There's nothing like talk of energy prices and potential higher borrowing costs to remind us that the summer holidays are well and truly over.Surging oil prices have been pushing up what drivers pay at the fuel pumps and eating away at household budgets for months, and concerns remain over whether the economic impact of the US-Iran war will drive the cost of living higher. Citing the Middle East conflict and warning inflation was "set to remain well above" its 2% target for some time, the European Central Bank recently raised interest rates to 2.5%. [...]