Where were you financially at 18?

[Cherrychops100]

What did your life look life financially and generally at 18?

That’s when you finish school right? Maybe 1000 maximum quid in savings? From my part time job and $$ gifts from grandparents, saved birthday money etc.

I had been at work for just over a year. Still lived at home sharing a bedroom with my three sisters. I did pay mum a small amount for my keep but really only slept at home and did my washing there. I bought my own food and prepared my own meals.The rest of the time I was at work or with boy friend at his parents .I didn't want to be at home. I didn't dislike my parents and siblings but I wanted out. I already knew boy friend would be DH.

My spare money went on driving lessons and my first little car. BF bought a little two bed place and we spent some of our time there decorating and sorting the garden. We furnished it with second hand stuff from his family and work friends.

We married before I turned 19. We paid for most of it to make sure we got the wedding we wanted. Wedding presents kitted us out with household stuff. No expensive gifts or a honeymoon.

We lived there for three years had some nice holidays and lots of going out with other young couples. We still didn't spend much on new stuff and really there wasn't much to buy in the 70s. Having things on credit was still looked down on by our parents and I think some of that rubbed off. DH bought a decent Hi-Fi system but that was the only unnecessary buy.

We saved and bought a bigger house when I was 21.

Sigh, another thread where the OP posts and then fucks off.

Anyone would think it was a data gathering exercise...

Living at home with my parents both of whom had retired the previous year which meant I was entitled to a full grant at uni ( I think maybe it was a couple of grand a year? It was the last years of the old grants system). Worked about 20 hours a week in a supermarket while studying. Ran my own car and had a couple of grand saved in my savings account. Went to Ibiza with my girlfriends and drank myself into oblivion most wednesdays (student night!) Fridays and Saturdays. Didn’t have to pay my parents digs. Parents bought me any “large” purchases and provided food etc. I was living the life of Reilly and had no idea how good I had it!

Late August birthday, left home for uni à few weeks later. Qualified for student grant (no fees) and received some continuing child maintenance from my dad. Student halls cost £52 per week and I had £7 a day budgeted for everything else - food, heating, launderette, travel, textbooks, cider... Lived like a pauper but was absolutely determined not to get into a lot of debt - some of my friends still have loans outstanding decades later.

I got a job at the end of the year to see me over the summer holidays and had already moved into a house share.

Waiting to start university, living at home with parents. I worked 40 hours a week in a supermarket and took home about £1000 a month, and ended up with about £4000 saved to start university with. I did a degree with placements so it helped that I had a cushion and didn't have to get a regular job throughout uni.

It was the 90s so I was not firmly ensconced in the bank of mum and dad, like kids are now. It was easier in some ways because we got grants to go to uni. But we were all grafters because no one ever handed us anything. I had a gap year, paid for entirely from shit jobs. It was a good time.

Was at uni. Parents paying for accommodation. I had a job in a supermarket for spends. I was pretty good with money.

More disposable income than I've had since! Lived at home for free, took a year out to save money for uni got a job as mat leave cover for a PA (£29K a year in 2002!) and worked a couple of shifts a week in the evenings at a bar. No grants back then so that money helped massively once I was at uni. I did have a nice holiday with home friends before I went though, it wasn't all scrimping and saving.

Living at home. Worked in a bar. Flat out drinking & taking drugs. Got my shit togather moved to Australia at 22 with boyfriend, came home 4 years later with alot of savings, opened a successful business, got a mortage, married and now have 2 dds. 18 was the carefree fun years!

I lived at home and had been working for just over a year. I had a full driving licence and would drive my employers land rover around. I worked with horses and also had my own. I was usually broke but I was happy. Horses were my life, nothing else was important!

Living at my mums , paying £40 a week rent. Working full time had about £2000 savings (not intentionally) still did whatever i wanted .. drinking , meals etc. Wasnt driving at the time so only used buses.

I was working full time and living in a rented flat (£30 a week rent, £7 a week on electric as I had storage heaters!), running a car and seemed to have more spare cash than I do today, despite being at the pub most nights!

Lived with my parents, decided in 6th form University wasn't for me. Got off my butt and got a job at a University instead part-time at first but eventually went full time on what I thought was a whopping £10k a year. Still there 19 years later but on quite a bit more than 10k thankfully.

Working an office job for a year before going to medical school. Saved £1000 from the job - quite a tidy sum in 1974!
Went off to uni on a full grant (not loan - you didn’t repay it in those days). Bought a car with that £1000 in my 3rd year, while living in a slum tenement with no bathroom, on £1 a week rent! Happy times.

I'd been living in a bedsit for just over a year. Worked a full time office job and 2 pub jobs, started as a glass collector and washer, waitressing etc.

Moved a couple of hundred miles away from 'home', parents didn't notice, in the days before mobile phones, they had no idea where I was. About 3 years later DSis and I met up. She too had been moved out of our parents home into a shared house, aged 17.

Our parents weren't in it for the long haul, it turned out!

Waiting to start uni, so living with my parents, working part time at an optician and withdrawing £10 a week spending money from my Halifax bank account. Didn't get my current account until I started uni.
I was actually quite sensible with money until I turned 20 and discovered drinking and gigs (late developer).

Sorry, should have said. Financially I had enough every week to keep myself and have great weekends. Went to lots of gigs, sofa surfed some great holidays and generally had a whale of a time.

Took a few years before I chose to grow up a bit!

It was 1980 and I was heading off to uni. I had no money apart from my student
loan. Those were blissfully wonderful days with little to worry about apart from having enough money for a few ciders of an evening. I met DH at uni and we were happily broke together. Now we are financially secure but we still reminisce about those carefree skint days!

At university - no grant. Mum and dad paid accommodation and I got a living allowance too topped up by grandparents. I was the youngest and my dB had left home/uni so they didn't have to support him - thank god for 3 year school year gap.

That said, I had part time jobs from the age of 14, paid for all of my driving lessons, clothes etc from sixth form onwards. Moved back after uni for 9 months but worked/paid rent etc.

I just realised I said I had a student loan but 1980 was the heady days of the student grant which you didn't need to pay back!

Such a long time ago - 1971. Lived in a crappy rented flat with my intended. We had an amazing time, despite not having a pot to piss in. It was everything being 18 should be.

Finished school, started working as a barmaid. Worked long hours, drank too much, saved up and then at 19 went travelling before going to uni. Think I came back from travelling with about £120 to my name, having had the time of my life

At age 18 I had already been working for 3 years and had been married for 1 year DH were not too badly off but like young people today had to pay rent whilst saving up for a deposit on our first home - took us 6 years of going without but we did it

Part of the year I was at 6th form college, had part time job 4 hours on a Saturday . In my first full time job after leaving college I earned £2,800 PA (early 80s), still living with my parents where I paid a lot more rent to my parents than we asked from DS.