Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's the inside secrets to looking glam on a budget. Hosted by Frances Cook.

What's the point of a podcast, if not abusing it to simply find out things you want to know yourself?

There's no point, that's what. So today I'm hijacking the platform to give us the inside word on how the pros find the best second hand gems.

Many of you will already know I’ve set myself a challenge for all of 2020, to only buy clothes second hand, nothing new.

It was only supposed to be a bit of fun, but soon people were sending me questions and wanting to know more about whether I was managing to make it work.

I admit, I’ve been partial to a bit of op shopping before, but it’s a whole new level when you commit to only doing that.

You soon find out fun tricks like what types of repairs you’re actually capable of, how to snag a bargain at designer recycle stores, and that where your secondhand shop is located is one of the most important factors.

But that's nothing compared to what the professionals know.

For the latest Cooking the Books podcast I talked to Trudi Bennett from Wardrobe Flair.

We discussed how to find the true bargains, how to check for quality, and where to find the best second hand shops.

If you have a question you'd like answered in a future podcast, 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