Where's My Money Season 4, Episode 7

Season Four of Where’s My Money?, now a multi-award-winning podcast, has arrived and we will share all the insights covered across the episodes by host Reagan White and his guests.

enable.me partners with rova to bring this podcast to life and stimulate the conversation about finances with everyday Kiwis. Where’s My Money? follows the story of Reagan – a man chasing the Kiwi Dream but feeling stuck living month-to-month – and his discussions with the experts about what he may be doing wrong and how to fix it.

One man. One million dollars of debt. One podcast to find a way out.

It’s no secret that New Zealanders are finding it tough financially with the cost of living rising and wages stagnating. Headlines about butter prices and increasing utility expenses are splashing the news, painting a dull picture of the economy.

As part of Money Month in August, Where’s My Money? is focusing on stories of resilience from everyday Kiwis who have overcome obstacles in their financial journey – and the experts that have helped overcome them. Over the month’s episodes, we encourage you to find the little wins that add up to impactful changes in your life.

enable.me Financial Coach and adviser Justin Gauci joins this episode to share his top tips to take control of your money, rather than letting it control you.

Money Month

Money Month is not only for people who are feeling money stress and falling behind on bills; it’s for anyone to face up to issues in their finances and feel empowered to make small changes that quickly add up.

Financial literacy isn’t built into our culture the way it should be. We don’t effectively teach about it in schools, and at home oftentimes families discuss it in hushed tones or behind closed doors. Many adults feel like they are wading through quicksand trying to understand how money works before their head is pulled under.

That’s why Money Month exists, started by sorted.org.nz and supported by many financial institutions and companies like enable.me.

Justin believes in the importance of financial education – and that we need greater emphasis on its lasting importance.

“The difference between how important it is in life, how much we talk about it, how much we’re educated in this space as well. It doesn’t marry up exactly the way it should be,” he says.

“Having podcasts like this and having advisers speak around professional ways to make changes in a basic and real-life way is one way – and a key way – to get the message out there.”

Lifestyle Envy

We’ve all experienced food envy. Someone else at your table orders a better-looking meal and the whole time you’re glancing jealously at what they have, regretting your choices.

Lifestyle envy brings out the same emotions.

We ask ourselves why someone else is able to drive the new BMW and travel across the world multiple times per year – but we don’t know the full story of how they are affording (or not affording) these things. We don’t see the family support, or the overdrafts and credit cards in arrears.

Justin challenges this envy, saying that some of the cost-of-living crisis is, in actual fact, a spending crisis. Our ‘wants’ are feeling like ‘necessities’ rather than ‘fun extras’.

He says, “there’s 100 per cent a cost of spending crisis – and that habit has set in, and people don’t want to change.”

But it’s no use sticking your head in the sand and ignoring the problem – you can be better with your money. Everyone has the power to change their financial situation.

“There’s substantial things that you can do to put yourself ahead, without compromising on what’s most important to you right now.”

Lay Strong Financial Foundations

The first move you make is to rip off the Band-Aid and find your starting point. Look at the money you have, any assets or savings or investments you have, any debt you need to clear, and begin to track your spending. Find areas where you tend to overspend and see if you can cut those back without impacting your lifestyle too much.

Justin says, “A simple, I guess, equation that everyone can work this one out once they hear it is what is: money in minus money out. Go look at that for the past three months.”

There are easy swaps to make that can save your spending plan; it doesn’t have to be completely cutting out the things that bring you joy.

Justin shares the example of ordering food delivery via an app. They charge service fees, delivery fees – and often the restaurants pass the commission price of using the app on to their customers. This can add up to a 13 to 48 per cent more expensive¹ cost for the food order than if you were to go in store.

On McDonalds this is the difference between a Big Mac costing $8.60 in store² vs $10.50 for the item on UberEats³ – and then add in the service and delivery costs.

Just by heading into the store, you can save between $7.00-$15.00, or even more, depending on your order. If you’d normally order via an app once per week, this can save you $364.00-$780.00 per year.

Make a few small changes like these, and you free up the cash that you can use to pay down debt, build your emergency fund, or even use for investing and growing your wealth.

It’s about building your priorities into your money habits, so you keep what is important to you and cut the fluff that isn’t adding extra happiness to your life.

Get Started Today

Justin’s main message is this: no matter your age or stage, start today. Stop putting it off and thinking it’s a ‘future me’ problem, because future you will hate you for it.

“For a lot of people in that early sort of stage in their 20s, it’s not even about cutting out the fun. It’s just – be a bit smarter about how you do it.”

And when you start looking through your expenses and make your financial choices more visible, it’s no use beating yourself up about it.

Justin says, “don’t be too self-critical… you’re looking backwards. Doesn’t mean that’s what you have to do forever going forwards.”

It won’t change overnight – these financial habits are built up over time and it will take time to embed this change into your life. What’s most important is to just take that first step. Listen to this episode for Justin’s advice on where to start.

Disclaimer: The Where’s My Money? podcast and the information shared by host Reagan White and his guests does not constitute individual financial advice. If you’re interested in receiving financial advice, you can book a consultation with an enable.me coach. Costs apply. 

¹Stuff Article: Thinking of ordering Uber Eats? Here’s how much extra it costs on this and other apps
²The Economist Big Mac Index 2025
³Price on UberEats in Auckland on 30.7.25