Making Cents

With six in ten Kiwis making impulse purchases from social media every month, Frances Cook joins the TVNZ Breakfast team to explain the manipulative tactics behind online shopping and how to take back control of your spending.

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Audio engineering by Tash Chittock

Financial freedom is a series of levels, and once you understand them, the whole thing stops feeling impossible and starts feeling like a plan.

In this solo episode of Making Cents, Frances Cook breaks down the five levels of financial freedom, from knowing your numbers for the first time, to the point where work becomes genuinely optional.

Each level builds on the last. Each one makes the next one easier to reach, not harder. And the first level doesn't require much money at all - just honesty.

We talk about:

• Why knowing your numbers is an underrated form of financial freedom
• The one thing that reduces money stress at every income level
• What "I have options" actually looks like in real NZ dollars
• How compounding returns turn into a second job that requires nothing from you
• The 4% rule, and how to use it to figure out your number
• Why level five isn't the absence of work, it's the absence of fear

Whether you're drowning in debt and just trying to get a grip, or you're already investing and wondering what comes next, this episode will tell you exactly where you are, and where to aim next.

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This podcast was filmed & produced by Fanaticals

Video editing & content production by Lana Byrne

Audio engineering by Tash Chittock

You know what you should be doing with your money. So why aren't you doing it?

You know you should ask for the raise. Start investing. Stop spending on things you don't care about. And yet, somehow, you don't.

Counsellor and change therapist Charlotte Cummings has a name for what's stopping you, and it's not laziness or lack of discipline.

It's your unbearable feeling.

In this episode, Frances Cook sits down with Charlotte to unpack one of the most powerful concepts in psychology: the one or two feelings we hate so much, we structure our entire lives around never experiencing them.

And in doing so, we sabotage ourselves financially, professionally, and in our relationships — without ever realising why.

We talk about:

- What an "unbearable feeling" is and where it comes from

- How to figure out what yours is

- Why it's often behind the very thing making you successful, as well as being the very thing holding you back

- Common unbearable feelings that block people from investing, saving, or asking for more

- How to stop being run by your own fears (and what changes when you do)

This one will make you think differently about every money decision you've been putting off.

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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This podcast was filmed & produced by Fanaticals

Video editing & content production by Lana Byrne

Audio engineering by Tash Chittock

The war in Iran is already moving mortgage rates, and it's not done yet.

Interest rates are moving, and this will change everything with your money. Beyond the mortgage, it’s also your savings, your investments, and even your job.

So what's actually happening, and what should you do about it?

Frances Cook is joined by Massey University’s Christoph Schumacher and EnableMe financial coach Katie Wesney to break down the chain reaction from a conflict on the other side of the world, straight to your bank balance.

We're covering:

– How a war in the Middle East ends up pushing up your interest rate

– What the Reserve Bank is likely to do next, and when

– The key decisions to help you be smarter with your money, and especially your mortgage

– How to build genuine financial resilience when the future is uncertain

You can’t control the war. But you can control how you prepare.

The New Zealand property market is shifting, and the latest data from http://realestate.co.nz tells us exactly how.

In just the last three months, sellers dropped their prices enough for a total of $54 million to be wiped off asking prices across New Zealand.

But strangely, it could be good news, as it’s slowing from previous falls.

So are we at a turning point?

In this episode of Making Cents Ask the Experts, financial journalist Frances Cook sits down with Vanessa Williams from realestate.co.nz, to break down what's actually happening in the NZ property market right now. Not the vibes, the real numbers.

We cover:

• Whether New Zealand is still in a buyer's market, and how long that might last
• How the Iran conflict and rising oil prices could affect property
• The best strategies for sellers in this market
• How buyers can negotiate hard, and where the best opportunities are hiding
• What the data hints at for the next 6 to 12 months

Whether you're buying, selling, or just watching the market, this episode gives you the real picture on New Zealand property in 2026.

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

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This podcast was filmed & produced by Fanaticals

Video editing & content production by Lana Byrne

Audio engineering by Tash Chittock

Made redundant in your 50s? It might just be the start of something.

After decades as one of New Zealand's most recognised news presenters, Wendy Petrie was made redundant from the 6pm news. No warning, no plan B, just the sudden reality of starting over at a stage of life when most people assume the big career moves are behind them.

So she bought a business. Built it from the ground up. And figured it out as she went.

In this episode of Making Cents, Wendy Petrie opens up about what redundancy really feels like when it hits, why she chose to bet on herself instead of looking for another job, and the raw truth about buying and building a business in your 50s - the financial risk, the steep learning curve, and what nobody tells you before you take the leap.

This is the episode for anyone who's been made redundant, anyone who's wondered whether it's too late to start over, and anyone asking themselves: could I actually do this?

Spoiler: you might be surprised.

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

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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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This podcast was filmed & produced by Fanaticals

Video editing & content production by Lana Byrne

Audio engineering by Tash Chittock

With warnings that interest rates are heading up fast and soon, Frances Cook joins the TVNZ Breakfast team to break down what mortgage holders can do to avoid the squeeze.

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Instagram / Frances | Money | Investing (@francescooknz) • Instagram profile

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Audio engineering by Tash Chittock

Petrol is up 43%. Diesel has nearly doubled. But the financial damage from the Iran war goes way deeper than what you're paying at the pump, and a lot of it is already locked in, whether there's a ceasefire or not.

In this episode, Frances Cook breaks down exactly what this means for your groceries, your mortgage, your job, and your KiwiSaver. And most importantly, what you can actually do about it right now.

We’re talking:

- Why fuel prices won't drop quickly even if the conflict ends

- The fertiliser story nobody's talking about (and why it'll hit food prices in the months ahead)

- What the Reserve Bank's latest warning means for your mortgage

- Whether you should change anything with your KiwiSaver or investments

- Practical steps you can take today on transport, food, your job security, and more

This isn't doom and gloom for its own sake. It's about taking back control of the parts you can actually influence.

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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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This podcast was filmed & produced by Fanaticals

Video editing & content production by Lana Byrne

Audio engineering by Tash Chittock

Your personal brand could be the most powerful, yet overlooked, career tool you have.

Marketing expert Stanley Henry, founder of The Attention Seeker, believes everyone from tradies, to career professionals, to business owners, build visibility online.

And when they do, they attract opportunities, and earn more, even without going viral or becoming a full-time content creator.

Stanley specialises in organic social media growth, helping everyday people figure out how to earn attention online without paying for it.

The reality is the people who get the best opportunities aren't always the most qualified. They're the most visible. And if you're a secret, you don't get opportunities.

In this episode: what a personal brand actually is, why it matters for your career and income, and exactly what a normal person needs to do to build one, without the cringe.

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

This podcast was filmed & produced by Fanaticals

Video editing & content production by Lana Byrne

Audio engineering by Tash Chittock

Five clever ways to live the good life without blowing the budget, because cutting lattes isn't the only answer.

A replay of Frances Cook's column for Stuff.co.nz, read here with permission.

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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

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