Making Cents

What if the home buying rules you think are holding you back don't actually exist anymore?

Between outdated advice, myths about needing massive deposits, and the fear of trying to buy on a single income, it is easy to assume you are locked out of the property market before you even start.

The truth is that many old lending rules have expired, and with the right strategy, getting into your first home might be much closer than you thought.

Claire Williamson is the Director of My Mortgage and 2025 Regional Mortgage Adviser of the Year. She specialises in helping people who thought they were completely out of the home buying game find a way in.

In this episode:

- Why you do not always need a 20% deposit to buy a house

- How Kāinga Ora First Home Loans and 5% deposit options work

- How buying solo on a single income is possible

- How to buy property with friends or family, and the agreements you need to protect everyone

- How everyday debts, like a small credit card limit, can shrink your home loan budget by tens of thousands of dollars

- Straightforward steps for self-employed buyers to get approved for a mortgage

- How to manage your KiwiSaver and spending habits without giving up your lifestyle

Whether buying a home feels miles away or you are actively getting your deposit together, this episode breaks down real, practical steps to get into the property market on your own terms.

As discussed on the podcast, Claire wants to help as many first home buyers as possible into their first homes so has given us a sneaky code for 30 of our lucky audience to get her book for free. Add to cart and use code FRANCES.

Link here - https://www.mymortgage.co.nz/shop/product/658205/smashed-avo-to-smashed-goals/

Find Claire on Instagram @claire__williamson / @mymortgage.co.nz

This episode of Making Cents is proudly supported by Odoo. Go to https://www.odoo.com/r/hpl now and try it for free, for 15 days.

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Production and video editing by Lana Byrne

Audio engineering by Tash Chittock

Filmed by Fanaticals

Frances Cook joins the TVNZ Breakfast team to explain excuseflation, the trend of businesses using wall to wall inflation headlines as cover to hike their own prices, and what you can actually do to fight back.

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Is your Afterpay habit hurting your financial future and stopping you from hitting big life goals like buying your first home?

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.

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 credit report, and how to set up simple money systems that stick.

This episode of Making Cents is proudly supported by Revolut, the card and app for everyday spending in NZ, and smarter money on your travels. Use this link https://get.revolut.com/e9Jc/makingcents7 to try them out, spend, and Revolut will give you $40 to get started.

This episode covers:

- How lenders check your credit score, payment history, and loan affordability in New Zealand

- What happens when you miss an Afterpay, BNPL, or utility bill payment, and how long defaults stay on your credit file

- Red flags vs. green flags on your bank statements and credit reports when applying for a mortgage

- Why positive credit reporting means your phone and power bills can actually help your credit history

- How to automate your income, split your salary, and use "money pockets" to stop overspending

*T&Cs apply. Spend min $1 to receive reward. Exchange rates will vary. Comparison to major bank rates based on exchanging NZD $1K Mon-Fri, within your plan’s fair usage limits. More info: https://www.revolut.com/en-NZ/nz-fx-substantiation. Revolut Payments New Zealand Pty Ltd.

If you have a letter you’d like us to answer, please send it through to [email protected] and you might feature on our next episode!

Follow me everywhere!

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Join the Money Memo newsletter for a free weekly money tip in your inbox each week https://www.francescook.co.nz/subscribe

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Production and video editing by Lana Byrne

Audio engineering by Tash Chittock

Filmed by Fanaticals

What if financial independence is something you could build for yourself, before you even hit 40?

Katie and Alan Donegan did exactly that.

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.

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.

Financial journalist Frances Cook sits down with the Donegans on the Making Cents podcast to find out what it actually takes for normal people to reach financial independence and retire early.

In this episode:

• The three financial levers they pulled at once - spend less, earn more, invest - and how that took them from $0 to $1 million in about ten years
• Why friends and family thought their frugal lifestyle meant they'd lost the plot, and how to be financially disciplined without being miserable
• The one investing move Alan says he'd make from day one if he could go back
• Why fees are one of the only proven predictors of how well an investment fund performs, and what to check on your own KiwiSaver or index funds
• Why getting on the same page with your partner about money can matter more than any spreadsheet, budget or savings plan
• How to keep spending on what you actually value while cutting everything else, so you save without feeling like you're missing out

Whether financial independence feels like a pipe dream or you're already working towards it, this episode breaks down real, practical steps for building wealth, investing for the long term, and designing a life on your own terms.

This episode of Making Cents is proudly supported by Odoo. Go to http://odoo.com/r/hpl now and try it for free, for 15 days.

