Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's the first steps you can take if you've lost your job. Hosted by Frances Cook.

We’re in tough times, and the sad reality is that many of us are losing our jobs.

If you’re coupled up and one of you loses your job, it’s a different type of difficult as there’s less safety net.

You can’t get the same support from Work and Income, as your partner’s salary will be taken into account.

But there are other things you can do to make the most of the one income you still have.

You can stabilise your finances to give you breathing space to make it through this difficult time.

For the latest Cooking the Books I talked to Tony Agar from Hamilton Budgeting Advisory Trust.

We talked about the support available from Government and community groups, where to start in setting up and cutting back a budget, and what to do if you have any debts.

For the podcast, listen on the player at the top of the article.

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