Making Cents
The podcast for people who want financial freedom, without giving up their coffee. That means it's time to make the money world make cents. Join Frances Cook, best-selling author and award-winning journalist, to talk about the proven ways to invest your way to financial independence, buy your first home, or just get your spending under control. Every Monday we have the week's feature interview, with someone who's done something interesting with their money. From paying off a mountain of debt, or investing for financial independence, or starting a new business, these are the ordinary people making the extraordinary possible. On...
10
Why Your Money Disappears (And The Fix That Actually Works)
<p>Is your Afterpay habit hurting your financial future and stopping you from hitting big life goals like buying your first home?</p><p></p><p>Every financial decision leaves a digital footprint, and banks and mortgage lenders use that data to check your creditworthiness, spending habits, and loan affordability. But with so much scaremongering and myths around credit scores in New Zealand, it's easy to panic.</p><p></p><p>This week on Ask the Experts, Jessica O’Hare, Head of Lending at Revolut, breaks down the truth about what lenders actually care about, what gets flagged on your cr...
From 0 to $1 Million And Financial Freedom - In 10 Years
<p>What if financial independence is something you could build for yourself, before you even hit 40?</p><p>Katie and Alan Donegan did exactly that.</p><p>No lottery win, no trust fund, just a determination to live simply, stack their cash, and build a life where they didn't have to answer to anyone else.</p><p>They retired at 35 and 40, and now travel the world while running Rebel Finance School, a free money course that's helped thousands of people worldwide sort out their finances.</p><p>Financial journalist Frances Cook sits down with the Donegans on the Making Cents...
Take the 50k or Flip for a Million?
<p>Frances Cook joins the Seven Sharp team to unpack a coin flip experiment that reveals how Kiwis think about risk and money, and why we will happily put it all on red but get nervous about the kinds of risk that actually build wealth.</p><p></p><p>Follow me everywhere!</p><p>Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/FrancesCookNZ</p><p>Instagram / https://www.instagram.com/francescooknz</p><p>TikTok / https://www.tiktok.com/@francescooknz</p><p></p><p>Join the Money Memo newsletter for a free weekly money tip in your inbox each week https://www.francescook.co...
The Best Way To Add Property Value - And The Mistake To Avoid
<p>Renovating to add value is the dream, but overcapitalising is the nightmare that can turn your dream reno into a costly mistake. So how do you tell the difference before you've spent a single dollar?</p><p>This week's Ask the Experts letter comes from a homeowner who badly needs more space and is weighing up an extension to their house.</p><p>Vanessa Williams from realestate.co.nz joins Frances to pull back the curtain on what actually pays off from a reno.</p><p>In this episode we’re talking:</p>How to choose between lifestyle and mo...
The Mortgage Advice That Fails in NZ: With Aaron Cattell (The Mortgage Man)
<p>Time to fact-check the mortgage advice taking over social media, and see what actually holds up.</p><p>Mortgage adviser Aaron Cattell (aka The Mortgage Man) is ready to go myth-by-myth through the mortgage advice doing the rounds online, and find out what actually survives contact with someone who does this for a living.</p><p>We cover:</p>The "pay a dollar a day" trick, the viral claim that resets your mortgage interest.Weekly vs fortnightly vs monthly repayments; does paying more often actually shave years off your mortgage in New Zealand, or is that a US myth...
The Easiest Shortcuts To Save Money
<p>Frances Cook joins the TVNZ Breakfast team to share her favourite apps and websites for cutting power bills, saving on groceries, eating out for less and upskilling for free, all with as little effort as possible.</p><p></p><p>Follow me everywhere!</p><p>Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/FrancesCookNZ</p><p>Instagram / https://www.instagram.com/francescooknz</p><p>TikTok / https://www.tiktok.com/@francescooknz</p><p></p><p>Join the Money Memo newsletter for a free weekly money tip in your inbox each week https://www.francescook.co.nz/subscribe</p><p>Become a confident sharemarket...
Get Ready For ‘Excuse-flation’ - That’s About To Drive Up Cost Of Living Even Further
<p>"Excuseflation" is the secret reason your groceries, petrol and power keep going up.</p><p></p><p>Why did butter come down a third in global price... and only drop two cents on the shelf? Why does petrol rocket up in a day but crawl back down for months? There's a name for this: excuseflation, when real inflation gives businesses cover to hike prices for no real reason at all.</p><p></p><p>In this episode, financial journalist Frances Cook breaks down:</p>The real numbers behind headline inflation for NZThe "rockets and feathers" effect: why petrol prices...
Simple KiwiSaver Mistakes That Cost You Thousands (And How To Fix Them)
<p>You sent in your KiwiSaver questions, time for us to answer them.</p><p></p><p>KiwiSaver is one of the biggest financial tools most New Zealanders have, but just a few changes can mean tens of thousands of dollars more for you.</p><p></p><p>Personal finance journalist Susan Edmunds, author of the new book Your KiwiSaver Questions, Answered, is on the Making Cents podcast and ready to sort it out.</p><p></p><p>In this episode:</p>The most common KiwiSaver mistakes people make, and how to avoid themHow to get more money from your...
How to Build Financial Independence Without Living on Instant Noodles
<p>Frances Cook joins Jim Mora on RNZ Sunday Mornings to talk through whether financial independence is actually achievable for ordinary people and how to make it work on your own terms, followed by a run through the latest money news including the AI bubble, rising rates and what is happening in the housing market.</p><p>Follow me everywhere!</p><p>Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/FrancesCookNZ</p><p>Instagram / https://www.instagram.com/francescooknz</p><p>TikTok / https://www.tiktok.com/@francescooknz</p><p></p><p>Join the Money Memo newsletter for a free weekly money tip in...
Have I Set My Kids Up, or Set Them Back?
<p>Most parents want to give their kids a softer landing than they had.</p><p>But what if the soft landing is the problem?</p><p>This week's letter writer has done everything right, on paper. Bills covered. Kids never stressed about money. An investment account quietly building in the background, for a nice surprise one day.</p><p>But with the kids about to fly the nest, they're rethinking whether thiswas the right tactic. Because maybe protecting them from money stress means they've never actually learned to handle it.</p><p>Katie Wesney, national coaching lead from EnableMe...
