To think most people my age (32) are making huge financial mistakes?

Expensive weddings weren't a thing for everyone then by any means. And none of the hen parties that I was invited to were abroad. If it did involve a night away from home it would be camp beds in someone's living room or a cheap hotel in a twin room.

I disagree expensive weddings were a thing then too. Maybe they were more likely to be paid for by parents.

I am a bit younger though tbf

From what I have seen of that age group their biggest extravagance is what they spend on weddings/ honeymoon/ hen does etc. ( obviously I know not everyone spends like this but the question is generalised so I’m generalising).
im in my 50s and that level of extravagance was unheard of when I was in my 20s or 30s.

I think what you describe is the same of all generations. The weird obsession with spending to income level, upsizing your life every time you get a pay rise while wailing they will never be able to retire.

Spending lots and working forever is what the government wants you to do though as they get more tax that way.

Lots of people my age messed round till they were 30 exactly as you describe and between 1998 and 2008 house prices doubled - it cost them dearly. They were then complaining they couldn’t afford to buy a 3 bed semi as first time buyers. It isn’t new.

But equally you only live once and I think I was too sensible when I was young in all honesty.

Now late twenties, majority of friendship group now own reasonable sized homes and contribute significantly to their pension. Yes a few of us may have used a 0% credit card to buy furniture for said homes or have a car on finance but I think buy now pay later schemes haven’t been touched since uni.

I’m not sure. I think different things are importsnt at different times of your life. I partied hard and holidayed lots in my 30s. No regrets. I still managed to get on the property ladder though but times were easier then to do that. I’m now creeping towards 50 and so many people my age are prioritising the flashy cars and big houses over retirement saving. That’s foolish. But you’ll get people making poor financial decisions at every stage.

Why are you assuming they are but you're not?

Being cautious with money is important, but the concept of “saving” is overly pushed too hard to the masses (probably by design). Saving is a means but not an end. The end is getting more money and sources of income. Ideally at some point before you’re say 40, getting some stream of accruing wealth that isn’t merely you selling units of your time. Of course owning a personal home and that home accruing in value is one version of this, but a pretty limited one as you can only benefit from it if you sell it - and then you need another place to live. If you’re earning 20k or 30k your whole life, you can save and be frugal for a lifetime, and you’ll still hardly have any money or quality of life. That’s what they should be telling us in schools.

Absolutely 100%. I am now 38 and only started making sensible financial decisions around the age of 32 and I'm on such a back foot! Personally I'm terrible for a bit of buy now pay later and putting things on credit cards and making minimum repayments. I stopped that when I was pregnant with my first. Paid off all my debt in 6 months.

The biggest trouble I had is I never tried to further my career, or even find a decent career. I never really applied myself and mainly did fun but dead end jobs.

I do look back and wonder was it lack of confidence, lack of understanding about the actual cost of living (especially once kids came along)... I'm not sure!

I had a good time, and me and my husband are getting things on track now, but I do sometimes wonder what travels I could have done in my 20s if I had saved money better and how much easier it would be now to buy a house.

We're between 27-32 and most of us own our own houses and have fully paid off cars. But no one drives anything fancier than a vw and most are 3 bed semis (in Essex so still not that cheap)

This year those of us with kids are doing haven and those without are doing a cruise. I don't find it a common theme in my circles but also most of us have degrees and parents who allowed us to save up at home to buy even if we weren't directly given money!

I don’t see age as being the issue. I’m 35 and have always saved very hard, no parents to help and never earned more than 28k in London but put 100k deposit on a house. It’s because I grew up poor. I do eat out and sometimes buy clothes though, I just don’t spend constantly.

meanwhile my mother in law sold her home for 1.5 million, downsized but is burning through her retirement fund at an insane rate and will run out soon. My partner is bad with money, is in his 40s and has no savings as he always spends everything he earns. Has an ‘it will be fine, I’m not going to think about the future ‘ attitude. I think it’s about upbringing rather than age.

What do you think the biggest mistake is?

Not a “mistake” necessarily, but something I’d be wary of if growing up today - pursuing a career I I think will be “interesting” or that I’m attracted to “personality wise”, as opposed to a career that will offer a good/excellent salary in an area in which I’m reasonably skilled and is in demand. Of course this concept might also need to be applied at the age of 16 in terms of subject choice at school.

I agree, spending £10-20 grand (or more) for a single day’s entertainment is insane to me, especially when same couple will then struggle for years to purchase a home - and thereby effectively burning tens of thousands more on top on of that on what would have been avoidable rent. Of course not all will struggle to purchase their home, but many do.

