The Happy Saver Podcast - Personal Finance in New Zealand

Arataki is a woman who focuses on the collective and not on the individual and as she has moved through life she used some difficult experiences to not hold her back, but to drive her forward. At every turn, she has been a leader to others and today she is on the cusp of financial freedom where stepping away from work means she will be stepping towards helping build up her own whanau and her wider...

New Zealand is a fabulously multicultural place and I often find myself speaking with people who were not born here but have chosen to make this place their home. Today is no exception because Lucas was born in Southern Europe but has called New Zealand home for the last ten years. Lucas had reached a bit of a cross roads. He appeared to have what seems to be the Kiwi dream, a house and a rental p...

I stumbled upon Sandra and Paul in 2018 when I not only discovered their blog about travel and minimalism but also that they were passing through my town that very week! Naturally I contacted them and invited them over for a coffee! Such an interesting couple who have both saved up, whittled down their lives to an 11kg backpack each, quit their jobs and transitioned into a new life of travel, adve...

I’m going to tell you about a fabulous 42 year old woman I know, called Kate. We met via my blog when she reached out to me and that is when I knew that she had an interesting money journey to tell. What you pay attention to gets done and Kate worked this out from an early age so when she set her sights on moving to New Zealand, establishing a career, buying a house, paying it off and retiring bef...

This could have been a textbook case of “Investing 101”. Tom had the key components in there like: live on less than you make, invest in mutual funds and spend mindfully while living a great life into retirement and beyond. But he was investing through the 80s so investing in the stock market and buying a Porsche had to fit somewhere in the mix right? Tom’s story gives a fascinating look at the ro...

Today in my final episode for this series I speak with Alison and Tom who are parents to four children under the age of four. With a house build on the cards, a tight budget and a single income, we hear how this family of six manage to not just survive but thrive.

Three kids and an almost paid for house? It sounds like an impossible dream but I’m pleased to tell you it is a reality for this Wellington couple. But it has not happened by accident, it has taken planning and a lot of time to achieve it...

Today I am telling the story of Simon, a guy I’ve actually spoken to a number of times, but everything I thought and assumed about him turned out not to be 100% correct. With a finance related masters degree I thought he would have graphs for Africa. But no, although he knows where he is at financially, much more importantly he knows what kind of life he wants to live today and into the future.

Tenants of a beautiful house and buying the latest gadgets meant that this married Mum of one had it all. Well, she appeared to have it all from those on the outside looking in. ​​​​​​​Instead, she was feeling crushed by consumer debt and was forced back to work when she would rather be at home with her daughter. Something had to change and she was the only person to make that change.

Recently I spoke with Bret, a guy who has spent the last year and a half going from super consumer to super saver. He said he felt like he had been in the Matrix and has only just woken up after realising he had been sucked into a giant consumer machine. Where he used to use money to buy endless stuff, he is now using it as a currency to buy back his time.

A holiday is a great opportunity to clear your head and make future plans that you can put into action when you get back home. Unless you are Nellie. She decided that if you are going to make a plan to completely change your financial life then you might as well start right now, even if it means the holiday you are on grinds to a halt.

Shane is fed up with working and he wants to spend more time at home with his family instead. He wants to retire in his early forties! Years of DIY investing has worked him into a very good financial position but putting his hand up and asking for help to improve his portfolio has meant that his retirement will happen just that much sooner.

Ashley has been on a wild ride, one that saw her take her business to great highs and then crashing lows. But like a phoenix from the ashes she kept rising up again, dusting herself off and literally getting back on her horse. Today she is debt free and enjoying every moment, but it sure has been a rocky ride.

What were you doing at 23? I was still mucking around at University and having a grand old time. Not today’s guest. Callum was a fully qualified builder by the age of 19 and took a step up into his second career by the age of 21. Today, at just 23 he has a ​​​​​​​net worth that would make others stand up and notice and a heap of plans for the future where he takes every opportunity to grow his ski...

If you want the good oil on how to invest well, track down a retired English and History teacher! If anyone is going to remember key points and dates about their life it is them. I was delighted to speak to Alan about his money journey and I’ve picked up a lot of tips on how to live not only a good financial life but how to cherish my personal relationships too.

I wanted to have a catch up with two people that I spoke to in the first podcast series because although separate, each of them were on a mission. One of them was on a mission to become debt free in the shortest time possible and the other was on a mission to retire at the grand old age of 44. Well, our catch ups did not disappoint and both of them have in the last six months made some fantastic p...

Would you have the guts to move to another country? Well, Chris and Kazia did just that when they moved from the Philippines to New Zealand in 2010. It is an incredibly bold move but they have hit the ground running and Chris shared with me how his Filipino culture shaped his views on money but also how they are now merging those views with the Kiwi way of doing things.

Welcome to the last podcast of this series of twelve. I thought to round out the series I would let you know a bit more about me as you may have been thinking “who is this person who keeps on banging on about Personal Finance in New Zealand?” and I also thought that I might make this one a quick one, but realising how much I like to talk, it probably won’t be!

Living in Queenstown is a dream to many but it ain’t easy making it happen. All of that stunning scenery you feast your eyes on everyday does not pay the bills and buying not just A house, but your first house takes a lot of work and dedication. Kurt and Ruth have dedication in spades and they have created a whole of life plan to make sure they don’t just survive there, but thrive.

In January 2016 Ronnie woke up one morning and went to a job she didn’t much like and wondered how she had reached 39 years of age and still wasn’t rich. In fact she was just one or two pay cheques away from having next to nothing. So she YouTubed “how to be rich” and her journey out of debt began.

Jane loves buying individual shares in companies. She enjoys the research, the tracking of her investments and the sporadic hunt for the “next big thing”. Find out how this self taught investor fits share trading in around her busy family life.

SmartShares is an investment product I use and I met their product manager Dean Anderson because I kept contacting him with lots of questions regarding my own ETF funds. He struck me as a guy with a good story to tell and I knew there was more to him than just index funds. During our chat he told me about where, how and most importantly why he is an investor and you will come away from listening t...

Today I’m telling you all about my sister Liz. While I inherited the saver gene, she inherited the spending gene but a life of debt finally caught up with her and she has spent the last couple of years completely changing her mindset about the money in her life and is now firmly on a path to financial independence.

I met Victoria via my blog when we began to chat by email. So when I knew I wanted to create a podcast and wanted to interview a woman who gives her financial situation careful consideration, she was high up on my list. This is a snapshot of a calm and calculated Kiwi woman having a go and succeeding at setting her own financial path.

If you thought that every teenager spends their days wagging school and walking around with their head down looking at the latest iPhone, then think again. Today we meet James who is finishing up his final year of school before heading on to University in 2018. He is no slouch and is involved in a huge variety of community groups, holds down a job, listens to his mother and is saving hard for the...