FIX YOUR FINANCES IN FIVE STEPS

1. Switch to a bank that categorises spending via an app so you are confronted, daily, by the reality of

your finances, eg, Starling or Monzo. Pick a couple of days a week when

you are only ‘allowed’ to buy basics.

2. What are you saving for and how much do you need? Set up a direct debit to move the percentage of your salary you decide you can sacrifice into a savings account.

3. But first, focus on debts. All extra money should be used to make sure you never pay overdraft charges or interest on a credit card.

4. Google ‘pension calculator’ to see what you should be saving for retirement. The answer will be awful, but the magic of compound interest means start now and you’ll have to find much less as a proportion of your earnings.

5. Once you have enough savings for emergencies (at least three months of essential outgoings), start investing in

stocks and shares. The easiest way

is via a ‘roboadviser’ like Wealthify

or Moneybox. Set up a monthly

deposit, check on it occasionally,

leave it alone for at least a decade.

dr rangan chatterjee, the Gp-turned-wellness sensation, and host of the Feel Better Live More podcast, is telling me I can change my life in five minutes a day. ‘Absolutely you can!’ he enthuses. ‘People think they don’t have time, but we’ve overcomplicated health.’ His new book, Feel Better In 5, contains five-minute health habits, and he suggests choosing one from each of three categories: mind, body and heart. Body and mind I get, but heart? ‘People know they should eat less sugar or drink less alcohol, but what’s at the root of why they don’t? Often it’s lack of human connection.’ Can small changes really make a difference? ‘The science of behaviour change shows that, if you want to make a habit stick, you have to start small.’ Try these three five-minute ‘health snacks’ each day, and watch your life change.

MIND: Write down your anxieties on paper first thing in the morning, before you pick up your phone. (Then you can toss them in the bin.)

BODY: Strength training – squats and lunges require no equipment (the book has five-minute workouts).

HEART: Write in a gratitude diary or – better – phone a friend for a chat.

‘Link each habit to an existing one,’ says Rangan, ‘such as doing a five-minute workout while making coffee, or doing your gratitude diary on your commute. In a few days, you will become the kind of person who can stick to this.’

‘Feel Better In 5: Your Daily Plan To Feel Great For Life’ (£16.99, Penguin Life) is out now