Each week the NZ Herald's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's the options for your financial future when houses are just too expensive. Hosted by Frances Cook.

OK, if you're feeling a little frustrated by the housing market, you're not alone. It's daunting if you're a first home buyer right now.

When Covid-19 first hit, all of the economists were predicting house prices to slide, as a knock-on effect of our economy getting a hammering.

Instead our country has handled the virus remarkably well, the economy is much better than expected, and house prices, well, they're racing away.

The latest OneRoof Property Report shows that in the time from August to October alone, Auckland prices jumped a shocking 2.8 per cent.

So, does this mean you should give up? No.

Does it mean you should put yourself in worrying amounts of debt, so that if one single thing goes wrong the bank takes the house back off you? Also no.

There are other ways to boost your wealth to give you financial security, and it can also be a path to get you a house further down the road, if that's what you want.

For the latest podcast I talked to Mark Lister from Craig's Investment Partners.

We discussed what other options you have for securing your financial future, if you can retire without owning a home, and how investing in other areas could help you get a house deposit.

If you have a question about this podcast, or question you'd like answered in 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