Where were/are you financially at 28?

[SunshineOverStress]

So I’m 28, still live at home, have no savings but I do own a nice car which is worth around 14k.

I want to save up for a deposit but living in Greater London it seems an impossible task to be able to buy a place by myself!

I’ve been on a lot of nice holidays, went travelling for 4 months last year, and waste a lot of money on going out drinking and eating! I always end up choosing to spend money on travel rather than for my future and want to at least try to find a balance!

Has anyone got any tips or suggestions? Preferably without the suggesting of selling my car as it brings me joy everyday! Am I failing at being an adult by having never have moved out at my age? 🙈

To make you feel better OP:

• I moved 300 miles from home for uni at 19
• I had to move back with parents through illness at 26
• I am still here at 32 with no chance of purchasing a house in the near future and a low income due to my condition.

Life is what you make of it and there's no point comparing yourself to other people. It's fine to set goals but who cares if someone else bought a house at 21 and had five kids by 30. Your life is your life.

At 28 I was financially ruined and moving back into my parents house with 4 yo dd after a catastrophically abusive toxic mess of a relationship that destroyed every facet of my life, including my finances. Within 10 years I had started a business and bought my own house. Not long after I met a good man and now have 2 more kids. You have so much time. X

Oh no sorry, I was pregnant/just had DS2 and FIL died, so a lot of the money was income replacement for DH taking longer off work, emergency travel costs and funeral costs.

I think pp are right, sacrifices have to be made. Don't feel bad about living at home at 28 though ime it's far from rare.

Life is what you make of it and there's no point comparing yourself to other people. It's fine to set goals but who cares if someone else bought a house at 21 and had five kids by 30. Your life is your life.

I second this.

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I had a house with a small mortgage and a holiday home , 3 children and a husband x we save 30% of our income into 6 different saving accounts one is a main saving account that we don't touch that takes 10% and there's others for school uniforms birthdays holidays emergency ext ext ... we pretend that money doesnt exsist especially the main savings and only use them for what there for, also we have a food budget , bills (we count music lessons kids clubs and subscriptions and petrol ext as bills) and "other " we track all spending on a spread sheet and keep receipts and we always have fun money in the budget in other , we take picnic s instead of buyi mg lunch unless the trip includes going for lunch we have really nice water bottles and a lovely flask so we take coffee with us when we go out , and I make ace picnics so it's not a chore , we are national trust members so we use that a lot instead of paying entry to places and we factor this into out UK holidays so we can have free days out , we never but anything online unless we've looked for a coupon or free delivery code for big purchases we ring up company's and ask for a discount it's about being careful with your money track all your spending , I have beauty and hairdresser appointments that cost a lot but I do facials at home as a compromise , we never get into debt and won't spend what we can't afford , we have 2 credit cards and they are both fully paid off right now , my one vice is Amazon though, we are prime members and I spend way over my Amazon budget every month 🙈 x

Also it's about having an end goal and a reason why your careful , we are having a new kitchen and extension (supposed to be this year now next 😢)we are dipping into the big bad savings for that (that's what we call it it's even on the online banking😂😂) we will be doing this debt and loan free so we won't have to worry we don't have to skrimp when doing it , we've done this with all the renovations on our house, we could have done it in one big go but we are gradually doing it that way we are debt free and financially secure x also everyone should try to have 3 months basic income saved in case they get made redundant have a sudden illness etc for financial security we now have 6 months in a high rate savings account x

At 28 I bought my first flat in outer London (shared ownership), had my first child, employed FT in a decent job . Drove an old banger, had no debt except for the mortgage.

At 28 I was married and owned our own large family home both in good full time jobs.

We don't live in London though.

After uni year working abroad, then home, then after couple of temp jobs got my first permanent one, saved tonnes, overtime saved, bought first flat for 44500 within walking distance of job. Are baked beans, budgeted loads, all second hand furniture, spent £20/wk on food for myself and bf, saved up, then bought detached a year later (sold flat). Basically no spending, apart from essentials, but granted houses were cheaper.

At 28 I was single and living in a shared house in south west london. My salary was low and my rent was high. I was skint. My diet consisted of wine and pitta bread because my landlord wouldn't fix our oven so only had a toaster. Somehow though, I managed a few nice holidays a year like yourself. 2yrs later I met my now husband. He already owned a property in London and earned a decent wage. So the moral of the story is.... meet a rich man!

I'm kidding! Make the most of living with your parents and save, save, save. I would have done that had mine lived near London. Try and save a % of your salary each month and have a look through bank statements to see where your money is going - daily coffees for example can really add up over a month.

Just realised your post also asked for suggestions as well as experience...

My suggestion... There is a book called " How I lived for a year on a pound a day " by Kath Kelly. It is a very accessible, not too preachy, diary style book of a woman's experience doing just that.

Lots of good money saving tips in there as well as some food for thought. I read this around the time I was 28 and then did the £1-a-day thing for a month. It really helps to focus your mind, you'll be inspired by how much you can save in a short period of time and it encourages you to find new ways to entertain yourself (although as everything is shut atm I guess that side might have to wait!)

Nonetheless, it is a good book and a good way to kickstart your plans for saving money (& as it is so extreme, it gets you thinking about money in a different way and you are more likely to see what changes you can (or can't) live with at the end of the month.

The same woman has a couple of books for meal planning on very tight budgets too.

28 right now. Bought a 2 bed terraced house needed gutting at 21, hammered the mortgage and upgraded to a 2 bed semi bungalow with garden etc at 27. Hammering that mortgage and in 5 years it'll be paid off, I'll either upgrade or stay put haven't decided yet. Car bought as a 1 year old owned outright. No debts.

Not in a great place. Renting a one bed flat. Was at uni until I was 23 as I did a masters (self funded) spend a few years on crappy money and then just go to a semi decent salary when the financial crisis/recession happened all the work dried up x