Making Cents

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 ask@francescook.co.nz and you might feature on our next episode!

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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.

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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 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.

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Production and video editing by Lana Byrne
Audio engineering by Tash Chittock
Filmed by Fanaticals