adults living with their parents (the cost of shagging crisis)
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Mike Tirico here with some of the 2024 Team USA athletes. What's your message for the team of tomorrow? To young athletes, never forget why you started doing it in the first place. You have to pursue something that you're passionate about. Win, lose, or draw, I'm always going to be the one having a smile on my face. Finding joy in why you do it keeps you doing it. Be authentic, be you, and have fun. Joy is powering Team USA during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Comcast is

Proud to be bringing that inspiration home for the team of tomorrow.

Now, this is going to be a good episode. I'm excited for this one. Around 68% of 25 to 29 year olds still live at home with their parents compared to the EU average, which is 42%, and compared to Denmark, which is only 4%. So I would like to reiterate that it's probably not your fault that you're still living with your parents because I think a lot of us are forced to feel ashamed of ourselves or that we don't work hard enough or that we're lazy or that we're bumming off our parents. We're

When this is just not the case. There's not enough affordable housing to house us all. So I wanted to talk about how it's affecting us psychologically, but also in terms of our friendships and our relationships, because it definitely is going to have an impact on that. And apparently people are having kids way later. Fair play to you. Yous all know how to do the pullout. Not me though, obviously. I'm going to read out first now the strange places that people have been having sex because they didn't want to bring someone home. It's probably affecting the trajectory of people's relationships as well, given that they can't like...

you know, chill in each other's houses. Because I would argue whenever I've had my own space to live in, it definitely does help you get to know someone a bit more personally and on a more intimate level because you're relaxed. You know, if you're not in a third space or going out to a pub or sitting across from each other at a table, you definitely can be more open and comfortable. Like, I mean, sitting down on a couch with your shoes off and playing cards is definitely a lot more intimate than sitting in a bar and getting drunk across from each other. It just is a bit more uncomfortable. And then obviously,

you'd probably be having sex sooner if you're living independently. And then you'd know if you were, you know, intimately compatible. And then people don't want to bring their, who they're seeing home because it's a bit soon. You can't keep things casual either because you're not going to introduce someone that you've been on two dates with to your parents. You know, it's a bit awkward. Okay, these are hilarious. Someone said, in the button factory bathroom during a BIM gig. Now that's iconic. The background hum of up-and-coming artists playing in the background. That's romantic. You're all...

Slags. I'm a virgin, so don't be looking at me for any inspiration. The woods. Got a UTI. Ouch. A shed in the back of my garden where my dad keeps all the compost. The smell. The hum. It's definitely affecting my partner and I's sexual relationship. We haven't had sex since January because we're either at my parents or in his parents. Oh no! Does he not sleep over? Are you allowed to sleep over? Someone said under a bridge in the middle of a city. Oh good God. Outside the house by the front door.

Now these are all probably weather dependent but I feel like Irish people are kind of immune to the colds because we all remember being a teenager especially specifically on Paddy's Day I always remember wearing like booty shorts and a crop top on Paddy's Day and every March when Paddy's Day comes around I'm freezing and I'm always thinking to myself how did I do that as a teenager because probably number one we're always locked or fucking septic

Number two, we're just kind of immune to the cold. We're just like, we just have to get on with it. So let's keep going. Built a log cabin for some privacy. Probably a bit extreme, but needed. No, need. I did look into that for this back garden, but that's not something they would be happy with, as in like my parents and my step-mom. I do remember though once, now this is before lockdown, so years ago, I was having sex with my boyfriend at the time. I'm not a hoochie mama. With my boyfriend at the time, up in the attic here. And my parents, well, my parents, my dad and step-mom's room is directly underneath this.

and I got a text from my dad saying, please stop moving furniture around or whatever you're doing up there, dot, dot, dot. It is an added layer of mortification and humiliation, the fact that it's my step-mom and not my actual mom. I don't know why. After a night out, booked a random hotel. Unbeknownst to us, it was shared rooms. When I was living at home, I made sure to only date men who lived away from home. I'd say that's getting more and more difficult nowadays, to be honest. Living at home with family, boyf and new baby is so tough. Feel like you have to keep on top of everything, like washing a concentra,

can't leave stuff lying around or take a break for a day hard going that's very true I do find that myself you can't like if I was living at home especially when you have a baby I would like make dinner and then

