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 Thursday we have Ask the Experts, where industry insiders answer your questions on the money world. From earning more in your career, to investing, or sticking to a budget, they'll help make money simple. Every now and then you'll get a bonus episode too, but the fun of those is that you never know when they're coming! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Learning about money is one thing. Actually changing how you behave with it is something else entirely.
In this special episode of Making Cents, I’m pulling together three powerful money psychology insights that genuinely changed how I handle my own money. It’s not just that they were clever tactics, but that they finally helped me put good intentions into action.
Being “good with money” isn’t about deprivation or sitting on ...
Fast Money with Jim Mora on Sunday Morning with RNZ. Talking the end of year GDP bounce, what a Santa Rally would tell us about 2026, how to control spending over the silly season, and the forecast for our Kiwisaver programme.
Links
Follow Frances Cook on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Join the Money Memo newsletter for a free weekly money tip in your inbox each week, or become a confident sharemarket investor by joining the Mar...
Hitting the milestone of $1 million in the bank should feel like financial freedom, but for many people approaching retirement, it’s the moment where the fear kicks in.
When a term deposit matures and you’re suddenly responsible for a seven-figure lump sum, the pressure to “not mess it up” can feel overwhelming.
That’s exactly the situation in today’s Ask the Experts episode. Our listener is 59, single, mortgage-free, and rea...
New Zealand banking just changed all the rules, and you could be forgiven for not having heard about it, despite the fact this could change everything about how you handle your money.
Open banking is now officially live in New Zealand, slipping in right at the end of the year with very little attention. But this isn’t just a tech update. It’s a power shift over who controls your financial information, and how it can be used.
...
2025 a strange year for money.
AI shot up so fast it started giving people Dotcom Bubble flashbacks.
Bitcoin lost more than a trillion dollars in value almost overnight.
KiwiSaver turned into an election promise.
Interest rates dropped, but didn’t truly soothe the money pain.
So if your money felt a bit off this year, you weren’t imagining it.
In this live edition of the Making Cents podcast, I’m joined by Stuff’s money edito...
Nothing spikes the heart rate quite like seeing a headline claiming you need a million dollars to retire.
This week’s Ask the Experts listener is 47, the kids are nearly out the door, and retirement planning in New Zealand has suddenly stopped feeling like a ‘one day’ problem.
Which means the recent run of articles about retirement savings, retirement villages, or aged care costs are sending her straight into panic mode.
She’s...
Jenny-May Clarkson is one of the most recognisable faces in Aotearoa, from her years as a Silver Fern to fronting the TVNZ Breakfast couch every morning.
She’s also living proof that starting over and reinventing your career is now incredibly common. And sometimes, incredibly public.
After quite quickly leaving the TVNZ Breakfast team, Jenny-May is now facing the same reality so many Kiwis deal with: when a secure job disappe...
A quick and dirty update of mortgage tricks to get rid of the debt faster. Including using the bank's money, instead of yours!
Frances Cook joins the TVNZ Breakfast team to talk about it, replayed here with permission.
Links
Follow Frances Cook on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Join the Money Memo newsletter for a free weekly money tip in your inbox each week, or become a confident sharemarket investor by joining the Market ...
Ever wondered whether those “mortgage-free in five years” hacks you see online are real, or just clever marketing?
With so many mortgage “shortcuts” floating around social media, it’s hard to know what actually works, especially in New Zealand’s property market.
In this Ask the Experts episode, we break down the truth behind mortgage-freedom shortcuts: the strategies that genuinely speed up your repayment timeline, the red fl...
If you’ve ever wondered whether living in a tiny home can genuinely change your life, this is a story worth hearing.
After nearly nine years in her tiny house, Kasia Morrison has rebuilt her entire life from the ground up - financially, personally, and professionally.
Downsizing didn’t just cut her cost of living. It gave her the freedom to start over when everything else collapsed: her marriage, her business, and the future ...
If property prices are doing your head in and you’re starting to wonder whether buying a first home is even possible anymore, it’s time to figure out what’s actually happening.
A listener from Wellington writes in to say they love their city, they want stability for their kids, but every time they look at the market, it feels completely out of reach.
In this Ask the Experts episode, Vanessa Williams from realestate.co.nz help...
Plenty of us get angry about the money world being unfair. But few people get angry enough to actually change something.
Sasha Lockley did.
Sasha started Money Sweetspot because, in her own words, she was furious. Furious that so many ordinary New Zealanders were working hard, making tough decisions, and still drowning in debt.
In this episode of Making Cents, we dig into the emotional and practical realities of debt in New Ze...
Become an investor with less stress, and no finance degree.
Frances Cook joins the TVNZ Breakfast team to talk about how to get out of your own way if you've been wanting to dip a toe into the sharemarket.
Links
Follow Frances Cook on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Join the Money Memo newsletter for a free weekly money tip in your inbox each week, or become a confident sharemarket investor by joining the Market Memo newslette...
If you’ve pushed money aside for years, only to wake up in your mid-40s with a toddler, a tiny KiwiSaver balance, and a creeping fear about what life looks like at 70… where do you even begin?
That’s the heart of today’s Ask the Experts letter.
A single mum at 46 is saving just a few dollars a week, working part-time, and terrified that she’s already run out of time to build any kind of financial safety.
So what are the op...
A simple $20 tweak can dramatically cut down the life of your mortgage, so now it’s time to talk about the strategy I used to shave eight years off mine.
With just a small repayment, years disappeared. So here’s how, and why, it works.
I’ve used my experience as a financial journalist to change my money, so get an inside look at my finances, then why extra repayments are so powerful in the early years of a home loan, how inte...
Cash funds, bonds, index funds, shares… what’s the difference, and how do you figure out which mix is right for you?
If you want to invest but have felt confused by the options, this is the live session for you.
In this live edition of the Making Cents podcast, Frances Cook is joined by some of New Zealand’s top investing experts to break down simple, smart sharemarket strategies to help you get your money ready for 2026.
...
You’ve worked your whole life to pay off the mortgage. The house is finally yours. But somehow, the money worries haven’t gone away.
In this Making Cents mailbag episode, a listener in their 70s writes in after becoming mortgage-free, yet still feeling anxious every time they spend a dollar.
Living on the pension with little savings, they want to enjoy retirement but are scared of running out of money.
Their children think...
Supermarket total making your stomach drop? You’re not imagining it, food prices have become one of the biggest pain points of the cost-of-living crisis.
In this episode of Making Cents, financial journalist Frances Cook sits down with chef Alice Taylor, creator of the Cheap and Realistic Eats Cookbook (available at https://www.alicetayloreats.com) to talk about how to eat well without overspending.
From $1.50 loaves of bread...
Create a savings buffer without that nagging feeling of deprivation.
Frances Cook joins the TVNZ Breakfast team to talk about the savings tips that help you build a better money life, without cutting everything fun.
Links
Follow Frances Cook on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Join the Money Memo newsletter for a free weekly money tip in your inbox each week, or become a confident sharemarket investor by joining the Market Me...
A $100,000 gift should feel like freedom, so why does it come with so much pressure?
In this Making Cents mailbag episode, a listener writes in after being gifted $100K from family.
They’ve got a big mortgage, no savings, and a long wish-list that includes home repairs, maternity leave, and some breathing room in the budget.
The question: how do you use a windfall like this without wasting it?
Frances Cook talks to Kati...
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