Today the Evening Standard published an article saying millennial couples could save the average London house deposit in just five years – if they stopped buying so many sandwiches.
The calculations came from agents Strutt & Parker, which said that by giving up six "luxuries" – including phone upgrades and mini-breaks – millennials could get themselves on the property ladder.
The agents also assumed that millennials would only need to save two-thirds of the average £94,000 deposit – suggesting that their parents will gift them a hefty 30 grand towards a house.
Needless to say, millennials weren't impressed...
so glad we have estate agents here to tell us we just need to never go on holiday, eat lunch or buy a lottery ticke… https://t.co/MDBFfE94J4
So, when Bart jokingly thought Lisa said 'Go to bread', what he was sub-conciously telling us was to avoid buying s… https://t.co/lpVMRHKOuC
FFS, just went to Tesco for some milk and spent £50,000 on meal deals again. How am I going to explain this to my slum landlord?
Anyone who writes about why millennials can't afford house because of "spending money on X" should be made to live… https://t.co/StJvDfvhYk
2016: Millennials should stop eating avocados. 2017: Millennials should stop eating sandwiches. 2020: Millennials s… https://t.co/kGNRRTKrzi
Advice from Strutt and Parker to Millennials saving for a house: - Cut housing and commuting costs by sleeping in… https://t.co/NQebXJTnUd
According to the article, "preparing lunch at home rather than buying sandwiches or salads saves £2,576 on average" – which appears to assume that (after deducting holidays and weekends) the average person must be spending £11 a day on sandwiches.
Cutting out takeaways can apparently "knock £2,640 off household spending" – assuming that most people only order one takeaway a week – that means they're spending more than £50 each time.
The estate agents also claimed you could also save £6,000 in a year by cutting out one night out with friends a week – if you're the type of person who regularly spends £115 on a night out.
There were a lot of people who had issues with the maths...
It appears that sandwiches are to British millennials what avocado toast is to our Australian counterparts.
BuzzFeed has approached Strutt & Parker to ask it how it did the maths.