In this episode of Money Made Simple, Jennie and Liv take the show to Reddit, asking the often wise, very debate-happy r/PersonalFinanceNZ community for their very best money tips and tricks. More than 40 people came to the party, and the ones that made the cut are the ones the community upvoted most, so this is a genuinely crowd-sourced list from everyday Kiwis who think hard about their money. Jennie and Liv work through the top ten, from the deceptively simple to the slightly technical.

*Please note, these tips and tricks do not constitute financial advice, and are personal opinions collected from Reddit and shared by the Simplicity team.*

This episode covers:

* The one-week pause that stops a want turning into a regrettable purchase, and the savings trick that turns leftovers into investments
* Why "buy assets, not crap" might be the most useful money slogan we've heard
* The payday order of operations that makes budgeting boring but effective
* How compounding works against you on debt, and what to do about it
* Giving money or investments instead of stuff, and why the kids will come round (eventually)
* The risk question most people have never honestly understood, or put into practice*
* Why and how playing it TOO safe carries a risk of its own
* Dollar cost averaging on the way in, and the part most people miss on the way out
* How sinking funds work, why they're handy, and why Jennie wants to rename them
* Offset and revolving credit mortgages, explained in a nutshell
* The perspective check that showed one Redditor they were $300 a week better off than they thought
* Liv and Jennie's own additions: the fee question nobody asks, and why you do not need to be an expert to start

*Editor's note: there is a subtle difference between risk aversion and loss aversion, although the two are often closely related - sometimes people in higher risk investments are comfortable with risk, until it plays out via a market crash. And this is where loss aversion can kick in, where people switch to more conservative funds upon seeing a drop in their balance.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

- r/PersonalFinanceNZ - the Reddit community that supplied the tips: https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceNZ/
- A longer explainer on everything mortgages, discussed in MMS episode #9: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1YZXRdwRNeQcUjYuHZv0Y8
- Simplicity First Home Loans: https://simplicity.kiwi/first-home-loans
- Sorted's Money Month: https://sorted.org.nz/money-month-2026-sorted/

This episode will deliver you ten tips that real people actually use and agree on, plus a nudge to check a couple of super important things most of us either avoid or don't know to consider. And a huge shout out to r/PersonalFinanceNZ, for the collective help! If you hear your own tip in there, please feel free to get in touch (via whatever channel suits you), and we'll be happy to send out some goodies for the privilege.