to think if young people spent less on clothes/beauty treatments/gadgets,

[loftladder]

they would be far more likely to be able to save for big things like deposits for a house. I work with people of a wide age range. Those in their 20's and 30's bemoan the fact that they cant afford to buy a house/car/other large item. however, these are the people who visit the beautician regularly for nails/waxing/highlighting/tanning, buy at least a couple of items of clothing per week, and go on expensive holidays/change their phone as soon as a new one comes out..............have they never heard of saving, will the world end if they dont get their nails done, or use a good old bic razor. And are a couple of holidays a year essential. I may be a bit old fashioned, but i managed to do without any of these things, and it never did me any harm!!!

Oi, don't label us all.

I cut my own fgs!! I am saving 25% of my income!!

But yes, the people you describe need a reality check.

**my own hair

That they are young and having fun and will find out the hard way. It wouldn't be better if they were single mums on Child tax credit, scraping to feed themselves and their dc and still worrying about their car tax - or would it?

I think its all about where you start from. Your DS was lucky to be cared for by family and friends int he years he was saving deposit. DH and I started off in a bed and breakfast at 17 (we dont all come from wonderful families you know OP!)and spent 10 years just getting out lives in order.
We rent now but we could buy if we decided to.

When we were 17-25 we spent our money on bed and breakfast and then the massive amount of rent we had to pay on a shit hole bed sit to a dodgy landlord (we didnt have references or a deposit of course). We have never spent any money on a holiday (we have never been on a family holiday) and we still dont have a car.

I am actually massively proud of what we achieved - going from living in bed in a dodgy bed and breakfast at 17 with nothing to having the ability to provide our children with a home - even if it is rented.

God people like you make me angry.

I am delighted to hear that 30s still counts as being a young person, though

Oh as well as cutting my own hair, never going to a beautician, never having snacks in the house, making all meals from scratch, I have also chosen not to have or run a car.

That is how I am saving my 25%. If you are willing to live like I do you just can't do it.

It's not a bother for me because me and DS lived on the dole for 4 years and are totally used to being skint so we carried it on to save.

*if you are not . God, I need to proof-read

Oh bore off op

Let's take your scenario over the course of 2 years (the time your DS took to save up for a house)

Assume 2 weeks off per year for holiday where normal expenses do not apply, but I have added on the cost of the holiday

Coffee and a sandwich 5 days a week (£5 x 100 = £500)

A new iPhone 5S 32GB (£290 on a £31 contract = £1034)

Weekly clothes shop (£50 x 100= £5000)

Weekly nails (£25 x 100 = £2500)

Monthly haircut with highlights (£100 x 24 = £2400)

Weekly meal out at a restaurant (£30 x 200 = £6000)

Pub drinks twice a week (£20 x 200 = £4000)

Nice holiday once a year (£1000 x 2 = £2000)

Total cost over 2 years: £23,434

Total cost of a 1 bed flat just outside London: £200,000

It still doesn't add up. Even with this ridiculously extravagant lifestyle (which nobody on here actually leads) you still would need to save up for a very long time to buy a house.

lots of these replies have strayed from the OP. The point being made is that people cant have everything. It was not a critism of people who are struggling to make ends meet. Neither was it a critism of peoples choices. It was more a comment about the instant gratification that these short lived things bring, and how society seems to have accepted this as the norm.

Yes if I stopped having my nails done the bank will magically give us more than 4x our wage to buy a house.

as if that's be a good thing, house prices are just way out of proportion

No loft ladder, I have not strayed from the OP.

You said if people did not do all these things they would be able to afford to buy e.g. a house sooner.

I have just shown that even someone stopped doing all these things, over 2 years they would still only save just over £20,000. When you earn £20,000 a year and the bank will only lend you £100,000, this simply isn't enough.

I live like you slobathome, but I couldn't come close to saving 25% of our income. if we stopped paying bills and buying any food then maybe....