clean up after she's asleep you know because she gets cranky at that hour it's kind of after dinner before bath time space where she's a bit cranky and she only wants mammy so usually now if I was living independently I would just and if you have a partner as well you could start the night time routine while your partner cleans up whereas I'm obviously on my own so I would have to clean up and kind of

entertainer. Now it's not actually that difficult but it is a bit like I feel bad for her in a certain way. Moved out. I can never have anyone over. My friends aren't allowed let alone a partner. That's horrible. An alley between the pub and the Chinese and super value car park not in a car. Some sort of storage shed at the back of my old school. Now I have had sex at

as a teenager in my vice-principal's classroom. As a teen we would sneak into Fitzgerald's Park at night and go in the treehouse thing. The top of Bray Head. Now that's romantic. Would it not be really windy though? Isn't it always really windy up there? Front seat of a car in a church car park. Jesus. Blasphemy. College toilet. We broke a toilet seat.

No one fixed it for months. Oh my God. We had to get ice cream and spoons and sit in his car in Phoenix Park. Think the thing that bothers me most is that despite the fact my boyfriend and I have been together a year and a half, they'll never let us sleep in the same bed because it's under their roof. Scared my boyfriend will take offense to it or take it personally because even though they love him, they'll not allow it. I think I'm too shy or embarrass myself to bring up too. And maybe that's why it'll always be like that. Oh,

Someone's at a graveyard. I do know someone who had sex in a graveyard as well. Living room floor of one night stand house. When I lived at home, it was usually somewhere outdoors. Never again. I've done it in the Phoenix Park after nights out. Actually quite romantic. Just a bit muddy. Kiss, kiss. Ha ha ha.

My boyfriend gets annoyed because he has his own flat and I'm with the rents so we always have to go to his. Jeez, will you not just fucking suck it up? I'm engaged and living away from my fiance because we just can't afford it. It's such a struggle. That's really hard. It's horrible when you can't be together. A rugby field. Had sex in a two-seater van at the runway park-up place. An overnight bus. Please, I'm ashamed. Someone did say the back of a taxi and I do think that's disturbing. That poor taxi driver. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

But desperate times. On top of Deer Park Mountain and how it's scenic views, that's what makes you feel kind of like a teenager again. I mean, I'm not in the position now to give my own experience. Something about it feels like a little bit more exciting because you're not allowed. It's like the same when you're a teenager and you're like sneaking drink and having sex, but you're not, you know, an adult yet. So it feels that little bit extra exciting. But I'd say that actually dies down after a while and it just becomes...

And I'm more of a, I don't really like the excitement of like getting, you know, the dating. I want to get to the part where we're chilling out and cuddling in bed.

And it's hard. You can't get to that phase if you're both living with your parents. And, you know, making breakfast together with music playing. I like all that shit when it comes to relationships. So I presume it's pretty difficult to emulate that sort of situation if you're not living independently. A lot of car sex, obviously. Grafton Street McDonald's toilet. A lot of people looking for inspiration. In the boot of my car up the mountain. Now, I love that.

I like car sex, so I wouldn't be opposed to it. But, you know, after a while, I'd say your back gets sore. Me and my partner had sex in a cardboard box storage room at his dad's business workshop. I am reluctant to date because of this. Looking to spend any time alone costs money. I don't have free reign to have whoever over. One of my friends did it in a field and woke up with dog shit all over her legs. Oh my fuck.

Fucking God. Phoenix, loads of people saying the Phoenix Park as well. It's going to be stunning. I'd say this summer, Phoenix Park is going to be littered with people riding each other all over the place. My friend had sex in your man's car outside the parents' house at 2am. Then the parents woke up and both of them opened opposite car doors and yelled at them while he was inside her. Your man didn't go soft and wanted to continue after the parents left. Oh!

That is fucked up. No, something wrong with like, as in with the parents doing that. Viewpoint in Tallinn. The guards shine their headlights at us. Haven't got the ride in almost two years because I live at home. My condolences. Wicklow Mountains in my car in the snow. It will definitely be a lot easier, I think, in the summer for people to date without having to spend money. Bathroom in the UCD science building. Classroom too. In a forest, in a library bathroom. Oh,

Oh my God. National Aquatic Center. That has to be my favorite one. Grounds of a secondary school at a St. Mary's statue. Youse all need Jesus. I've had sex in the long grass of the fields behind my parents' house. Could you not get bitten by a tick? What's those things that bite you, a tick?

