Limerick couple - 'We quit drinking and partying for five years to save for new home'

A young Limerick couple have recently bought their own home after over five years of stress, struggle and a lot of hard work.

Shauna Cantillon (25) and her fiancé Jordan Doyle (26) are both from Limerick and have officially moved into their new bungalow over the border in Co Clare.

Shauna said that she was previously living with Jordan and his parents in their home. They've been in that situation since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

The couple, since then, have been working and saving to be able to move into a home together that they can call their own. They opened up on the process of saving for a home in Ireland, one of the most expensive countries in Europe to become a homeowner.

The young couple quit drinking and socialising with friends every weekend since 2021 and said that the stress from trying to save for their new home really took a toll on them mentally and physically.

"It was at the stage where we were going through insomnia, we were stressed. Our eating habits have changed, you could see it in us, our faces have changed," Shauna said.

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"We have bags under our eyes, you know....but at the end of the day, we hope it's going to be worth it."

Shauna went on to say, "we actually gave up alcohol, we didn't go out, we are not partiers anymore. It was our top priority, the only times I've gone out now in the last four years were my friend's birthday parties you know, the things that are a necessity.

"Enjoying yourself wasn't really an option, but it was worth it," she added.

Shauna described the whole process of saving and buying a home "extremely hard" and said: "It's taken us a long time to be able to get to where we are. It's not like anyone has made it easy, especially for younger couples, because there's a lot of hoops you have to jump through when it comes to banks and even mortgage advisors and everything. 

"We were quite lucky with finding the mortgage advisor that we found. She directed us then in the best way of doing it.

"We had no idea what we were getting into because it was our first time and we had no help, the only help we had was being able to stay in his family home."

Shauna said that throughout the process they were bouncing back and forth trying to find options available for them.

"Like we'd go to one person or one bank and they would say 'no', and we'd have to go to another one and they would say 'no.'"

During the last five years or so of working and saving, Shauna said it took a great toll on their mental health, social life and overall general well-being.

The young couple would both switch between doing day shifts and night shifts, working as much as they could to save up enough money between them.

"You miss out on a lot as well being a young couple. I work weekends and like he'll do every second weekend or every two weekends out of the month. 12-hour shifts as well to make it even worse.

"We were tired all the time, and every penny was going towards savings."

Shauna said that she isn't the only person she knows who is struggling to save up and move out of their parent's home in Limerick.

"Everyone I know of is at home, like people younger than me, people my age and people older. They've all been struggling. Like I know my friends, they're in their 30s and they still can't afford to move out.

"It's just, it's impossible, we went into it thinking we'll offer asking price. They might take maybe 10 or 20 grand over it.

"But it was actually 80 or 90 grand over the asking price after the bidding war. It was crazy."

Despite the last five years of stress, struggle and serious hard work, the young couple finally got their keys to their new home, but Shauna described the moving in experience as "horrendous."

"Getting the keys was great, but moving in is actually a lot harder than people think because we're doing like four or five different trips trying to get everything over, trying to get vans to get stuff like mattresses over."

Shauna's advice to people in her shoes at the moment, young couples looking to move out and buy their first home, is to at least ask the questions. 

"If we didn't go and ask for a mortgage advisor or a financial advisor, we wouldn't know what to have done next. It feels very impossible at the moment with the way Ireland is, with the way the government is and with all of that.

"It can be possible. We worked extremely hard to be able to get where we are, we sacrificed a lot to be able to get where we are, especially as a young couple.

"It was like going from pillar to post, but it's worth it....it's worth trying at least."