How first home buyer Kai Grubb saved a deposit to buy a Canberra townhouse at 20 years of age

Kai Grubb started building his savings at 14 years old, securing his first job at McDonald's and gradually working his way up the ranks.

By 17, he was earning "quite a good income".

"I was just lucky that I got promoted to supervisor, so I was definitely earning a little bit more than what a normal 17-18 year old was earning," he said.

The full-time hospitality worker paid a deposit for his $460,000 townhouse in Taylor in February 2021, just before his 19th birthday.

He said he didn't receive a handout from his parents, in fact, he left home at 18 years old to live in a share house.

While the COVID pandemic unfolded, Mr Grubb began picking up multiple shifts a day to help grow his bank balance.

"It was pretty crazy, I'm not gonna lie. I was working 6:30 til 2:30 at a cafe in the morning and then I was going and doing 2:30 to 10:30/11:00 at one of my other jobs at a restaurant," he said.

"Looking back, I don't know how I did it."

A recent study of 679 prospective first home buyers by comparison website Canstar found the top three barriers to saving for a home deposit were bills and household expenses (59 per cent), rent (53 per cent) and going out and/or eating out (43 per cent).

Mr Grubb said he traded nights at the pub for beers at home with his mates, meanwhile COVID restrictions also put his year-long travel plans to a halt.

"Obviously if you can't travel you can't really spend as much money," he said.

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He was eligible for the ACT government's stamp duty concession and the federal government's first home guarantee scheme, where only a 5 per cent deposit is required.

"That was super helpful because I didn't need to pay the [lenders mortgage insurance] or get a guarantor or anything like that," he said.

Now settled into his townhouse, Mr Grubb said he's glad to be paying off his own mortgage, rather than renting. However rising interest rates have added some pressure.

"Ever since I purchased the house at the start of August, I think it's an extra $400 a month almost in payments. So it's definitely hit," he said.

"Currently I'm in a good position. I've got a housemate ... helping me pay the mortgage off, she's paying rent."

Mr Grubb said he's comfortable managing his repayments for now, but joked a diet of "two-minute noodles" could be on the cards if rates kept rising.

"I'm still trying to be careful, make sure I save a bit of extra money," he said.

"I obviously knew the interest rates were really low at that point but you don't expect them to shoot up as much as they did, so quickly."