A couple have joined the property ladder at the age of 19 after switching expensive dates for walking around the park.
Olivia Gill and Jack Eacott bought their first house two-bedroom house together after they realised during lockdown that they were saving lots of money by being unable to go on normal dates.
When the world reopened, the pair decided to stick to their free walks around the park - and ditch pricey nights out in bars.
Whilst their peers splurge student loans on nights out and chill in university digs, this couple have gone against the norm and saved to take a big leap into their future.
After moving into the house in July, the couple had a big furnishing job on their hands which was funded through their brilliant saving strategy.
Olivia, 20, a commercial officer and Jack , 22 a Carpenter from Chippenham, Wiltshire reckon the sacrifices have been worth it.
She said: "Having our own house has taken some getting used too, but it's such a positive feeling to see how all the sacrifice was worth it.
"We opened a joint bank account which was a big motivator to help save as we were able to see the savings increase at a much quicker rate.
"We had to make some sacrifices along the way, lockdown helped us to continue to save through walks and not having the option to go out was really good for our saving strategy.
"We got the deposit through the governments help to buy 5% scheme, which helped us to secure the house which costs 232K. Through saving in our joint account we were able to secure the £12,000 deposit."
Being such young homeowners, they found themselves in quite a unique position for their age group which could prove difficult at times, staying at home with their parents a few nights out missed but all for their end goal.
She said: "None of our friends have their own home, a lot of my friends are at university so I found it quite hard to relate to them and now I have my own home and my friends are nowhere near a position like this.
"Our friends and family have all been so supportive of us throughout the saving journey and now are just so happy that we have got what we have been working for.
"To anyone with a similar goal to us, I would always say to be realistic with what you can save, it doesn't matter how long it takes you will reach your goal!
"Looking into the future is such a good motivator, maybe I can't get what I want right now but I will have it in the future.
"We had to sacrifice a few nights out but we still enjoyed our time, cheaper restaurants and plenty of walks which started in lockdown.
"Planning out your finances is such an important part of saving, now that we have moved into the house we use the joint account to focus on money for the bills and we have opened a new account which we solely use for food.
"We give ourselves £50 a week for food shopping, which allows to see what excess we have for enjoying ourselves during the month.
"Staying on top of our finances has helped reach the first big stepping stone on the property ladder!
"Hopefully us documenting our journey on our @jacknlivv Instagram page can help motivate others in their goals to make their house a home on a budget.
"The cost of living crisis has hit the UK hard but I'm hoping our budget home decor can help inspire people to continue to create their dream home in an affordable way!"
