NZ money advice for 2026, Christmas budgeting tips, interest rate updates, and practical ways to build financial resilience. To wrap up the year, we brought Katie and Shelly from enable.me back into the studio for a chat about where Kiwis stand financially heading into 2026. 12 months ago interest rates were still climbing, the cost of living was biting hard, and job security felt uncertain for heaps of households. Now we’re finally seeing some green shoots with OCR cuts and small pockets of relief. But with redundancies still hitting parts of the country, it’s not exactly smooth sailing. We cover how to build buffers, why micro-habits matter, how to invest in yourself, and ways to avoid going into Christmas debt. Plus, we talk kids’ Christmas lists, secret Santa hacks, and the sneaky traps of Black Friday.