Go back a few years, you were able to purchase a block of land, put up the garage & live on that as you built your house slowly, as you could afford it. There was a level of how much you could borrow depending on your wage & the spouse's wage did not come into it.
Young people today do not seem to want to go without: two cars, going out, a lot of technology, which makes it difficult to save. We went out to dinner twice a year, which we saved for, other socialising was at each other's homes. Looking at how it was done years ago could help show young people a way to learn from it.