The Happy Saver Podcast - Personal Finance in New Zealand · Ruth - Personal Finance Blogger

101. Pushing Themselves - Financially Going For It!

·1 hr·2 clips

His wife selling her wedding jewelry to pay his debt was his wake-up call - he pledged never to borrow money again and dove into Dave Ramsey's debt elimination plan.

Ruth opens by mentioning her summer break and her return to the podcast in 2025. She says new episodes will now come out every three weeks. She also reminds listeners that the show is built around ordinary people and their money lives in Aotearoa. Ajith first reached out in 2024 with questions and a need for motivation. He and Aya were trying to stay on track toward debt freedom by his 39th birthday, which is in 2028. Hearing Ruth's own journey with money and the stories of other Kiwis had helped them keep going. The family lives with their eight-year-old daughter, Avani, on the east coast of the North Island, and their names have been changed for privacy. Ruth frames their story around a wider point about money being a shared journey. One partner can easily go deep on blogs, books, and podcasts and then expect the other to catch up. Without strong communication, that gap can turn into a problem. She is clear that couples need to talk about their shared future and learn the material together. Aya's path in New Zealand runs through the episode in a striking way. She learned English, received her residence visa, and got her first job in a hospital as a sterilising technician. The job fit her nursing background and brought in about a thousand dollars a fortnight. That income was a big help in getting out of debt. Aya later completed a one-year course in New Zealand to top up her nursing qualification and culture papers so she could get fully back into nursing. The episode also spends time on the cost and logistics of raising a child while working. Ruth notes that some Indian families send children back to grandparents in India to ease the cost and pressure of daycare, but Ajith and Aya did not want to be apart from their daughter. Instead, Aya stayed out of the workforce until their daughter turned two, then used a nearby daycare for only three to four hours a day while working part-time, keeping daycare to a minimum because it was so expensive, and the episode ends with Ajith's clear pride in his family.

As heard by us

A calm debt story about partnership, childcare, and keeping a shared money plan alive.

The episode tracks a New Zealand couple trying to stay on course toward debt freedom by Ajith's 39th birthday, and what stays with it is how ordinary the effort feels.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want a debt story that keeps faith with parenting, migration, and long-haul motivation.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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