Today I tried smashed avocado for brunch, well it was more like a very late breakfast to be precise.
I usually order the standard and ordinary meal of; scrambled eggs, toast, mushrooms, tomato, and possibly some leafy greens or say a hash brown might make its way on the plate depending on my mood.
However today I read the menu and saw that smashed avocado was on the menu. Do I dare? Have something different than my standard breakfast when out? What happens if it was terrible?
You might ask why was I tempted to try something new when I have always ordered my usual thing for year and was perfectly happy with this treat. There have been times when I have strayed from my usual order but only for something interesting or delicious sounding.
I was interested in this smashed avocado due to the recent Bernard Salt article telling youth or otherwise known as the millennials that they need to stop eating "smashed avocado with crumbled feta on five-grain toasted bread at $22 a pop and more." Salt was saying that the $22 that they save by not eating this breakfast item would be put to good use in saving for a house deposit.
I'm not sure that saving this amount even if you spent this every day of the week would help you acquire a house in Sydney now.
Say you decided to spend $22/day/year to eat out, and this is regardless of whether you purchase smashed avocado. You could save the below amount.
365 days/year x $22.00 = $8,030/year
As the house prices in Sydney are close to 1 million dollars and if you decided to offer a 20 per cent deposit you would have to come up with $200,000 just for a deposit.
"Over the March quarter, the harbour city's median house price dropped 1.5 per cent to $995,804, with apartments slipping 0.7 per cent to $656,166, according to Domain Group's March House Price Report released on Thursday.Apr 21, 2016"
However, if you would like to get a unit they are a little cheaper and just shy of $700,000, so not cheap at all for a first place if you ask me! If went with the figures that were published by domain the median house price is about $995,804 so that would mean your 20 per cent deposit would be, $199,160.80 (yes I have even calculated to the 80 cents)
So, this would mean that if you spent the advertised amount of $22 according to Bernard Salt, it would take you 24.8 so therefore I'm rounding it up to 25 years until you would save enough money for a deposit on a $995,804 house. Sad to think that it would take you this long to save to get this far, and while this is happening I'm sure prices would go up too so you might never get the house you want.
While I was eating my smashed avocado, I was thinking about people saving for a house and missing out on this lovely treat. I for one did not pay $22, my café was not a hipster vibe but maybe it has hipster intentions due to having smash avocado on the menu.
I paid $18 for my lovely treat today and that was due to upgrading my smashed avocado to have scrambled eggs as well. If I did not include the eggs it would have cost me $16. Let's say that I would spend $18 every day in a year:
365 days/year x $18 = $6,570
If I decided to save for a house in Sydney, then it would take me 30.3 years.
I don't think I would ever be able to buy a house now if was younger. I would never have the money and therefore would have to stay at my mums or rent forever. I bought my first house with my hubby before we were married. We moved away from the city to allow us to purchase more cheaply (Now with the fact that people are moving out of Sydney our area is going up and rents and prices have gone up. We were lucky we purchased when we did. I wrote more about our story in a post called, "Is Sydney Too Expensive").
Many people don't want to sacrifice travel to get into the property market. Although I hate the fact we are away from the city, I love the fact we have our own place and it gives us security to do what we want to do. That said, there is no way we would have purchased a near million-dollar home for our first house. This would scare the hell out of us and god forbid if someone loses their job, gets sick or maybe you want to have a baby and end up on one wage. How do you pay the mortgage????
Our idea was to enter the real estate market cheaply and within our budget, this would allow us to do what we wanted to later. Eventually prices would go up and this will help us in the future. We just had to wait. Maybe this could be a plan if you are madly saving, just purchase in an upcoming area that is not in the city.
After I ordered and then got my meal it got me thinking...Has Bernard Salt made everyone order more smashed avocado?
Has this big media circus about this issue created more business for the so-called cafes that sell this meal?
I for one never noticed it on the menu until today. Mind you, I have not been looking. Maybe I am boring and not part of the trendy set. I for one am not a hipster. I am not classified as young although I don't think I am old either, well sometimes my hubby says I am but I ignore him.
Some articles that have dealt with the smashed avocado and saving for a house issue:
And I did not know this. One home lender has launched their "Smashed Avocado" Mortgage Campaign. Yes you read that right.
There slogan is "Have your smashed avo and eat it too"
Have you noticed a trend in your local breakfast joint that the smashed avocado is now hard to get, due to Bernard Salt making it more popular? Are there more options to have with your smashed avocado?
Without all the carry on in the news I don't know if I would have tried the smashed avocado today. I think I just gave it a go to see what all the fuss was about.
Do you like smashed avocado? If so are you saving for a house? Do you still manage to have your much-loved avocado and save for your dream? Let us know.
