March 13, 2026 • 4 mins
Saving versus spending can be a difficult balance, especially when you don’t have good habits or a plan in place.
And while many struggle to save enough in the first place, are there people who take it too far in the opposite direction and save too much?
Lisa Dudson joined Jack Tame to discuss saving money and how to decide the split that works best for you.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Teams podcast
from News Talk ZB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
This morning on new Talok Zibe, we've been talking about
cycling as a way to get a bit of exercise,
as a way to get to your destination, maybe slightly
faster if the traffic can be bad at your place,
but also as a way of saving a few bucks
on petrol. Jory sent me a note to so Jack,
e bikes involved plenty of peddling. Whoever it was who
texted you earlier this morning obviously doesn't understand it. In
(00:33):
order to ride an e bike you have to peddle.
It just assists you. I love my e bike, best
purchase ever. Thank you very much for that. Lisa Dudson,
our personal finance expert, in this morning with a big question,
can you save too much? Good morning Lisa, Good morning Jack.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Yeah? Very well, thank you. It's a funny question because
usually we think of people not saving nearly enough, but
actually there are some who take it too far in
the opposite direction.
Speaker 4 (00:59):
Yes, absolutely, And to be said, most of my career
respent I'm hustling people along to save more. But I
have had a couple of them stances where people have
been very very careful about how they've saved, and it's
manifested in.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
A couple of ways.
Speaker 4 (01:12):
So ones, I've seen a group of people that have
saved super super hard, you know, worked really hard as
well in quite long hours, get to retirement and maybe
an early retirement, and then they go, great, we've got
a great amount of savings with can me tire a
little bit early? And then they go, now what because
they've spent their life been so careful with money that
they haven't spent a lot of money on.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Messai.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
Sometimes family experiences hobbies and they don't know what to
do with themselves. And you know, I've had a couple
of situations with men in particular who's the wives had said,
you know a lot, honey, you've been home, you know,
you've retired three weeks and we don't find something to do.
We're going to get divorced because I hope with you
driving me nuts around the house all day underneath my feet,
so you know, you see it. But though you know
those situations, the other thing that I've seen all young
(01:56):
people on the opposite side is the fire movement, which
is you have you come across that.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Yeah, I have. I follow a couple of fire blogs.
So this is the people who work really hard, save
heeps young and try and retire early.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Right, yes, absolutely, so it's financial independence retire early. And
so you know a lot of people are super super
careful with their money, like I've seen examples of the
extreme examples where you know, they'll soak their shavers in
olive oil because they'll last twice as long. And you know,
I mean, you know, they're going to recycling botex to
buy clothes, which I think is a really good thing
(02:30):
for the environment and for your pocket. But they're doing
it so doing it really really tough. And they might
have enough money that they retire in.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Their you know, mids booties or even mid.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
Forties, like quite young. But then what they're finding is
is that they've got just enough to retire. But now
they've got all this time, their friends are still working
and they've got time, so they want to do hobbies
and they go, well, we've got enough to cover our bills,
but we don't actually have any money to travel or
do a lot of these hobbies. So and then they
kind of go, hmm, it kind of didn't work out
(03:02):
the way that I expected.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
They've come across that quite a.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Lot, have you, of course that that's interesting so as
the people have actually kind of the thought that achieving
the dream and I mean, it's an amazing thing to be
able to you know, get to that get to that point.
But actually they've realized that. I personally think that maybe
having having a bit of work, and I am a
bit of a workaholic, but it's it's quite nice to
have that purpose in your life.
Speaker 4 (03:24):
That and that's there in life. The challenge, and that's
what I found with a lot of people is partly,
you know, they've got no one to play with because
mostly friends are still working. And then they go out
and they pay well, I want to go fishing, and
once I've done six months of fishing couple days, they're
going to go well on.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
Wind and got over that. Now, Yeah, I'm a board
of doing that. So and I think having a purpose
in life is super super important.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
And it's trying to find a balance between you know,
what you're safe for now and what your same has
been today and what your fame has been for the future.
Because saving is essentially matters, but so does living right.
So you don't want to put off too much living.
But on the other side of you don't want to
have too much living today and then have no living
in the future because you've got no money. So you
really want a reasonable balance of both things.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Yeah, be able to strike a happy media maye. That
makes a lot of sense actually, and sometimes people just
need a wee bit of a nudge either way.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 4 (04:15):
And I think putting goals in place too, you know,
I like Sadians thinking about emergency saving. So car breaks down,
you've got a bit of money short term, which is
things like going on holiday, medium term house deposit, long
term retirement. So I think, you know, those four buckets
are quite a good way to save. And I love
people putting goals around it, like, you know, specific purposes
(04:37):
for saving, because I think when you have a specific
purpose save Yeah. Yeah, totally, And that's what it's about
at the end of the day's motivation.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Right, Very good, Hey, thank you, Lisa, really appreciate it.