And you can get Lyme disease. Living at home also makes me feel inadequate, embarrassed and like no one would take me seriously even though it's so normal to live at home in your late 20s nowadays. It can make me feel quite isolated and dependent especially because I don't drive and live in a quite rural area of Cornwall in the UK. I love my family and I'm always grateful to have a place to live but it can generally make me feel quite stagnant and like I've not got any space to breathe. Be by myself and progress effectively. I'd say a lot of people...

resonate with that just because you probably go back into old habits of regressing and there is kind of a

between you and your parents because you're both adults and you both live separate lives and they have no control over you but they still feel like they have to protect you in a way especially if you're under their roof. They will feel some element of responsibility for you and it's going to be very dependent on the relationship you have with your parents as well. I mean how involved they are in your life and how close you are and how much they can afford to like

leave you alone, if that makes sense, and leave you up to your own devices. But a lot of times it's just difficult. It's fucking hard to do that, especially if you're having all your meals together, trying not to step on each other's toes in the kitchen. If one person is making a mess, you know how clean you like the house to be, who you want to have over. It's going to affect every aspect of your life. And it's really difficult. And it feels like you're on the right direction, but there's something holding you back.

And that would be not being able to have your own space as an adult. I mean, I have to share a bedroom with my toddler. I'm 26 and back living with my parents. I'm a caseworker for Turas Nua and it's a very well-paid job, but as it stands, I haven't any options for renting because it's half my monthly income. I'm saving, but would it be a very, very long time before I even got to the point of looking for a mortgage?

And regards to my relationship with my parents, it was much better when I lived out of home. Did a lot more things together and just all around better vibes. Definitely puts dating on hold, also because there is no hope in hell that I would ever bring a girl back when they're here. I simply don't even try. To explain that to anyone...

you are talking to, I think. It's such a cock block. It's honestly, it's a really bad cock block. Living with parents is very hit and miss. I work from home in a government role and for some reason parents think if you work from home you're not doing real work. They forget I'm 27 and don't need to be parented anymore. They probably had hoped I'd be married with kids and a house by now. Just not possible to move out as a single woman in this economy. Not possible and not safe. One of the things I'm really apprehensive about

and I know it's just something I'm going to have to suck up and grow I literally I know I need to grow up but I am terrified of moving out on my own because I will be just on my own as I'm a tiny woman with a toddler we don't stand a chance and another thing that's

running through my head all the time is if I had a stroke, a heart attack or fell down the stairs, would my toddler... I want her to be at the appropriate age to be able to call the emergency services if something happened. I want her to be able to know to call 999 if something was to happen to me. Otherwise, like, she would be...

They're scared. There would be no one there to check up on me. Also, if someone broke in, am I going to need to get a guard dog? It's just it is something that I'm very scared about, especially if I'm going into a more rural area. For some reason, that scares me. Whereas if I was in an apartment block, it wouldn't scare me as much. I feel like I would be expected that you'd have sort of a relationship with your with your neighbours.

wouldn't you? And if I lived in Dublin there'd be more people visiting me, all that sort of crack. I'm living abroad at the moment in Austria, working remotely for an Irish company and my massive double room is €500 all in. Gorgeous apartment, lovely area and city centre, huge double room with double sofa bed, Wi-Fi bills, etc. And Austria is known for being expensive but such a bargain compared to Dublin. I've been in London before this and it was €700

All in for a decent flat in Brixton. Way better than the equivalent in Dublin. The housing crisis honestly makes me so despondent and I fear the effect it will have for our generation. I.e. people leaving and never returning, losing the life we grew up with, loss of Irish culture, etc. My boyfriend is in Dublin and I'm due to head home in a few months and the thought of us both...

The thought of both of us living at home is just miserable. Like you said, I feel lucky to have a roof over my head and that roof is in Dublin where the jobs are because there's a lot of, like a lot of my friends aren't from Dublin and they, the only possibilities they have of working in the field that they want to is if they can get a remote position. A lot of the jobs are still centralised in Dublin but a lot of people who are, who don't have parents living in Dublin

can't live here because they can't afford it. Which is really unfortunate if people have gone to college to study specific things, get degrees, get even masters and there's still no, even though we're at full employment capacity, there's still no

chance that they could get accommodation in Dublin to be able to work there in the field that they are passionate in and want to work in and Dublin is like crying out for I mean there's a teacher crisis at the moment they're always looking for staff but they can't get any because teachers can't afford to live in Dublin and I know the housing crisis isn't exclusive to Dublin either it's all over the

