Yahoo Finance Gen-Z homeowner sides with Boomers over controversial advice: 'Get priorities right'
Zali had a pointed message for people complaining they have no money but go out and spend hundreds on unnecessary things.
A young Australian has urged wannabe homeowners to "get their priorities right" if they are serious about getting on the property ladder. Some have given up the dream of buying as property prices soared to new heights across Australia.
But Zali Gillings told Yahoo Finance she was proof that cutting out "ridiculous" spending on luxuries could be the answer. She and her fiancé bought a three-bedroom home in Adelaide two years ago after a financial "wake-up call", but not without significant sacrifice.
"We honestly lived just off the absolute bare minimum for a good year and that's what really topped up our savings," the now-25-year-old said.
Baby Boomers are often criticised for dishing out advice to cut back on spending on avocado on toast or coffee, but that's exactly what Gillings said people need to do.
"Say you have five streaming subscriptions, they're $20 bucks a month," she said.
"Or if you buy a coffee every day, you're like, 'It's only $5', but add coffee every day for a year, as well as the subscriptions, and then getting your nails for $60 bucks.
"I don't think people realise how much they're actually spending."
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The couple had been saving for years, but only after speaking to a mortgage broker did they really confront their monthly spending.
Over the next year, they really cracked down and cut out anything that wasn't absolutely necessary.
Going out for dinner? That was gone. A bit of self-care at the salon? Out of the question. Some retail therapy? Not unless it was required for work.
Gillings and her fiancé even agreed not to give each other Christmas or birthday presents, and they informed their family not to expect anything from them either.
"We were like, 'We're just not participating in gifts this year and we don't expect any gifts'," she said.
"And some people would just say that's insane, but we didn't need it.
'Stop complaining about the cost of living'
The young worker pointed out that there were people caught in the tide of the rising cost of living who were unable to get by without the little luxuries.
But this isn't who her message is for. It's the people who spend frivolously yet still complain they "never have any money".
"[Yet] they'll still go and get their nails done every week, get their hair done, lashes, these types of things," she said.
"Go out for dinner, vaping, smoking...they want to complain about the cost of living, babe I really don't think you understand how much money you could be saving here."
How did she manage to kick her spending habit? She had a test she'd have to pass for each purchase.
"For instance, if I wanted my lashes done, I would think 'Would I rather someone give me a lash set, or would I rather someone gift me $120' and I would always choose the money," she said.
"Which tells me...you don't need those lashes. That's more money towards the house."
But are those small luxuries enough to get a home?
Some have argued that scrapping the daily caffeine boost or monthly haircut isn't enough to buy a home.
Others point out that not making those purchases would erode the shred of joy they have left in a sometimes bleak world.
But it can be surprising how much small transactions add up.
If you bought a $6 cup of coffee (which is on the pricey side) and had a $17 avocado-on-toast meal from a cafe every single day, it would work out to be nearly $8,400 for the year.
If you paid $18.99 a month for Netflix, $22 for Binge and $16 for Stan, that's almost $700 a year.
These amounts individually aren't going to get you a home but Gillings said starting to think about these small transactions over the long term, and how you could make them work for you, could help.
"The majority of people who are saying they can't save money, they could if they just got their priorities right," she said.
Finder research revealed 74 per cent of Aussies have held onto certain comforts despite the cost of living crisis. Whether it's entertainment (20 per cent), dining out (18 per cent), and takeaway coffees (18 per cent), there were plenty of small things that people simply couldn't live without.
"On one hand, a quarter of people are forgoing non-essentials just to make ends meet. On the other, many aren't ready to let go of certain things that provide them joy," Chris Jager, shopping expert at Finder, said.
"The data points to a widening gap in Australia between the haves and the have-nots – some are being forced to take drastic action while others are unaffected."
How long does it take to save up a deposit for a home?
Exactly how long people working in popular Aussie jobs would need to save for a house deposit was exposed in confronting new research this week.
Parliamentary library analysis released by the Greens based on Australian Taxation Office wage, Reserve Bank lending and CoreLogic house price data found a nurse on $112,900 a year wouldn't have enough money until 2035 to get a home loan at today's rates.
Even accountants, the highest-paid of the top jobs at $144,800, would need until 2031 to save up a deposit or pay 39 per cent of their income on a mortgage.
A childcare worker would need until 2055 - a staggering 31 years - to save up a deposit.
"For far too many the Australian dream of owning a home is dead,” Greens’ housing spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather said.
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