Talking about money matters can be a little difficult for many people, for many reasons. In New Zealand, parents commonly teach their children that it is impolite to talk about money, and if you don’t have as much as your school mates, money talk could be embarrassing.

Currently the New Zealand media is obsessed with the Tokyo Olympic Games and whether you are into it or not, it is one of the rare occasions that less popular sports have their moment in the spotlight.

Talking about money and debt remains difficult for most New Zealanders and the Debtfix Crew wants to see this changed.

It’s a common belief that if you work hard you will get ahead but a young man who approached Debtfix for help had worked long and hard and yet, debt threatened to take him under.

Before you skip this one because you think meditation is too woowoo, take a moment to contemplate how frequently money stresses you out, keeps you awake or causes family friction.

Every May the New Zealand budget is released and there is a media hoo-ha about the announcement that outlines how the Government plans to spend our taxes. To be fair, most New Zealanders don’t pay much attention to the occasion but back in the day the budget announcement caused rushes to buy petrol and cigarettes before sales taxes increased.

In a highly unscientific test, Debtfix Googled how to talk to kids about debt and it seems the algorithms don’t rate this as a topic, at all. People are more likely to want to know how to talk to youngsters about cancer, drugs, divorce, death, Covid, mental health, bullying, sex – anything other than money and debt.

If I won lotto I’d be sweet.

We’ve all had that wishful moment when we hope Lady Luck will smile upon us and make us rich, but chances are she is unlikely to fix your financial problems. Gambling can be fun for some people but it is not a good strategy for reducing debt or increasing your bank balance.

A Māori principle applied to healthcare has been adopted by Debtfix to enrich the outcomes of services provided to people taking control of their money matters.

It is humbling to meet someone who genuinely feels they have been fortunate and learnt from experiences that life has thrown at them – both the good and the bad.

Numerous factors put a Kiwi family that had always done well, into a dire financial situation that made them feel like failures. They were desperate until they found Debtfix.

Let’s face the reality and then, let’s just run away from it for a moment. When it feels like there is not much fun on the horizon and the budget can’t get any tighter – it’s time to get creative to survive in style.