Personal finance expert Lisa Dudson with us This Morning.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to newstalksz' B from nine am Saturday, or follow the
podcast on iHeartRadio,
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Teams podcast
from News Talk ZB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
This morning on new Talok Zibe, we've been talking about
cycling as a way to get a bit of exercise,
as a way to get to your destination, maybe slightly
faster if the traffic can be bad at your place,
but also as a way of saving a few bucks
on petrol. Jory sent me a note to so Jack,
e bikes involved plenty of peddling. Whoever it was who
texted you earlier this morning obviously doesn't understand it. In
(00:33):
order to ride an e bike you have to peddle.
It just assists you. I love my e bike, best
purchase ever. Thank you very much for that. Lisa Dudson,
our personal finance expert, in this morning with a big question,
can you save too much? Good morning Lisa, Good morning Jack.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Yeah? Very well, thank you. It's a funny question because
usually we think of people not saving nearly enough, but
actually there are some who take it too far in
the opposite direction.
Speaker 4 (00:59):
Yes, absolutely, And to be said, most of my career
respent I'm hustling people along to save more. But I
have had a couple of them stances where people have
been very very careful about how they've saved, and it's
manifested in.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
A couple of ways.
Speaker 4 (01:12):
So ones, I've seen a group of people that have
saved super super hard, you know, worked really hard as
well in quite long hours, get to retirement and maybe
an early retirement, and then they go, great, we've got
a great amount of savings with can me tire a
little bit early? And then they go, now what because
they've spent their life been so careful with money that
they haven't spent a lot of money on.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Messai.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
Sometimes family experiences hobbies and they don't know what to
do with themselves. And you know, I've had a couple
of situations with men in particular who's the wives had said,
you know a lot, honey, you've been home, you know,
you've retired three weeks and we don't find something to do.
We're going to get divorced because I hope with you
driving me nuts around the house all day underneath my feet,
so you know, you see it. But though you know
those situations, the other thing that I've seen all young
(01:56):
people on the opposite side is the fire movement, which
is you have you come across that.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Yeah, I have. I follow a couple of fire blogs.
So this is the people who work really hard, save
heeps young and try and retire early.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Right, yes, absolutely, so it's financial independence retire early. And
so you know a lot of people are super super
careful with their money, like I've seen examples of the
extreme examples where you know, they'll soak their shavers in
olive oil because they'll last twice as long. And you know,
I mean, you know, they're going to recycling botex to
buy clothes, which I think is a really good thing
(02:30):
for the environment and for your pocket. But they're doing
it so doing it really really tough. And they might
have enough money that they retire in.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Their you know, mids booties or even mid.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
Forties, like quite young. But then what they're finding is
is that they've got just enough to retire. But now
they've got all this time, their friends are still working
and they've got time, so they want to do hobbies
and they go, well, we've got enough to cover our bills,
but we don't actually have any money to travel or
do a lot of these hobbies. So and then they
kind of go, hmm, it kind of didn't work out
(03:02):
the way that I expected.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
They've come across that quite a.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Lot, have you, of course that that's interesting so as
the people have actually kind of the thought that achieving
the dream and I mean, it's an amazing thing to be
able to you know, get to that get to that point.
But actually they've realized that. I personally think that maybe
having having a bit of work, and I am a
bit of a workaholic, but it's it's quite nice to
have that purpose in your life.
Speaker 4 (03:24):
That and that's there in life. The challenge, and that's
what I found with a lot of people is partly,
you know, they've got no one to play with because
mostly friends are still working. And then they go out
and they pay well, I want to go fishing, and
once I've done six months of fishing couple days, they're
going to go well on.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
Wind and got over that. Now, Yeah, I'm a board
of doing that. So and I think having a purpose
in life is super super important.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
And it's trying to find a balance between you know,
what you're safe for now and what your same has
been today and what your fame has been for the future.
Because saving is essentially matters, but so does living right.
So you don't want to put off too much living.
But on the other side of you don't want to
have too much living today and then have no living
in the future because you've got no money. So you
really want a reasonable balance of both things.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Yeah, be able to strike a happy media maye. That
makes a lot of sense actually, and sometimes people just
need a wee bit of a nudge either way.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 4 (04:15):
And I think putting goals in place too, you know,
I like Sadians thinking about emergency saving. So car breaks down,
you've got a bit of money short term, which is
things like going on holiday, medium term house deposit, long
term retirement. So I think, you know, those four buckets
are quite a good way to save. And I love
people putting goals around it, like, you know, specific purposes
(04:37):
for saving, because I think when you have a specific
purpose save Yeah. Yeah, totally, And that's what it's about
at the end of the day's motivation.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Right, Very good, Hey, thank you, Lisa, really appreciate it.
Personal finance expert Lisa Dudson with us This Morning.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to newstalksz' B from nine am Saturday, or follow the
podcast on iHeartRadio,
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Fudd Around And Find Out
UConn basketball star Azzi Fudd brings her championship swag to iHeart Women’s Sports with Fudd Around and Find Out, a weekly podcast that takes fans along for the ride as Azzi spends her final year of college trying to reclaim the National Championship and prepare to be a first round WNBA draft pick. Ever wonder what it’s like to be a world-class athlete in the public spotlight while still managing schoolwork, friendships and family time? It’s time to Fudd Around and Find Out!