Marriage is a long-term commitment to build a life with someone else (among other things). A wedding is an expensive party. This week Dr. Woofington Von Barkshire wants to know if we think it’s a good idea to spend money on an expensive wedding when you have debt and not much money. We don’t.

Crushed under the weight of debt, a younger, dumber version of me would resolutely put money away – toward debt repayments or honest-to-goodness cash. As often, there was some unexpected financial event, and my resolution would dissolve. Eventually I’d accept I’m bad at saving and give up. It was easier than living with failure month after month.

Dhiraj asks us to defend our index-tracking strategy in this episode. It’s hard to do when the theory works but the practice hasn’t delivered the goods in four years. At this point I can only cling to the success others have had with this strategy and hope.

When we get into debt, we think it’s a temporary state of affairs. We’ll get rid of it once we earn more money. However, nothing is more delicious to a financial institution than an indebted individual getting a raise. As our income increases, so increases our access to credit.

Look, if it’s the end of the world we’re all in for a bad time. Your only hope is to be at the site of the asteroid hit at the moment of impact. Be patient zero – dying will be more fun than trying to survive the apocalypse. But a financial crisis is not the apocalypse.

Access to a great share at a discount is something to take very seriously. Khuliso’s question about Phutuma Nathi got me thinking about BBBEE shares. How do you decide whether a BBBEE share is a better investment than the ETF you would have bought anyway?

Interest is a strange thing. You could at any point be both earning it and paying it. In fact, if you have a credit card you could be earning and paying interest in the same bank account. Should you use money earning interest to pay off the money you owe, on which you are paying interest?

In this episode we interview Patrick McKay about financial independence. Patrick, who runs The Investor Challenge Blog, achieved financial independence two years ago. At 39, he boasts the title of Regional Drone Coordinator and works because he enjoys it. Here, Patrick tells us how he did it.

Sam Beckbessinger’s excellent book Manage Your Money Like a F*cking Grownup is the unofficial written summary of The Fat Wallet Show. As Sam explains in this episode, the Spending Ratio is an excellent way to measure the health of your finances, because it’s not dependent on things you can’t control.