OCTOBER is approaching and that means plenty of changes for your money.
Millions will see a hike to their energy bills, while others will get extra support to help with the cost of living.
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Meanwhile, there are a couple of deadlines you might want to bear in mind if you want to avoid a hefty fine.
These are all the dates for your diary…
October 1 – Energy prices rise
Households across the country will see their energy bills hiked by 2% next month.
That’s because the new energy price cap is coming into force from October 1.
The price cap sets the maximum amount energy companies can charge per unit of gas or electricity, and it’s updated every three months.
Under the new price cap, bills will rise by £35.14 per year for households using a typical amount of energy.
Only those on standard variable tariffs, which is over 35million households, will be immediately affected by the price cap change.
Those on fixed tariffs will not see their bills change from October.
But they could face higher prices if their contract with their energy supplier ends.
October 5 – Register for self-assessment
If you’re self-employed or have a side hustle that’s earned you more than £1,000 over the tax year, you may need to submit a self-assessment tax return.
The deadline to file your tax return is January, but you must first register with HMRC.
The deadline to complete your registration for the 2024/25 tax year is October 5.
You can check if you need to complete a tax return on GOV.UK.
Tax returns are usually due if you’re self-employed and your income hasn’t had tax automatically deducted, or if you’ve earned extra money outside your usual work that hasn’t been taxed.
If you fail to register or file your tax return you could face a hefty fine from HMRC.
October 13 – Winter Fuel Payment phone lines open
Millions of pensioners will receive the Winter Fuel Payment this year to help them with their energy bills.
The payments are worth up to £300 and the majority of people will get the cash automatically.
But some people may need to apply, which you can do by phone from October 13.
The exact amount you can get depends on when you were born.
Pensioners who were born between September 22, 1945 and September 21, 1959 will get £200.
Those who were born before September 22, 1945 will get £300.
However if your income is over £35,000 then HMRC will claw the payment back.
If you are eligible you will get a letter in October or November to tell you how much money you will get.
October 16 – Tesco Christmas Saver
Several supermarkets offer schemes that give you a bonus towards your Christmas shop.
Tesco‘s Christmas Saver scheme is running until October 16.
When you shop and collect Clubcard points during the year, Tesco will save these up until the deadline.
Then you’ll get vouchers in your November Clubcard statement, just in time to spend on your Christmas shop.
You can also top up your account with cash, and the supermarket will pay a bonus on top of this.
When you’ve topped up at least £200, you’ll get a £12 bonus.
October 22 – Inflation update
The latest inflation data will be revealed on October 22.
Inflation measures the rate at which prices increase for goods and services like petrol, food and transport.
It measures how much prices have risen over the previous 12 months, so for example between August 2024 and August 2025.
The UK’s rate of inflation was at 3.8% in August, which was unchanged from July.
But the inflation rate for food and non-alcoholic drinks hit 5.1% last month, up from 4.9% in July.
This marked the fifth month in a row that food price inflation has climbed.
Shoppers have already been warned that the price of groceries could rise by 5.7% before the end of the year, piling on further financial pressure ahead of the Christmas season.
How to save money on your food shop
Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how you can save hundreds of pounds a year:
Odd boxes – plenty of retailers offer slightly misshapen fruit and veg or surplus food at a discounted price.
Lidl sells five kilos of fruit and veg for just £1.50 through its Waste Not scheme while Aldi shoppers can get Too Good to Go bags which contain £10 worth of all kinds of products for £3.30.
Sainsbury’s also sells £2 “Taste Me, Don’t Waste Me” fruit and veg boxes to help shoppers reduced food waste and save cash.
Food waste apps – food waste apps work by helping shops, cafes, restaurants and other businesses shift stock that is due to go out of date and passing it on to members of the public.
Some of the most notable ones include Too Good to Go and Olio.
Too Good to Go’s app is free to sign up to and is used by millions of people across the UK, letting users buy food at a discount.
Olio works similarly, except users can collect both food and other household items for free from neighbours and businesses.
Yellow sticker bargains – yellow sticker bargains, sometimes orange and red in certain supermarkets, are a great way of getting food on the cheap.
But what time to head out to get the best deals varies depending on the retailer. You can see the best times for each supermarket here.
Super cheap bargains – sign up to bargain hunter Facebook groups like Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK where shoppers regularly post hauls they’ve found on the cheap, including food finds.
“Downshift” – you will almost always save money going for a supermarket’s own-brand economy lines rather than premium brands.
The move to lower-tier ranges, also known as “downshifting” and hailed by consumer expert Martin Lewis, could save you hundreds of pounds a year on your food shop.
October 31 – Self-assessment paper deadline
If you’re planning to file your self-assessment tax return by post, you have an earlier deadline.
You will need to file your tax return by October 31 in this case.
If you miss the deadline, you’ll be charged a late filing penalty of £100.
If you still haven’t filed after three months, there are additional daily penalties of £10 per day, up to a maximum of £900.
Then after six months, a further penalty of 5% of the tax due or £300, whichever is greater, is applied. This repeats again after 12 months.
Of course, if you don’t send your paper form on time then you can fill out your tax return online instead.
The deadline for this is January 31, 2026.
October – Warm Home Discount letters begin
The Warm Home Discount gives eligible households £150 off their energy bill.
It’s available to people on benefits like Pension Credit or Universal Credit.
If you’re entitled to the support then you should get a letter in the post from October 20.
However some households won’t be sent letters until as late as December.
You don’t need to apply for the support as you should receive it automatically.
The money isn’t paid into your bank account – instead your electricity supplier will take the money off your bill.
To qualify, you need to be claiming one of these nine means-tested benefits on August 24, 2025:
- Guaranteed credit element of pension credit
- Income support
- Income based jobseeker’s allowance
- Income related employment and support allowance
- Housing benefit
- Universal Credit
- The savings credit part of Pension Credit.
