There may be a lot of talk about a couch to 5k – but to improve your financial habits, the €5k saving challenge may be the place to start.

It's easy to focus on your physical health - but your wealth can be just as important.

Many Irish adults struggle to save, with Capital Credit Union research from October showing that one in four Irish adults have less than €500 in savings.

Man with many bills or invoices and no money. Shortage, Bankruptcy, doing taxes, barely any money in his wallet, Alamy 2024

Host of The Home Show Sinead Ryan told The Pat Kenny Show that putting effort into improving your financial habits can make a huge difference on your life.

“The first thing – and this is something I do even more regularly than once a year – I write down all of the subscriptions, what I call the ‘vanishing spend’ that goes out of my account every single month on direct debit,” she said.

“You wouldn’t believe how many there are, I mean, it’s not just the streamers – but usually we have a bunch of those – it's things like subscriptions.

“So, printing out a bank statement, identifying all those and adding them up – if you had five of those things, you could be spending nearly a thousand euros a year on them.”

Energy supplier

Ms Ryan said that while it may be a hassle, changing your energy supplier can be a huge saver.

“This is a fully deregulated market, there’s tons of suppliers out there, they all want your business,” she said.

“Make sure your contract’s up, otherwise you’ll be spending €50 to cancel out of it – but if you signed up in the last year or two, it should be clear.”

For further energy savings, Ms Ryan recommended doing a quick round of the house before going to bed and ensuring all plugs are out of sockets.

Home insurance

Ms Ryan also encouraged people to check that their home was correctly insured to avoid costly future payouts.

“Here’s the mistake people make – and it’s a very expensive one,” she said.

“They insure their house for what it’s worth if they were to sell if, rather than what it would cost to rebuild it."

If you’re looking to increase money coming in rather than decreasing money going out, Ms Ryan recommended picking up a side hustle.

Featured image: Split image showing a piggy bank (L) and a muscled arm (R).