A baby boomer columnist has claimed young Australians should stop buying barista-made coffees if they want to afford a home.
Sunday Mail columnist and ex-ABC Radio Adelaide presenter Peter Goers made the claim on Saturday in an opinion piece titled ‘Instant fix for Gen Z’s housing grind‘.
Goers explained he had spent his adult life drinking black coffee and Coca-Cola, claiming they were the much cheaper options than the amount young Aussies were spending at cafes.
Coffee prices are expected to soar to as much as $7 a cup due to the cost-of-living crisis and skyrocketing global prices of coffee beans.
Goer claimed the obsession with coffee was costing young Australians dearly as they were spending money that could otherwise be saved for a house deposit.
‘We all love a bonza barista tamping down their coffee grounds or swiftly wiping their milk spigot,’ he wrote.
‘The young, particularly, are addicted to cafe coffee and will happily line up twice daily for their fix at $7 a go.’
Goers explained buying two coffees every day for $7 each totalled $5,100 in a year and $51,000 over ten years – which was a big ‘big chunk of a house deposit’.
‘The young endlessly complain that they’ll never afford a house but they are merrily drinking one in cardboard cups,’ Goers wrote.
‘Drink instant coffee and afford a house.’
Goers claimed young Aussies were obsessed with coffee culture due to the number of cup holders that were seen in cars and on shopping trolleys.
He suggested they should switch to instant coffee and buy themselves a 500g tin of Nescafe for $16 as it makes about 90 cups of coffee at 17.7 cents each.
Goers is the latest baby boomer to claim that coffee expenses are getting in the way of buying a home.
A 75-year-old man, who has $2million in his bank account, told property investment company Coposit he owned multiple homes.
He said it was achievable if people stopped wasting their hard-earned cash on meaningless goods and services.
‘You’re wearing a brand t-shirt. We never bought brand t-shirts. You’re wearing brand shoes. We never bought brand shoes,’ he said.
‘So, you have this pressure on you to maintain a certain style. That certain style costs money, believe me, it costs money.
‘For young people today to manage that lifestyle and to save for a property at the same time, must be difficult.’
He also didn’t understand why so many people were happy to pay $7 for a coffee each morning when they could just bring it from home.
Baby boomers have also previously slammed Australia’s younger generations as being lazy, with many claiming they needed to give up smashed avocado on toast, overseas holidays and coffee they would be able to save a house deposit.
Australian property developer Tim Gurner stunned residents with his comments that millennials could afford a house if they stopped buying the brunch favourite.
