Anthony Faries is the proud owner of Roseglenn Cottage in Sandys Parish, which he bought 16 years ago at the tender age of 23.

At the time, he was working as a bar-tender and a shop keeper for Henry's Pantry in Southampton.

"It's not what you make, it's how much you actually save that's the key," he says.

Having started work as a bar tender, after three years he took on an extra job working at Henry's Pantry.

His lifestyle made it relatively simple to save money.

"When you're working a split shift, you have no time to go out.

"We'd knock off at 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. But as a bar tender, you're working and having fun."

His advice to young people is: "Find yourself a job where you can be saving money and making money at the same time."

As a young Bermudian in the early eighties, he had the opportunity to to do two jobs and get two pay cheques.

He kept putting his money in the bank and saved up for a downpayment. When he was only 23 he managed to buy his house.

Working hard also helped him to keep his costs to a minimum:

"I was renting a one bedroom apartment.

"Back then, I was only paying about $500 per month and I got my meals from Henry VIII. I had minimal electricity bills because I was never home, likewise the telephone bill was very low."

He must have enjoyed his job: "Even on my day off I would go and work at Henry VIII."

Mr. Faries says it took courage to take the chance to get a mortgage.

"It was kind of frightening at the time, I'll tell you that much. My parents supported me and said 'Go for it!' A lot of my workmates also encouraged me."

He says it helped that he was able to rent the cottage and carry on living in rental accommodation for a while.

He says he could have paid off the mortgage about two years ago, but by that time he was married to Sharon and had two kids, Adrian (8) and Zoe (5). He decided to refinance and added on an extension of two more bedrooms and two apartments.

"As they get older, the rent from those two apartments will put the kids through college," says Mr. Faries.

Mr. Faries says he has also picked up a lot of construction skills over the years and has managed to save an estimated $125,000 of renovation costs.

"A friend of mine saw how well I'd done and asked me to help him install two new windows in. I did it and he was impressed," says Mr. Faries

Still working full time at Henry's Pantry and part time as a bar tender, Mr. Faries now says: "I'm pulling back a bit. I want to dedicate more time for my family."

"My parents used to tell me:You work hard when you're younger and you can relax later. It definitely works, I'm a perfect example of it."