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Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To not know whether to admire Darren and Shanine or not

68 replies

CathyMedici · 08/10/2017 20:45

He's 24 going on 68 and she's 22. They've just bought their first home with a 20 year mortgage which they might pay off in 13 if they stick to their life plan of having no fun at all.

Darren says 'I've always been a saver. I hate spending money. The problem with most people is they don't understand the value of money"

They don't do foreign holidays but enjoy letting their hair down in Dawlish. No flash cars or kebabs.

Daily Mail link

OP posts:

frieda909 · 08/10/2017 21:52

From the article:

*3. Live at home

Darren says: 'Some people will rent and live with each other for a year to see how they get on but you could be paying out £700 a month in rent and you could be putting that into your own mortgage rather than someone else's.'*

I hear this all the fucking time and it pisses me off SO much. People reminding me that I'm 'paying someone else's mortgage' by renting. Sorry, but where the fuck else do you suggest I live? Not everyone has a room ready and waiting for them at their parents' house. Yet those people will NEVER acknowledge what a huge help that rent-free living was, and will still pat themselves on the back about doing it 'without any help'

And yes I know they're protesting that they paid bills and food at home but guess what... most of us have to pay those too ON TOP OF the rent that goes towards 'someone else's mortgage'

FlowerPotMum · 08/10/2017 21:57

What a pair of ( boring) twats. I'm so glad they resisted the temptations of renting, really pleased to see the vile house they've bought and nope, Shazza will never find Dazza shagging Derek from number 25 while wearing a gimp suit, coz no-one is that predictable!
Crack on.

Papafran · 08/10/2017 21:59

Without Dazza she wouldn't have a hope in hell of owning that or any other house

Yup. My guess is he has now worked his way up and earns a pretty decent whack and she has been able to save nearly all of her salary due to having no expenses. But yeah, without a partner who earns probably 3 times what she does, any bank would have laughed in her face had she asked them about a mortgage. But it's nice that she tells herself that it's possible for anyone to do the same.

YokoReturns love that list! So so true. They really are the wet dream of Middle England. They also dress like they are about 45- no trendy clothes or haircuts (which obviously cost loads of money). I guess the one sticking point is that they are not married, but we can't be too picky.

LaughingElliot · 08/10/2017 22:00

I knew a couple a bit like them 20yrs ago. They bought an apartment in London for £50k, paid it off in 5yrs, sold it for £75k and moved to Australia under a welcome scheme which helped them into work and provided 6 weeks free accommodation. They also took the £25 they’d accumulated in ISAs etc and were able to buy a 5-bedroom home in the Barossa Valley cash up front. At the time, the exchange rate was very much in their favour.

The reason I know all this is bc they talked about money incessantly. But they did get out to restaurants and parts of Europe so they did factor in fun. But super frugal daily living which was tedious to hear about.

They didn’t want kids.

YouCantArgueWithStupid · 08/10/2017 22:06

Pre DC if our parents had space we could’ve saved about 2k a month between us. Houses in our area are around £400k. That’s a loooooooong time living with DPs and ILs

If I’d had to of lived with DM or MIL for that long I would’ve been housed for free in prison

Original poster

CathyMedici · 08/10/2017 22:13

I know Darren has a skilled job but you can do any job and get a mortgage

Erm, Shanine love, you might find mortgage lenders disagree with you there ...

OP posts:

LaurieMarlow · 08/10/2017 22:14

There's no need at all for the nastiness on this thread.

While I don't agree with the couple that their path was open to anyone, calling them 'boring twats' or bitching about their 'vile' house is totally uncalled for. They focused on something that was important to them and achieved that.

Others may have made different choices in similar circumstances. That doesn't make your choices wrong or give you carte blanche to be a dick to them.

Others don't have the options this couple did. That's not Darren and Shanene's fault.

ShirleyPhallus · 08/10/2017 22:23

bitching about their 'vile' house is totally uncalled for. They focused on something that was important to them and achieved that.

They CHOSE to run to the press and make this a publically available story. I'd say that as they've chosen to put themselves in the public eye then inviting comment and debate about it is fair game.

FlowerPotMum · 08/10/2017 22:25

They are boring ( imo) the house is vile ( again imo).
It's not their fault they have options others don't. It is their fault to be so bloody smug about it.
Putting themselves in the fail gives the world an option.

FlowerPotMum · 08/10/2017 22:27

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

frieda909 · 08/10/2017 22:32

Others don't have the options this couple did. That's not Darren and Shanene's fault.

No, but they did choose to go to the press to congratulate themselves, claim that 'anyone' else could do the same and publish an infuriating list of 'tips' to do what they did, amongst which is 'live at home' to save £700 a month. That's arrogant, ignorant and really quite offensive.

That said, I do agree with you that personal attacks on them and the way they look are uncalled for, as are the nasty comments about their house.

Papafran · 08/10/2017 22:34

Others don't have the options this couple did. That's not Darren and Shanene's fault

What people are criticising is the fact that they do not seem to realise that others don't have these options. Instead they openly say that anyone could do it and that the reason other people haven't is because they don't save hard enough and choose to pay rent. They also insinuate that their peers waste their money on pointless things (even though they both admit they have phones and gym memberships and a car). The difference between them and many of their peers is that they could take full advantage of living rent free and one of them earns a good salary, enabling them to get a large mortgage.

NoCryLilSoftSoft · 08/10/2017 23:17

Ok so they say themselves they lived at home to save £700 per month on rent. Let's say they did that since shanine was 18 so 4 years. That's over £33k so there is their deposit for their house. Their parents gave them their deposit for their house and the rest is a loan from the bank. I'm struggling to be impressed.

pattybianca · 08/10/2017 23:22

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

bridgetreilly · 08/10/2017 23:56

Personally, I think 40s and 50s are a MUCH better time to go off and have adventures and do fun things than your 20s. Especially if you've got yourselves into a financial position where you can actually afford to do the things you really want. I think a lot of younger people are throwing money around for things that aren't really that great (huge weddings/stag parties/drinking binges etc) partly because they feel like they'll never be able to afford a mortgage anyway.

Opheliasgoldenwine · 08/10/2017 23:59

Is no-one else going to comment on bianca’s comment

NoCryLilSoftSoft · 08/10/2017 23:59

No, just report it. It's spam.

DeleteOrDecay · 09/10/2017 00:30

Congratulations to them and everything but it’s nothing new is it? People buy houses every day.

I love how they think people rent through choice. Oh how the other half live...

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