The year of living lavishly

I can't remember how I celebrated my 34th birthday. You wouldn't, would you? It has never been a landmark, never an age of particular meaning. But now a study has shown that no sooner does your 34th birthday dawn than a great expense ensues. Far from being an anonymous sort of year - safely round the corner of 30 and not near enough to 40 to worry - it is in fact the costliest year of our lives. According to research conducted among 1,990 adults, those celebrating their 34th birthday immediately need to find an extra £32,441 to see them through the next 12 months.

Perhaps this is not so surprising. With the average age of those marrying for the first time rising ever upwards (31 for men and 29 for women), at 34 many are in the early throes of an expensive family life. The average homeowner taking out their first mortgage, according to Nationwide, is 34. Congratulating friend after friend on marriage and then the arrival of children (or the other way round) seems to be what the early 30s are all about.

But not all of us fit the bill. I am 34 but I don't have children, I have a comfortable home and a manageable mortgage. My 34th year has been an expensive one, but only because somehow spending serious money on things I would once have bought for less seems a consequence of maturity. When I learned yesterday that I was living through the costliest year of my life, I felt no dread or despair, but only relief and joy. I have just bought a brand new, undiscounted Chanel handbag (black with gold hardware: a classic), and here was some sort of official explanation for my sense that it was the right time of life to invest such a large sum of money in something so flighty (and it isn't flighty, actually; it's a bag for life).

Far from seeing this as a sign of gross self-indulgence and tasteless spending, I think my experience tallies rather than conflicts with the latest research. Thirty-four is a point of convergence, an age where many of us are taking on new responsibilities (and expenses) while wanting to continue some of the lifestyle and the exuberance we enjoyed in our 20s. We want to feel free, but many of us are - or will soon be - less free than ever. Maybe it is an important age after all.