{"podcast":{"title":"Making Cents","slug":"making-cents-6998736","podcast_index_feed_id":6998736,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/makingcents/","website_url":"https://www.francescook.co.nz/making-cents","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/3f4ddd44-6a56-460b-88eb-950d815bc419/frances-cook-making-cents-podcast-art-no-acast.jpg","author":"Frances Cook","episode_count":266,"summary":"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!","last_synced_at":"2026-07-03T06:17:38.971810+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/making-cents-6998736"},"episode":{"title":"Are Shoebox Apartments About To Take Over NZ?","slug":"are-shoebox-apartments-about-to-take-over-nz","published_at":"2026-06-03T17:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/making-cents-6998736/are-shoebox-apartments-about-to-take-over-nz","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/making-cents-6998736","url":"https://www.francescook.co.nz/making-cents","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/dea3690a-b5d3-45d3-ae74-e4ecc4681875.mp3","summary":"Could the home of the future be the size of a carpark? The government is talking about scrapping minimum apartment size rules, and one Making Cents listener wants to know if that's a housing fix or a housing trap. Vanessa Williams from http://realestate.co.nz has fresh data to help us figure this out. We get into whether micro apartments could actually ease the housing shortage, what banks will and won't lend on when it comes to small apartments, and who this would most likely impact, from first home buyers, to investors, or students. Plus: how New Zealand's apartment market compares to the rest of the world, and whether our obsession with the quarter-acre dream is starting to shift. In this episode: Could scrapping minimum apartment sizes help first home buyers? What do banks actually lend on when it comes to small apartments? Are micro apartments a smart investment or a future problem? How New Zealand's property culture compares globally Who stands to gain, and who should be cautious If you have a letter you’d like us to answer, send it through to ask@francescook.co.nz and you might feature on our next episode! 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","meta_description":"Could the home of the future be the size of a carpark? The government is talking about scrapping minimum apartment size rules, and one Making Cents listen…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1010,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/making-cents-6998736/episodes/are-shoebox-apartments-about-to-take-over-nz/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/making-cents-6998736/are-shoebox-apartments-about-to-take-over-nz.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}