is because if a claimant's Universal Credit payment is due on a bank holiday - including Christmas - then the money should be paid in advance.
This year, Christmas falls on a Saturday and Boxing Day on Sunday. This means that both Monday, December 27, and Tuesday, December 28, will both be official bank holidays this year.
The government says anyone who usually gets their payment on any of those dates will get their money on the Friday before Christmas Day.
That means payments will come on Christmas Eve this year.
Universal Credit payments are usually paid monthly.
Obviously getting a payment early means the money has to last a little longer than usual.
The cost of mortgages and loans will rise...
This one is a little uncertain - it may not happen at all, and may not happen this year.
But a chain of events already unfolding means that this is very likely.
The reason is inflation is rising, and is currently at 4.2% - almost a ten-year high .
This is above the Bank of England's target of 2%, and when this happens the Bank normally raises the base rate to try to bring inflation down.
The base rate is factored into the cost of things like mortgages and loan interest payments.
It is also currently at record lows of 0.1%, where it has remained since the start of the pandemic.
The Bank of England was predicted to raise the rate last month - but didn't.
The theory is that if the base rate rises then people are more likely to save and not spend.
That will slow the economy slightly, which in turn brings inflation down - because inflation is just the rising cost of goods and services.
...but savings rates will too
The silver lining to rising base rate is that it means savings deals become more generous.
This is because savings providers also include the base rate in how much interest their deals pay.
There is often a direct link between the two, meaning as base rate goes up, so does the power of your cash.
Benefit Christmas bonus
Households in receipt of certain benefits will get a tax-free bonus of £10 this Christmas as a little boost to help them over the winter months.
The extra support is available to people already claiming at least one of a series benefits, from Carer's Allowance to Pension Credits.
The £10 is typically paid to people claiming support in the first full week of December, and won't affect any other entitlements you have.
It may only be £10, but it could be very much appreciated by anyone counting the pennies this winter.
Check if you qualify for the bonus, here.