the country but Dublin in particular is like insane insanely expensive as well as it's particularly bad in Galway and Cork I know as well a lot of students especially college towns a lot of students are choosing not to go to those colleges specifically because they would not be able to get accommodation and in Galway wasn't their students literally intense at the start of the year because they weren't able to get digs there were students in hostels and for some reason we're like oh yeah that's just the way it is

and we feel like we can't have a voice because it sounds as if we're given out or being ungrateful or bratty and entitled but everyone is entitled to a home and somewhere to live especially if you're just trying to get an education I think it's it's

utterly, it's horrific that people can't work where they want to work and that they can't get an education because there is no place to live. And that is all down to the government not putting specific legislation against property vulture funds and property developers, not providing enough affordable social housing, not subsidising construction. Aren't all the labourers emigrating as well? So it's a vicious cycle where people can't afford to live here and then we don't have staff to keep up with the amount of

houses that we need and then we're not going to have any skilled workers to work in the fields that we need. The renting situation is so bad right now. The place I'm living isn't registered and it's in such a bad state. Covered in moulds, leaks in the roof, no heating, etc. I earn a decent wage, 52k a year, but it seems like my options are so slim.

My mom and dad bought their house when my mom was 21 and my dad was 25. My mom didn't work and my dad was a private...

in the army on a low wage. Now at 24, me, and my boyfriend is 25, we will probably have to stay here for at least three more years to even dream of buying a house. We live in an average area in Dublin West and houses are going for 350 to 600,000. It's wild. My partner is a qualified electrician and works...

40 to 65 hours a week and I'm in my final year of my master's to become a teacher which is a nightmare in itself because they make you work for two years unpaid for placement and then two years paid but not being made permanent until your third year despite a shortage of teachers. My partner's sisters are 12 years older and bought their houses in the recession for 105 and 115,000.

But then older people tried to blame young people for going on holidays or having an iPhone. This I only ate beans and rice and painted my own walls argument is such bullshit. It does not address the actual issue that as...

that is our government fuck up and refusal to admit blame that there are not enough houses and not enough affordable houses because they are being bought by vulture funds. I'm living at home with my parents, my partner and our 11 month old baby. We were both just after turning 30 and it's so depressing knowing we are going to struggle greatly to move out.

And there's...

about 200 other people lining up for it. Anytime we talk about the situation we were in, we get so depressed. We were obviously lucky to have my parents to live with and are super grateful we get to save as much as we can being here, but living in one bedroom with a small baby is actual hell. We were considering moving abroad. 27 here, bought my house in June 23 with my partner and definitely would never have been able to

if we didn't live in a room together for two and a half years in my mum and dad's house. It was extremely tough but our only option. Even with us both having decent jobs, we couldn't buy in Dublin. I'm originally from Finglas and he's British. We bought in Meaths.

Well, I'm totally in love with the house. And that's interesting because the cheapest houses at the moment in Dublin aren't fingerless. We bought in Meath. While I'm totally in love with the house and area, it still hurts that I had to move away from my family that all live in Dublin. I know Meath isn't a million miles away, but going from a 15 minute drive to your elderly grandparents to an hour drive makes a big difference. Myself and my fiance both work and have great jobs.

I work part-time, he works full-time and we have two children. I choose to work part-time from home to avoid crash fees and because I also have a son with additional needs. We private rented for four years, then moved home to our parents because our rent money was dead money and we couldn't save on top of spending two and a half grand a month on rent for a tiny two bed. We are finding it so hard, but we really have no choice if we ever want to own a house because even renting is 2,900 in our area, at least 2,000.

for a three bed and of course we aren't entitled to any help. It's madness, I'm trying my best to be there for both of my kids but also give them a house. It's not physically possible to work full time, my son needs me as he has ASD and I'm the safe person in his life. It's so far from ideal but we actually just have no choice but to live here and save like hell and hope for the best. I'm a secondary school teacher and lived with my parents all through COVID in Dublin. After COVID I tried so hard to get my own place but literally couldn't find anything.

either too expensive, in the middle of nowhere, too far from where I was working or loads of families at the viewing so I knew I had no chance. So decided to make the move to Australia. I live in Perth now with my boyfriend and we rented a three bedroom house together all last year with a big garden right beside the beach for $500 a week, which is like 300 euro-ish.

