When I was little, and my parents would whitter on like the Four Yorkshiremen about how tough it was in their day, and how they'd only have oranges for Christmas and so on, I used to think they were trying to make us feel sorry for them. Now I see that they were really feeling sorry for us. I feel the same about kids now.

Having more things just means you need more things to be happy. I was thinking about how I lived in some terrible flats and house shares (and squats). It was fine for me to do that, because at home we only had heating in the living room anyway. I was amazed when a girl in a student houseshare refused to turn off the heating at night when we were skint because, 'I've always lived in a heated house, and I'm not going to stop now.'

The difficulties first time buyers have in getting on the property ladder are because their expectations are so much higher than 'in my day' (yes, I have turned into my mother). They're not willing to buy in a dodgy area, or buy a wreck and slowly do it up. They're not willing to make furniture out of boxes until they can afford the real thing. They're not willing to live in a house with no sofa or bed. They've never had to, and they aren't going to start now.

When I was 16, my parents bought me a record player for Christmas. It was the best present I'd ever had. It was more than I thought we could afford, and my dad had a record player already, so it never crossed my mind they would buy me one, I didn't even ask for one as I didn't want them to feel bad about not getting me one. I couldn't believe my luck when I opened it up, there were tears and gushings like an Oscar acceptance speech. I've had far more expensive things bought for me since, but nothing has ever matched that. I want Little 'Un to feel that way one day.

And that is my excuse for not spending much cash on him!