Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's how you can have fun without spending a cent. Hosted by Frances Cook.

A basic rule of personal finance is to live within your means. Spend less than you earn. Have some self-restraint.

Which is all well and good, but that's really hard.

The finer things in life are fun, and I'm as susceptible as anyone else to just giving in, yelling out YOLO, and blowing my budget.

So it's with a bit of self-interest that I put this episode together. There are many ways to have fun cheaply, or even for free. Sometimes we just need a reminder.

I know what my favourite ones are, but I wanted to know yours, as well.
Cooking the Books listeners are smart, and you guys always suggest something that I hadn't
thought of.

So the call went out on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, asking for your favourite ways to have fun on the cheap.

The results? Eight clever ways to have fun without spending a cent. For some of them, you might even make money.

For the tips, listen to the podcast.

If you have a question about this podcast, or an idea for the next one, come and talk to me about it. I'm on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/FrancesCookJournalist/ Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/francescooknz/ and Twitter here https://twitter.com/FrancesCook