The toss-up between paying all my money in rent compared to actually being comfortable in Australia is a no-brainer.

Yeah.

at the same time living in Dublin. I live in Carlow and even though this place is a shithole, the rent prices here have absolutely skyrocketed as well. Has me planning to move to Belfast instead. The rent is a quarter of the price of rent in Dublin. So much more events going on up there and at least I'll be in a city and only two hours from home. A lot of people have been saying this. I was looking at buying a house in Belfast before and you can get like a red brick three bed for 300 grand, which is...

Good, I think. Probably even less than that. So much cheaper. I'm a single dad who takes my little girl three days one week and for the next work full time and a job earning upwards of 50k and had to move home after a long term relationship broke down. I agree living with parents is lucky but it's also hell with a child. But that being said, especially when your parents have like finished having kids because

They didn't choose to have another baby. You know, they're over here and crying and whinging. And my baby is obviously wants to... She reaches for them and she wants comfort from them as well. And I suppose that can be a bit draining on their behalf because they didn't sign up...

to having another child, even though it's like, it is a bit on top of them. And kids do make a mess as well. There's little fingerprints everywhere. But that being said, I'm sharing a one bedroom with her, even with my salary, and I feel like it's an upwards battle. And even though I'm saving, it is a waste of time. Will I ever be able to buy? Even if you get 20 to 30,000 saved, will a bank even approve for a mortgage as a single person with an independent? Yes, they can. But I don't think the problem is getting, they are getting more lenient in the banks in terms of mortgage approval. They do take a chunk off you if you have an independent mortgage.

But it's definitely easier to and they're really supportive. Like they want you to get a mortgage, if you know what I mean. And you can also get one. You can get a mortgage off the council. I saw this now. I saw this on a TikTok. It's the if you get if you get rejected from three banks and you can prove that you've gotten rejected from three banks, the council then is obliged to give you a mortgage if you make under 70k as a single person. So that's that isn't the problem of getting a mortgage.

It's more so the fact the lack of housing and the bidding wars because it's always going to be like 20% more expensive than what it's actually advertised for. And you're up against like hundreds of other people who are trying to buy it as well. So that's usually what the problem is. I think going for a dual income to a single income puts you at a big disadvantage in the hope of buying a property. The choices are put up with feeling like a 17 year old at 27 and stay at home and save as much as possible or spend every cent you have and rent. I need to pee.

I really thought I'd be one of the people to stay here and make it work somehow, but after coming back again, after being away for a while, the quality of life and being forced to live with my parents in my late 20s is incomparable to the quality of life I have away.

I don't think I realised until I was gone again the impact it actually has on wellbeing. I plan now to leave for good before the year is out, which makes me sad because I always like, surely everyone leaving solves nothing. But I'm at a point now where I feel I have to put myself first. I managed to move up to Dublin for two years as I got extremely lucky on rent.ie one day. But then my landlady, of course, decided to evict me so she could sell the house.

Now I am back home on the farm in Longford for the past year with no car. If I want to go anywhere, I have to get a parent or sibling to bring me as if I am a teenager. Oh no! This has greatly affected my social life, work and has destroyed my mental health. Coming from a rural working class background in a cost of living crisis is fear inducing. My future doesn't seem bright and it feels there is nothing I can do about it now. If I can't travel to work or college, how am I ever going to be made

to be able to make money to afford a house and food. Thankfully, I have a healthy relationship with my parents and they are trying to help me get back on my feet. But you have to remember, even older people are struggling with money right now. We need more focus on rural counties. I constantly feel left behind. I feel like we focus on Dublin a lot when it comes to the housing crisis.

Everyone tends to say, "Oh, I will have to move out to the countryside." But like, these houses are flats and are still completely out of my budget and many others. I just turned 40 and back living with my dad, two kids and partner also. Was living in Wicklow the past 10 years and landlord decided to sell the house.

Both myself and my partner are social care workers, so earn decent wages. There was nothing to rent in Wicklow when we were looking, so moved to my dad's to avoid facing homelessness. I think we will be staying here for the foreseeable as kids settled into new school and the guilt of uprooting. I personally find myself feeling claustrophobic at times and even depressed, but it is lovely too at times because my dad's not alone. Kids have a grandparent always around. I'd rather have our own place, but I guess with this sort of situation, it is out of our control, so we have to accept...