Hmmm. If I could "sofa surf" for 2 years, that'd save me £13200 without even having to give up my nice car (£250 a month all in), my hair and nail appts (£45 a month) and my nights out (£50 a month). But as I can't live rent-and-bill-free, I should instead give up my "fripperies" and take 38 years to save 13k for a deposit towards a 1 bed flat (yup, 1 bed flats 125-130k here). Dream on luvvie. I'd rather enjoy my life and rent forever.

YANBU. I do think people expect more from a basic standard of living these days. In the past no one had computers, mobile phones and cafe culture hadn't arrived. I work with students and I am amazed at what the new 'normal' is. But you wouldn't expect a student to go without a laptop and the university coffee shops are barely any cheaper than Starbucks. As others have said, many young people are in debt and have little chance to save up, so probably think there's no point trying.

It wasn't a "criticism of people's choices", it was a sweeping generalisation based on a group of people you work and extrapolated to "all young people". You then told us how clever your son is for saving all that money and then slipped in that he's been able to save because of you subbing him!

this mumsnetting is strangely addictive despite the fact i seem to be no.1 enemy.
Frogspoon, i think your figures in some way support what i have been saying, 23.5K saved over 2 years, (apart from crazy london and south east prices), would go a long way towards a deposit in some places. And in earlier posts, i did say that as well as saving, people do have to have a life and some fun. Its all about moderation, and what is important. To me, a good haircut is important, but lots of the other things would not be.

I think 2 years is not long to save up for though - 5 is more realistic. I couldn't afford a house til I was 33 and I think that's reasonable really - nothing wrong with renting.

That's the ones you work with. Elsewhere there will be young people saving for house deposits.

.and i wish i hadnt mentioned sofasurfing son, as detracted from OP, cant even remember why i did!!

Extrapolating your colleagues' behaviour to make judgements on every other person in their 20s is pointless.

Personally I don't know anyone who visits a salon on a regular basis, or who takes two holidays a year. My friends are all in the same position as me - largely skint and/or saving for deposits. So from this I can assume that my generation is sensible with money.

Do you see how generalising works?

loftladder, you have neglected 2 main things:

1. Most people do not earn £13.25K (half of 23.5K) net. And those that do certainly wouldn't have that amount of money leftover to spend on luxuries after essentials (food, rent, bills)

1. One third of the UK population live in London and the South-East, where prices are ridiculously high.

YABVU and extremely blinkered (not to mention smug).

How do people with children 'sofa surf' while they save for a house?

We have just bought a house. We saved for 8 years to do so- we had 1 holiday in all that time (1 holiday abroad, none in uk)
Don't buy clothing unless absolutely necessary, even then ebay/charity shops wherever possible. Never, ever bought a takeaway coffee! Make my own lunches for work, never ever been to a beauticians , have a haircut once every 6 months (and for quite a few years, it was the 'mumsnet' haircut i.e. done by myself for me) DH has never been to a barbers as an adult- I've always cut his hair (and DD's and DS's).

We earn above average salaries too.

You have no idea how people have to manage, to scrimp and save. Most people don't get to live rent-free, and rents are extortionate in most places safe enough to raise children. Many, many people get no help from families etc. Childcare alone was costing us £1600 a month.

We're not all like that thanks. We have no real luxuries, no nights out. Dp and my 'luxuries' are £18 between us on very basic phone contracts, ?£40 on climbing between us at most and £50 on my health care. Apart from a £100 between us every few months for a meal out with friends.

I hate being told that we could afford to save if we cut luxuries. What sodding luxuries?! We rent a room in somebodies house in the south east. We make everything from scratch foodwise. He relies on buses to make what should be a fifteen minute journey by car to work and uni and it takes an hour. I get a haircut every two years. Have one item of make up. We can't even afford to visit our family 120 miles away and no way can we even begin to afford the wedding we want.

It is not as simple as 'cut the luxuries'. YABVU.