Unexpected €5000 expense. What would you do?

I'd leave the country

As much as I hate Amazon and the throwaway culture that it has spawned, for times like you describe it is ideal. It picks up the slack for less common items that would in the past have been possible to buy somewhere in most medium sized towns.

Just pay your drug debts on time OP. Easier.

Down to the recycling centre with some snips.

They exist, but you pay extra for it, Miele have extended support and pretty much bullet proof but at twice the price of others (for example). In a lot of appliances and devices, buying the "professional" range can save money in the long term, however, you have to be happy with the feature range on offer as the one thing they can't make up for is the rapid progress on the silicon chips they use, as something ages out, the limitations of its "smart" features become more and more apparent (acknowledging that most people don't use these anyway and just like an on/off button).

For all the talk of society becoming more green there is very little talk of making corporations taking any hit to their profits to protect resources and the environment. Replacing an appliance shouldn’t be more expensive then repairing it. Across all industries quality has been sacrificed to cut costs.

Median household income in Ireland is around 45-50k

Less than 20% of households in Ireland earn more than 80k gross

https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-gpii/geographicalprofilesofincomeinireland2016/incomeinireland/

As per the below link, in 2020 93.4% of rented households had savings but the median for the 93.4% was only 3200 euro. Median financial wealth (including pensions, shares etc.) for rented households was 3700 euro.

98% of owner occupied households had savings and the median savings for the 98% was 12500 euro with median financial assets of 20500 euro.

Even considering the fact that some people will understate their means in a household finance survey, that's likely a lot of people in a precarious position if they suddenly need 5k.

As a self employed person it seems very odd to me how little savings people have in general.

I'm making average money but I need to keep alot of savings as you never really know what's around the corner.... A client doesn't pay, the economy tanks etc. You really need a couple of years wages in savings to be half secure. A 5000 unexpected bill is a kick in the teeth but it can be paid.

That's from 2016. Still interesting, but I thought more recent data from CSO had the average/median wage at 43k, not household income

These days, it'd come out of savings but it's still a lot of money in my world. My mind would be whirring, trying to work out how to save another €5,000 ASAP. I still remember the days when payday couldn't come quickly enough and when a bill like that would have been a nightmare come true. Even the thoughts of it now gives me the shivers. As to what I'd have done, I'd have tried to get a loan. Failing that, I'd have turned to my parents as a last resort. I've no doubt they'd have helped me out without being asked twice but I'd be mortified.

Yes I cant find any more detailed info on household gross incomes aside from the last census, hopefully soon the new census results will be out and give us a better picture.

The big thing to remember though is that many households have 1 parent working, or none working, pensioners, dolers, and everything in between. So not nearly as simple as looking as median wages and doubling up from there.

CSO do a stat of household gross discretionary income (post taxes) but Im not sure if it includes rent/mortgages or not. Would be good to get a stat of household net incomes less expenses (childcare/rent/mortgage/bills etc), or maybe household savings would be an even better stat?