And get on with things.

It's causing really significant stress on our relationship. My husband is now staying in his parents' house two to three nights a week to get away from the toxic environment in my parents' house. Oh no. I wish there was an end in sight, but it'll likely be at least another year before we have a home of our own. We're both top earners, combined income of £140,000 plus. Wait, £140,000 plus?

So it's nothing to do with spending/earning. The goalposts just keep shifting. We don't want to max out on mortgage and not afford to live. I'm 27. I've been working since I'm 16. I've self-funded university for my degree and masters. I'm a primary school teacher. My partner is also working in full-time employment in trades.

Congratulations.

And with a baby on the way, we are trying to get mortgage approval for houses in North County, Dublin area, and even willing to go into Meath slash Louth, bordering Dublin, if needs be. Our families are so supportive and we want them near for this baby. The stress has brought on the pregnancy. The constant questioning, where are we going to live, is just soul destroying. We qualify for 300k-ish mortgage, which is so much money. A deposit being 30k we have saved and still cannot get a house because in my hometown, Vingal area, that gets me a one bedroom apartment.

If I move further away to Drogheda direction, I could get a house, but again, the bidding wars commence. We quite literally have no hope. It's just horrific. It shouldn't be this way. People who work hard should be able to put a roof over their heads. 24 and living at home with no hope of moving out anytime soon.

I pay my mother rent and we have a great relationship but I still feel like a financial burden. I work full time as a preschool teacher so it's not like I'm making mad money. I went to university for four years to get a degree with hopes of being able to move out. We can't even say the housing crisis is only in Dublin or large cities anymore. I live in the west of Ireland and I have no idea what my future housing situation will look like.

I'm also single, which is a million times harder when living at home. I'm 24, living at home with my parents in Cavan. I have a great relationship with my parents and me living at home definitely isn't hindering that. My dad has always wanted us to stay home, but now realizes how much I want to move out and it saddens him that this just might not be my reality anytime soon.

I'm a social care team leader and make a substantial wage for a person my age. But like you said on primetime last night, the government are still making it impossible for young people to live outside of the family home. I've never lived out of home, not for college or anything, and I'm really worried about what the future holds for me in Ireland. I have been contemplating moving abroad next year for a couple of years to try save up

some money but I'm so undecided as I love my country just unfortunately not the government. I'm on the other side where I don't have a relationship with either of my parents and have no close family in Ireland that I can stay with so I have to live out of home and pay rent. I work in recruitment so I do make grand money 35 to 45k a year depending on how busy I am and save up to 30% of my paycheck each month

And I don't know how I'll ever get on the property ladder or afford somewhere of my own if I have to continue renting. Part of me thinks about moving abroad, but I'm afraid to leave my current apartment because the rent is under 500 quid, which is quite good for Galway, and I couldn't see myself settling down outside of Ireland. So I'm stuck in limbo where I feel like I need to leave to make money, but I need to stay and hold on to my affordable apartment. In the hopes that one day I'll find a derelict house in the back arse of nowhere I can afford...

before I'm in my mid to late 30s. I'm a social care worker. I work in the area of residential care. I'm 29. My partner is a qualified electrician who's 30. We are both living at home with an income of 90k between us yearly. It's going to take us five years to save for a house if we want to live in the area of Llandóchan slash Llewkin slash Selbridge. We are fortunate that we don't have any...

childcare fees etc to pay or rent I don't know how anyone who's renting or paying child cash or paying crash fees can afford to save for a mortgage it's so disheartening to spend five years in college for a career where I pay over a hundred

over a thousand plus a month in tax and cannot afford to buy a home. It's a joke there's no prospects for middle class or working class. I was able to buy but barely and I had to move across the country to Sligo and eventually Galway to do it each time having to start over in a new community. My partner is in his mid-twenties and would likely sleep in his childhood bedroom for the rest of his life till his folks die.

It's the only way he can save money because rents in Galway are about where Dublin was three to five years ago and keep climbing.

I feel like

Send fucking help, girls. I just want to chat and pick berries. Ha ha ha.

Both my partner and I are in our late 20s. Both have master's degrees and fairly decent jobs. We recently moved in with my parents as a way to save money. We have found that at this point in our lives, living with others was damaging our mental health. I loved living with people when I was in college, not living abroad. But at this point in time, it's too much with focusing on a career, etc. I just want a place to ourselves.

