A money-conscious 23-year-old has shared how she’s managed to save an incredible amount of money – but stresses she isn’t “cheap”.

Mia McGrath has long term ambitions to buy a house and knows exactly what kind of lifestyle she needs to live in order to manage it. The account manager from London has always had an “entrepreneurial spirit” and believes she can save easily save £120,000 for a house deposit. She insists it’s all down to living below her means and not overconsuming on things people of her age may be tempted by. By swapping out expensive skincare for Aldi products, not buying coffees, purchasing clothes from charity shops and making her lunch at home, Mia has already managed to save a whopping £63,000.

“As a woman on social media, it’s so tempting to over-consume,” Mia, who works in sales in the fashion industry as an account manager, said, and added: “We have so many temptations now like overpriced skincare, makeup, and clothes.” Mia said many people of her age are living beyond their means and blame buy now pay later services, which she called “the credit cards of my generation”.

However, Mia has a different outlook and decides to cut back and live below her means instead. She explained: “This meant bringing my lunch to work every day, making coffee at work instead of buying it out, shopping sparingly and avoiding takeaways and Ubers.” This mindset happened while she was at university as she started to prioritise her personal finance journey.

Her goal is to be able to buy a £300,000 house, and in order to do so, she will need to put down a deposit of £120,000 and has been documenting her money-saving ways online. Detailing how she “lives below her means”, Mia has gone viral on TikTok, racking up over a million views on her videos. She knows she’s in a fortunate position to be able to live at home and save and stresses how aware she is that this is a major contributing factor to how she’s been able to save so much money. However, Mia still has five key things she doesn’t spend her money on to help cut her spending.

One of the things she will refuse to buy are accessories. She believes you just need to stick to one ‘staple’ item, including just one pair of sunglasses and jewellery pieces – and by doing so, has helped her save a “ton” of money. Another item she won’t ever buy is bottled water and carries her own, as well as “overpriced” skincare, instead opting for basics from places such as Aldi.

Mia also won’t buy “little décor pieces or trinkets” for her home, which she thinks are “such a waste of money”. She also refuses to buy expensive juices, smoothies or health shots and said: “I feel you could definitely make them at home. I feel like they are such a waste of money. “You could just literally eat the fruit and get the same health benefits. I know it might be extreme, but it’s because I have very clear long-term goals, like buying my own home. A lot of people do say that buying a £5 coffee is not going to make a difference, but it’s these little changes that you make over time that are going to add up.”

She cuts back other aspects as well, such as getting her nails done, which has helped her notice that she has a lot more money to save and invest instead. “The things that you do in life that take extra time and extra effort are going to be the ones that are rewarding. It’s the convenient options that are always going to cost you more.” As well as being able to save on rent by living at home, Mia says the small cutbacks have led to drastic savings and are helping her reach her goal of “financial freedom”.

She said: “I try very hard to put at least 50-70% of my income aside due to my living situation. This is also because after learning about investing and compound interest, I knew that if I put it aside when I was young it would compound and grow over time, basically setting me up for life.”

Mia has always been focused on her finances, especially when she was a student, making sure she’d spend her loan “carefully”. She buys her clothes from charity shops, walks instead of taking public transport, cooks instead of takeaways, drinks “sparingly” and when at uni would also wash her clothes by hand.

She taught herself how to start investing by watching YouTube videos and reading books on the subject, and now shares TikToks about her efforts to live a budget-friendly life. But while she is focused on cutting costs wherever she can, Mia acknowledges the role not having to pay the steep London rental prices plays. She said: “When you live at home you can save what you’d otherwise spend on rent and bills. There is no doubt that it’s a huge privilege that very few can do.”

“I think for anyone supporting themselves financially, it is very tough at the moment for people to put anything aside. I am coming from a very privileged point of view. It is never about making anyone feel bad for not saving, and it’s also not saying that saving is easy – it’s not.

“However, for anyone in a similar situation to me, living at home can give you a false sense of security. I started out inflating my lifestyle to match my new job out of university, which many people call ‘lifestyle creep’. I joined a luxury gym and would get my nails done for £79 a month and buy lunch out every day.”

But Mia quickly realised that this lifestyle wasn’t “staying true” to her current financial situation and if she moved out, knew she wouldn’t be able to spend like she was. Now, Mia saves between 50-70% of her income, but says she isn’t “cheap” in other aspects of life.

She added: “I value other things like experiences and travel, which I’ll happily splurge on,” and added: “I try to reduce everyday luxuries because of the way these can stack up. But if anyone enjoys them they should feel free to spend on them, it’s just my personal preference to save here.”