Follow me everywhere!

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Instagram / https://www.instagram.com/francescooknz

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Join the Money Memo newsletter for a free weekly money tip in your inbox each week https://www.francescook.co.nz/subscribe

Become a confident sharemarket investor by signing up to the Market Memo newsletter https://www.francescook.co.nz/invest

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Production and video editing by Lana Byrne

Audio engineering by Tash Chittock

Filmed by Fanaticals

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.

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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?

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.

Vanessa Williams from realestate.co.nz joins Frances to pull back the curtain on what actually pays off from a reno.

In this episode we’re talking:

• How to choose between lifestyle and money factors when you renovate your home
• Why bedrooms and bathrooms are the big winner on value, but have a hidden downside
• The areas where people waste money on renovations, without realising it

If you have a letter you’d like us to answer, please send it through to [email protected] and you might feature on our next episode!

Follow me everywhere!

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Instagram / https://www.instagram.com/francescooknz

TikTok / https://www.tiktok.com/@francescooknz

Join the Money Memo newsletter for a free weekly money tip in your inbox each week https://www.francescook.co.nz/subscribe

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Production and video editing by Lana Byrne

Audio engineering by Tash Chittock

Filmed by Fanaticals

Time to fact-check the mortgage advice taking over social media, and see what actually holds up.

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.

We cover:

• 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 that doesn't translate?
• The "buy two houses, one each" couple strategy
• Credit scores, and how much they really matter for a NZ mortgage application
• Rent vs buy, and how to figure out the numbers for the NZ context

This episode of Making Cents is proudly supported by Odoo. Go to http://odoo.com/r/hpl now and try it for free, for 15 days.

Follow me everywhere!

Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/FrancesCookNZ

Instagram / https://www.instagram.com/francescooknz

TikTok / https://www.tiktok.com/@francescooknz

Join the Money Memo newsletter for a free weekly money tip in your inbox each week https://www.francescook.co.nz/subscribe

Become a confident sharemarket investor by signing up to the Market Memo newsletter https://www.francescook.co.nz/invest

#MakingCents #FrancesCook #MakingCentsPodcast #InvestingPodcast #MoneyPodcast #FinancialFreedom

Production and video editing by Lana Byrne

Audio engineering by Tash Chittock

Filmed by Fanaticals

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.

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"Excuseflation" is the secret reason your groceries, petrol and power keep going up.

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.

In this episode, financial journalist Frances Cook breaks down:

• The real numbers behind headline inflation for NZ
• The "rockets and feathers" effect: why petrol prices jump instantly but fall painfully slowly
• The on-the-record quote from a US CEO who admitted he "prays for inflation" because it "expands margins"
• Brand-new Reserve Bank of New Zealand research showing when businesses raise prices, and when they cut them
• The 4-question "sniff test" to tell a genuine price rise from a cynical one
• Practical ways to fight back against inflation, and excuseflation

If you've ever felt like prices only go one way, this episode explains why, and what you can actually do about it.

Follow me everywhere!

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Production and video editing by Lana Byrne

Audio engineering by Tash Chittock

Filmed by Fanaticals

You sent in your KiwiSaver questions, time for us to answer them.

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.

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.

In this episode:

• The most common KiwiSaver mistakes people make, and how to avoid them
• How to get more money from your KiwiSaver
• What changes are coming for KiwiSaver in the future, and the politics that could change your money
• What actually happens to your KiwiSaver when you die
• Whether you can trust putting your money into KiwiSaver,
• Ethical investing options
• Whether the government could ever take your KiwiSaver

Whether you're just starting out or trying to optimise years of contributions, this episode breaks down exactly what you need to know about KiwiSaver.

This episode of Making Cents is proudly supported by Odoo. Go to https://www.odoo.com/r/hpl now and try it for free, for 15 days.

Follow me everywhere!

Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/FrancesCookNZ

Instagram / https://www.instagram.com/francescooknz

TikTok / https://www.tiktok.com/@francescooknz

Join the Money Memo newsletter for a free weekly money tip in your inbox each week https://www.francescook.co.nz/subscribe

Become a confident sharemarket investor by signing up to the Market Memo newsletter https://www.francescook.co.nz/invest

#MakingCents #FrancesCook #MakingCentsPodcast #InvestingPodcast #MoneyPodcast #FinancialFreedom

Production and video editing by Lana Byrne

Audio engineering by Tash Chittock

Filmed by Fanaticals