Straightforward guides on how money works in New Zealand: budgeting, saving, debt, mortgages, KiwiSaver and open banking. No jargon, no product recommendations, and nothing to sign up for.
Open banking lets you securely share your bank data with an app you choose, without handing over your login. Here is how it works in New Zealand, what the law says, and what it means for budgeting apps.
A plain answer to the question most people ask before connecting a budgeting app: what the app can see, what it can never do, who approves the connection, and how to switch it off.
ANZ, ASB, BNZ and Westpac can be connected to Paagaa today. Kiwibank, TSB and the Co-operative Bank cannot yet. Here is the current state of open banking coverage in New Zealand and what to do if your bank is not on the list.
A plain, judgement-free guide to building a budget that survives contact with real life: what comes in, what goes out, what is left, and how to handle the irregular bills that break most budgets.
The 50/30/20 rule splits your take-home pay into needs, wants and savings. Here is how it works, how to apply it, and why the ratio often has to bend under New Zealand housing costs.
Saving is hard when there is nothing spare at the end of the week. Here is how saving actually works on a tight budget in New Zealand, what a realistic starting amount looks like, and where to get free help.
Sorted suggests starting with $1,000 and building towards three to six months of expenses. Here is where that rule of thumb comes from, how to do the sum with your own New Zealand numbers, and what it means when it is out of reach.
Rates, insurance, rego and subscriptions arrive in lumps but can be divided across your pay cycle. Here is the arithmetic, a worked New Zealand example, and what it looks like when the bill lands before the money is there.
A plain guide to debt in New Zealand: how to see what you owe, the free financial mentoring available from MoneyTalks, your right to apply to a lender for hardship relief, and the formal options that exist when repayment is not realistic.
Two common ways of ordering debt repayments are highest interest rate first and smallest balance first. Here is how each one works, what each one trades away, and what has to keep happening either way.
Buy now, pay later became a regulated form of consumer credit in New Zealand on 2 September 2024. Here is how the instalment structure and default fees interact with a household budget, and what rights come with it.
A plain explanation of how a New Zealand home loan works: principal and interest, what the term does to the total you pay, what a lender is required to check, and the difference between a bank and a mortgage adviser.
Twenty percent is the number most people are quoted, and the Reserve Bank's loan-to-value restrictions are the reason. Here is what LVR means, what the current limits actually say, and which government schemes still exist for first-home buyers.
Fixed locks your interest rate for a set period; floating moves with the market. Here is how each works, what happens when a fixed term ends, why break costs exist, and how splitting a loan across both works.
KiwiSaver in plain New Zealand English: who is enrolled, where your money actually goes, what a provider and a fund are, when you can take the money out, and how to find out who is looking after yours.
The four sources of money in a KiwiSaver account: your own pay, your employer, the yearly government contribution, and investment returns. Current rates, the 1 April 2026 change, and what a PIR is.
Yes, after three years in KiwiSaver you can withdraw most of your balance towards a first home. What you can and cannot take out, who qualifies, how to apply, and why the First Home Grant is no longer available.