Pensions don't have to be boring, maybe we just need to think about them in a different way. In the more than 20 years I've been writing about pensions, I've heard them described as dull, complex and a rip-off. But what if I told you that having a workplace pension can amount to an easy pay rise? And that there are ways to boost your retirement nest-egg for free – without paying in more of your hard-earned cash?

This week Tesco announced it’s going to stop lending new mortgages, and it’s also going to sell on the mortgages it already has with its customers, so that they’ll be owned and managed by a different firm. Although Tesco promises the original T&Cs will remain the same, this decision to offload the loans is sounding off alarm bells.

Over Easter, I made a mammoth 23,318-mile return trip to New Zealand – with two stopovers in China, for 12 and then a whopping 18 hours. While I can handle a few hours in a departure lounge, this time I was fully prepared to pay for a proper bed and shower. But when I searched for airport hotels, I discovered my airline China Southern – like many others – would put me up at no extra cost...

It's the top-secret trick that theatres don't want you to know exists. Welcome to the hush-hush world of last-minute seat-filling, where it's possible to watch a show from as little as £4. Theatres do it because they quite literally need bums on seats – but you must agree not to say what you get so you don't upset people who pay full whack.

What's the best way to work out if you'll have enough pension when you retire? Start by finding out what your retirement nest eggs are currently worth. It can be a challenge keeping track of the different pots of pension cash you accumulate over your working life, so here's how to use a simple spreadsheet to see at a glance how much pension you've built up so far.