Money Talks: Jono and Ben - from sleeping in cars to blowing big money on pranks

Jono and Ben talk finance with Liam Dann. Photo / Supplied

Jono Pryor and Ben Boyce have built a highly successful broadcasting career in TV and radio, which is lucky because they never had a 'plan b', The Hits DJs tell Liam Dann on the Money Talks Podcast.

"Mowing lawns," says Pryor. "I like mowing lawns."

And Boyce, who started his career writing advertising copy, figures he could always fall back on that.

He had a hit advertising jingle in the early 2000s with "Novus: Show us your crack".

But he knows what he doesn't want to be doing. "I worked in a plug factory," he says. "Putting together electrical plugs for about six weeks. Watching the clock every day to hit 5pm. I don't even know what part of the plug I was putting together."

Pryor also did a brief stint as a waiter at Ellerslie racecourse. "A shocking one," he says. "I walked out half-way through a shift. I was dropping champagne on people.

"The worst thing was, I thought they'd be angry but I was rostered on next week."

Pryor and Boyce tell Money Talks about their most indulgent purchases, their biggest financial mistakes and their most extravagant and expensive stunts.

Perhaps not having a Plan B paid off because it sparked a commitment to making it in radio that initially meant doing it for the love, not the money.

"I was sleeping out of my car in the work garage at MediaWorks," says Pryor. "I love this job and at that age I didn't care. It was certainly week to week."

As far as financial indulgence goes, Pryor's legendary Holden HQ was financially draining, he says.

Not having any of the mechanical skills needed to maintain it was the biggest problem, he says.

Boyce describes his most extravagant spending as the time he blew his whole paycheque from a drink-driving advert on a trip across the Tasman to watch the Warriors lose the NRL Grand Final in 2002.

These days the Jono and Ben brand is a bit more financially organised - although the bar for that isn't necessarily that high.

In the early days, Pryor recalls getting into trouble with the IRD because he didn't realise he needed to pay secondary tax.

"Turns out that's a thing," he says. "My father-in-law had to pay. It was thirteen grand!"

Based on their own experiences straight of school and learning their business skills on the job, both Pryor and Boyce say they'd love to see a bit more focus on financial literacy in the education system.

"Financial education, from a young age, we could all benefit from," says Pryor. "Actually talking to kids in primary school about money and finances. Because it's something you're going to have to deal with for the rest of your life."

- Jono and Ben are on The Hits 6-9am weekdays

Money Talks is a podcast run by the NZ Herald. It isn't about personal finance and isn't about economics - it's just well-known New Zealanders talking about money and sharing some stories about the impact it's had on their lives and how it has shaped them.

Money Talks is available on IHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes come out every second Wednesday.

You can find more New Zealand Herald podcasts at nzherald.co.nz/podcasts or on IHeartRadio.