We are saving for a deposit, however we couldn't possibly do it while renting as rent is very high. There is nowhere suitable for the two of us to live that is within our budget in the area that I grew up. It is so frustrating as what we would be paying in rent would be double what we'd have to pay monthly for a mortgage. We know we have the ability to put away that much a month but it is so sickening to just hand it over with nothing to show for it."

at least with a mortgage you're getting something back for the amount you're putting in. One step closer to owning a house. We have had to move in with my parents in the meantime. We acknowledge how lucky we are, one, to have a great relationship with family who are willing to rent rooms in their house for a very good price and two, have those rooms amount to a decent amount of space in a house in a nice area.

This is such a good opportunity for us to save money. While it is difficult to live in parent space in your late 20s after living independently for many years, both in Ireland and abroad, it's a great opportunity for us to get a head start in saving. This is a really unlikely situation for most people. I know people don't have good relationships with their family or there's not enough space for them in their family home.

It's ridiculous that in your late 20s you can't save and be fully independent of your parents with two master's degrees. I have fully accepted I won't be able to buy a house in the area I grew up and I'm happy to move west. I'm 30, living with my parents since I left college accommodation six years ago, so ready to move out but salary won't leave much left after rent. If I could even find a decent room.

Yeah.

Again, lack of freedom as I feel like a teenager. I'm not sure when I will be able to move out. Mortgage is a long while away if you're going for it solo. Kind of stuck, to be honest. I'm 26 and have a one-year-old, very like me, in a relationship for 10 years and saving for five years for a mortgage. I'm a nurse, he is an IT. Both of us living at home but separately as the houses are too small for three of us in a room. Oh, that's so sad.

It's put such a strain on our relationship. We couldn't afford to buy where we wanted, so we bought up in Drogheda, where I'm from, but the prices are still exceptionally high. We'll never make it back, but we are one of the lucky ones. By chance, no one else had interest in our property, so we went sale agreed quite quickly. Still don't understand how lucky we got, but literally have been trying to buy somewhere for over five years. I'm just about to finish university and my dad's girlfriend kicked me out of their home when I moved out for university. Though I'm moving in with my partner's parents, we're both 22, we've worked...

out that both of us on full-time starting salaries we can maybe afford a mortgage in a minimum of a few years. My partner has made a finance spreadsheet and records his spending every month. I'm blessed to have him lol. He finished university last year and has a full-time job and a career that he loves now.

I'm just coming out of an illustration at A-level. Moving in with this family into the countryside is going to be interesting in finding work and driving. I feel very lucky to be in the position I am and I love my partner's family to bits, but I'm worried about not having my own space and having to put majority of the things I own into storage for a few years before me and my partner can afford to move out. Just reminding myself that things always work out. A little bit about my own experience because obviously...

There is like a question mark on how long that I'm going to be living here. So the arrangement before I moved in was that I pay rent, utilities and for a cleaner. The cleaner definitely relieved a lot of tension in the relationship between me, my dad and my stepmom. And it is probably a little bit more complicated and difficult

difficult because my stepmom wouldn't really have any responsibility for me in a way, if that makes sense. So I do feel like I'm kind of just renting a room here rather than being integrated into my family. So I try to keep out of the way as much as possible. Like I work up in the attic here, so it's kind of separated from the rest of the family on the weekends, which is when both of them are off work. So I just try to keep out of their way. And then during the week, it's actually very, I'm very lucky because they're at work so I can kind of

relax and have my own space. But I have timed my breakfast so it's before my parents are in the kitchen and making their own breakfast. I have my dinner then after they're finished in the kitchen. So we have made a little routine so that we're not in each other's way. But that personally is how I've kind of...

made sure that there aren't any resentments building. Now, obviously, there's still arguments and disagreements, but that's normal for living in a house with people. Do you know, you're going to have disagreements regardless of who you're with. Do leave your situations down below as well. I'm interested to know. And I'm also interested to hear of people's situations. If you have emigrated and what the differences are

between living where you are now and living back at home, whether that be in Ireland or the UK, because I do think Ireland and the UK are especially expensive compared to the rest of Europe. But I am interested to know, like if anyone has emigrated to Australia, please let me know what differences there are and what the quality of life is there. And try to be as honest as possible as well. Are you homesick? Would you live in Ireland if you could, if those spaces were made available for you too? Thank you so much for listening.