Financial literacy is indeed lacking in many 30-somethings, but not entirely their fault. Today's economic landscape differs greatly from previous generations with higher costs and stagnant wages.
Common mistakes include lifestyle inflation, delayed retirement savings, insufficient emergency funds, and overreliance on credit. "Buy now, pay later" services create particularly dangerous debt cycles.
Some struggle comes from genuine financial constraints rather than poor decisions. What specific issues concern you most?

It's because that's how we've all been conditioned to think/plan financially. I truly believe it's what the powers that be want from the plebs. They want us to be hamsters in a wheel of debt, spending as fast as we can and living hand to mouth. No one (well, very few people), actually save up to buy anything expensive these days, it's all on tick.

So much stuff on monthly subscriptions/repayments, it's shocking when you take a step back and see what's really going on. All these people with nearly new cars that they can only afford because it's on a monthly payment plan. All they're doing is servicing the depreciation on an asset they don't even own.

Same with sending every one off to university at 18, charging them eyewatering fees, and then generously lending them a truck load of money. It just encourages young people into a lifetime of debt, conditioned them to it, so it becomes the norm. I actually think that these days, university is less about learning an academic qualification, more about teaching youngsters how to spend money they don't have.

But when they've been conditioned into spending beyond their means, which credit and subscription based spending encourages, the concept of scrimping and saving and going without the latest mobile phone, a nearly new car, and foreign holidays, is totally alien. Shit, even what some people spend on takeaway coffee adds up to an eyewatering amount when you look at it on an annual basis.

Then you've got all these youngsters bleating about how they can't afford to buy a house. Well, that's something that's never been easy, even when property prices were much lower compared to earnings (interest rates were generally higher, so the monthly payments were higher). So often the 'average house price' to average salary ratios are quoted by the media. But that just leaves youngsters disenchanted and thinking they'll never be able to afford to buy a home. So they just give up and don't even try to save a deposit.

Reality is that very few people jump on the housing ladder half way up it, with an 'average price' home. You start off small, with a flat or apartment, and then work your way up as you build equity (and hopefully rising prices and salaries help along the way too).

So it doesn't surprise me at all, and I think it's exactly what the higher ups want - they need people to keep spending to keep the bloody economy from collapsing.

I think the biggest mistake is thinking you are better than others. A rather judgy, smug and arrogant post OP! I'd get off your high-horse and be a little humble. Good for you if you're not "struggling financially" , everyone's circumstances are different.

It must have been a very small house. I almost bought a one bedroom flat in Zone 4 in 1991, it was 65k. To be fair I just googled it and it’s ten times that now. Although apparently it is now apparently a three bedroom flat, no idea how as there was no room to extend!

Agree. I think they've seen their parents live spending beyond their means so now they are clueless how to handle finances.

It’s not a generational thing, financial literacy is poor across the ages. Plenty of my friends are still putting weddings, brand new cars/kitchens, etc on the never never even though they’re pushing 40. Where I grew up, you got a new look store card when you turned 18 because it was free money. Plenty of people, including me, took multiple overdrafts. I made my final repayment last month at 35 after spending my 20s trapped in the cycle of debt, burying my head - no bank of mum and dad to bail me out.

I still manage money like I have none now even though my husband and I both earn a very good wage. We’ve been very fortunate to be afforded plenty of opportunities to change our circumstances. That’s how we can afford a mortgage, wedding, etc.

Because of all that, the single most important rule of financial literacy is to spend less than you earn, every month

As Dickens's Mr Micawber says:

“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty-pound ought and six, result misery.”

Nailed it.

I’m now in my 40s (just on the oldest side of gen y) and I know ten to fifteen years ago both DH and I made a few silly decisions. Nothing significant though with losing hundreds or thousands. Probably the silliest when I think about it is high interest loans for pointless things we actually didn’t need. The good news is that ten years later we have good careers/income and make smarter financial decisions.

We, most of us, consume too much.

We don't need take away food, bottled water, a phone for every person, soft drinks every week, a new car every five years, sweet treats, hair dye, spray tans, alcohol, new clothes every season, holidays in planes to other countries, holidays to anywhere, actually..
The young people of today, more so, have grown up with all that as normal where as former generations knew they were luxuries.
Living happily deprived of luxury is healthy.

I think a lot of youngsters fear being poor, fear the peer judgement and like to live like they are successful, with much comfort, instant gratification and with little hardship.

To see if how much can really be saved, take the challenge of giving up all but basic necessities for five years.

There are two prongs to success from working long hours - the money earnt and the money saved due to not spending.

Yes this, I wish I properly understood the difference between saving and investing much earlier and also that you don't need large amounts to invest, it's not only for rich people.

Um no. I'm in my 30s as saw my parents constantly borrow more than they could afford (after the 80s credit boom). They are in their 60s and still making terrible financial decisions. If anything, I'm overly cautious about credit and debt

Agree but I understand why some give up they feel hopeless