{"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":"Why \"Being Normal\" Is The Most Expensive Thing You Can Choose","slug":"why-being-normal-is-the-most-expensive-thing-you-can-choose","published_at":"2026-06-24T17:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/making-cents-6998736/why-being-normal-is-the-most-expensive-thing-you-can-choose","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/17cc4b4d-2d2f-4971-a4dc-9998f2ad2964.mp3","summary":"Being weird with money is the smartest thing you can do, to get financial freedom. Most of us are following the same money playbook, and it’s not working. Around 30% of New Zealanders don't have $1,000 in savings, and over 60% couldn't cover a real emergency. Frances Cook, financial journalist and host of Making Cents, shares exactly how embracing \"weird\" money habits helped her build financial freedom, and how you can do the same. In this episode: Why the standard approach to money keeps so many of us stuck, and what to do instead The hedonic treadmill: the psychology trick that's draining your wallet How to figure out what actually makes you happy (it's probably cheaper than you think) The secondhand challenge that changed Frances's finances Why a cheaper daily life and big one-off experiences beats an expensive lifestyle every time How to stop spending on what other people want, and start spending on what YOU want 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":"Being weird with money is the smartest thing you can do, to get financial freedom. Most of us are following the same money playbook, and it’s not working.…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1704,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/making-cents-6998736/episodes/why-being-normal-is-the-most-expensive-thing-you-can-choose/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/why-being-normal-is-the-most-expensive-thing-you-can-choose.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}