The Weekend Collective

It seems like everyone is protein obsessed at the moment. 

They're buying the special protein yoghurt, making cottage cheese breads and cakes, even protein ice cream. 

It almost feels like just another one of those things that we think are really important for a little while, before we move onto the next thing. 

Of course protein is important, but do we really need more than we'd get in a basic, balanced diet?

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A deal was reached at COP30 this weekend, boosting finance for poor nations coping with global warming - but there was no mention of fossil fuels.

83 countries signed a roadmap that would push for the end of fossil fuels, but New Zealand was one of the only countries not to sign. 

The opposition has spoken out, saying the move has made us look foolish on the world stage. 

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The National Party have announced their first election promise - a lift to default KiwiSaver contribution rates. 

The changes would mean that by the end of the implementation, savers would be able to contribute 12% to KiwiSaver, putting us on a level matching Australia's superannuation. 

Some experts say it'll lead to countless people opting out of KiwiSaver, with other investment methods providing more incentives.

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Summer holidays is just around the corner and kids will be rushing out the door to spend as much time as they can with their friends. 

But this time of year is often the longest period that parents will be able to spend time at home with the family. 

We don't want to pull our children away from their friends, but we also want to instil the value of family time. 

So where do we draw the line between family time and fr...

Most of us have spent the past few days daydreaming about what we would spend $55 million on. 

Pay off the mortgage, book a holiday, send some off to charity, throw the rest in a term deposit.

Three lucky punters each one a share of the jackpot last night - $18.3 million each. 

Not many of us will have the chance to come across tens of millions in our lives, but most of us will at some point get a large some from inherita...

Up here in Auckland we've been having some very, very hot and humid nights. 

The kind of nights that make it impossible to get comfortable, where you just keep tossing and turning until you eventually give up and add an extra fan to your direction. 

And it's only going to get worse as we head into summer - so how do we actually get a decent night's sleep when the weather's working against us? 

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Earlier this year, the United States imposed a 15% tariff on a range of New Zealand exports, most notably beef. 

It was a huge blow, as beef is a major export for New Zealand - especially to the States. The tariffs have cost the country over $300 million since they were introduced in April. 

This weekend, President Donald Trump signed an executive order removing that extra 15% on beef, coffee, and tropical fruits, among o...

We live in a near cashless world these days. Hardly anyone has anything further than a couple cards, or even just Apple Pay. 

We all remember a time we'd get a gold coin for washing mum's car, or a couple notes for chopping wood, but those days seem to be gone. 

How are parents going about pocket money without cash? Are we really giving our kids bank cards, and how young is too young? 

And if money's not the right re...

You're ready to sell our getting your final bits in order to get your property on the market. 

You don't have the time nor energy to give the whole house, inside and out, a lick of fresh paint, or redo your landscaping, or renovate your slightly out of date kitchen. 

So what are the areas that are most important to get sorted before listing your property? 

And for the buyers - what are you better off ignoring when it...

The Reserve Bank shocked a lot of us last month when it cut the OCR by 50 basis points down to 2.5%.

Analysts have said that the RBNZ was reading the room and giving kiwis a much needed breather after years of high rates. 

Early signs are showing it's starting to have an effect - with the GDP estimate for the September quarter pointing to 0.6% growth and many banks forecasting an optimistic remainder of the year. 

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The Government has confirmed they're considering action to move rough sleepers out of Auckland's city centre. 

Mayor Wayne Brown has given his go ahead, but the opposition as well as housing advocates have said a policy like this would just move the problem elsewhere and end up creating more harm. 

No details have been released yet, ministers say they are still working through the issues and how to deal with them, but tha...

The Government has released an action plan to deal with the growing issue of methamphetamine use in New Zealand. 

They're investing $30 million over four years into the hardest hit communities, increasing maritime operations to stop it before it gets into the country, and we'll soon see a nationwide media campaign to raise awareness - among other policies. 

The amount of meth seized both in the country and offshore has in...

There's a lot of uncertainty around the property market at the moment. 

In the past decade alone, we've seen the introduction of the brightline test, the relaxing of the brightline test, countless policies making life harder for investors and landlords, and now the looming question of capital gains tax. 

But how much does the government actually influence whether we buy and sell, and at what price? 

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