The Māori Money Movement

How can I use money to get to where I want to be?

Whaia te iti kahurangi, ki te tūohu koe me he maunga teitei.

Seek the treasure you value most dearly; if you bow your head, let it be to a lofty mountain.

Having dreams is important

While sometimes it might feel difficult to achieve our aspirations, it’s important that we don’t let the natural ups and downs in life throw us. Hold tight.

Our ancestors arrived in Aotearoa after a long tough journey. But they held tight.

Upon arrival they were able to climb up maunga, look down upon the whenua and imagine their whānau thriving, living in harmony with te taiao, collectively drawing upon each other’s talents to look after everyone. This was the treasure they journeyed for, and now we are carrying on their legacy.

Sort your pūtea and thrive

Getting sorted with pūtea is one of the tools we now have in our hands. The more we learn how to make moni work for us, the more we can do to help our people thrive. Getting smart with pūtea means we know how to do things like growing it, by setting some aside for the future and make wise decisions like buying a whare for us and our whānau – which can increase in value over time.

It means learning about innovation in harmony with the taiao, providing delicious and nutritious kai, getting great educations. All this so together we can manaaki each other and continue to stand on top of maunga throughout Aotearoa.

“I’ve realised the importance of making a plan to have the things I want. But that in order to earn money, I have to work for it. In the thinking of making a plan, I learned how to save for a greater purpose. I also learned how to balance out how I save.”

Keani, 29

Free yourself up to dream big

Learning to get sorted with pūtea can sometimes feel like a drag, with words like ‘budgeting’ and ‘saving’ seeming like they’re taking away your freedom or some of the fun. Yet what we generally find is as we start to get sorted moneywise, we often feel less māharahara , and this in turn frees us to dream big and think about future aspirations for our whānau, hapū and iwi.

If you’d like to get smarter with pūtea, and learn how to make it grow, we’ve got some great guides that can teach you more about all the ins and outs, from how to save, to how to make wise investment decisions like starting KiwiSaver or saving for a whare.

You can see some great stories from other rangatahi about their journey with monitoo.

Ka panonihia e koe tō wheako whaiaro mō te moni.

What pūtea beliefs do you have?

We all have some kind of relationship with pūtea. What’s your relationship with money like? It’s great when this relationship is good…

I’d like to get better with money. Where do I start?

Being onto it with money is really important. It will help you establish control over where you want to head in life…

What happens if I start to struggle with moni?

We have a bit of a “she’ll be right” belief here in Aotearoa, and for the most part that’s true. But sometimes…

Learn more about pūtea

Want to keep learning about moni and your pūtea? Take a look at these resources that can help with some of the topics Te Kahukura and Honey talk about.

How to save your money

How to get out of debt quickly

How to start a budget and why it's important

Why money goals are important and how to set them

Re: News & Sorted present:

Across social media there’s new kaupapa inspiring rangatahi to take control of their financial future. The Māori Money Movement series created in partnership with Re: jumps into the kōrero with rangatahi Māori about the financial pressure they’re facing and to take autonomy over their money.

Meet Te Kahukura

Te Kahukura speaks about her experience with moni growing up and how she’s on a journey to be a millionaire by 25.

Wānanga with rangatahi

Honey Ellis hosts a wānanga with rangatahi Māori to help destigmatise talking about pūtea.

Pūtea tips from Te Kahukura

Want practical advice on how to manage money? Te Kahukura shares her awesome tips on budgeting, saving and emergency funds.

Featured image background abstract image

The online movement inspiring rangatahi

Two years ago Te Kahukura Boynton had no savings and no income. Now at just 19 years old, she’s in her third year of law school and building on her dream to become a Māori millionaire.

Budgeting
tool

A budget is simply your money plan. Our tool can help you plan for managing your spending, and steering your money where you need it to go most.

Savings calculator

Saving up for something? This calculator shows you how savings can grow over time and the effect of compound interest on your savings.

Debt
calculator

The longer we take to pay off debt, the more it costs us. So, if there’s room in the budget to tackle your loans, this tool can help.

Stories from real people

BLOG

My Money Sorted: Te Kahukura

Te Kahukura, founder of Māori Millionaire, is on a mission to empower Māori to b…

BLOG

My Money Sorted: Hidden Figure$

Hidden Figure$, two Māori investors, share their personal finance ngā whāinga (g…

BLOG

My Money Sorted: Manawa & Aniwa

We spoke with Manawa and Aniwa about their investing journey - they’ve recently …

6 steps to get sorted

Don’t know where to start? Our 6 steps will help you to take control of your money.

Head to the 6 steps

Sort my...

Everyday money

KiwiSaver

Debt

Saving

6 steps to get your money Sorted

Start your emergency fund

Get your KiwiSaver on track

Tackle your debt

Cover your people, money, stuff

Work out your retirement number

Set your goals, then reach them!

Browse guides by...

How to videos

8 ways to hack Christmas when you’re stretching the budget

6 ways to shop smarter this Black Friday

My Money Sorted: Laura

Heaps of KiwiSaver choices abound, but just because you can – doesn’t mean you should

Invest for impact: how to leave this world better than we found it

Top tips for shopping online

It’s the Christmas cash countdown: deck your money halls in 90 days

My Money Sorted: Christine

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The Māori Money Movement

How can I use money to get to where I want to be?

Whaia te iti kahurangi, ki te tūohu koe me he maunga teitei.

Seek the treasure you value most dearly; if you bow your head, let it be to a lofty mountain.

Having dreams is important

Sort your pūtea and thrive

“I’ve realised the importance of making a plan to have the things I want. But that in order to earn money, I have to work for it. In the thinking of making a plan, I learned how to save for a greater purpose. I also learned how to balance out how I save.”

Keani, 29

Free yourself up to dream big

Ka panonihia e koe tō wheako whaiaro mō te moni.

What pūtea beliefs do you have?

I’d like to get better with money. Where do I start?

What happens if I start to struggle with moni?

Learn more about pūtea

Re: News & Sorted present:

Meet Te Kahukura

Wānanga with rangatahi

Pūtea tips from Te Kahukura

The online movement inspiring rangatahi

Budgetingtool

Savings calculator

Debtcalculator

Stories from real people

My Money Sorted: Te Kahukura

My Money Sorted: Hidden Figure$

My Money Sorted: Manawa & Aniwa

6 steps to get sorted

Budgeting
tool

Debt
calculator