Leading questions: Sam Knowles

Sam Knowles is Chairman of Localist (former chief executive of Kiwibank). Photo / Sarah Ivey

Are you generally frugal with your own spending or do you consider yourself a big spender?

My kids and family would say I'm very frugal. My parents were Depression children so they instilled the values of not spending money if you can find a cheaper way of doing it.

Do you like shopping? If so what do you like to spend your money on? If not what do you dislike about it?

Not much. I don't mind shopping for bargains and if I see something on special I get it but I don't spend hours in the process of shopping. I'm probably typically male. The thing I dislike is not being able to find what you want and it just takes a long time. I like shopping for things like books and browsing in book stores. I quite like shopping online, actually.

Can you recall an experience, good or bad, from your youth that taught you something important about the value of money?

Generally what teaches you the value of money when you are a kid is when you have to work for a pittance. In my first job I think I got a dollar an hour. That was when I was about 10 or 11 delivering unaddressed mail around town. I got a job in my last year of school being a display rep for Greggs where I think I got $5 an hour. When you go and spend it and it doesn't go very far that's when you work out how hard you work and that there is a value to money.

Do you have a piece of advice or a favourite quote about money for those just starting out?

Don't spend more than you earn. It's OK for buying a house and things like that but generally it is a ticket to misery if you spend significantly more than you earn. My favourite quote is about getting people to treat their business like it is their own money. People often have a different view about spending their own money.