Nearly three-quarters of young adults aged in their 20s admit to making money mistakes in their first few years of financial independence, according to research for a Government-backed body.

An "explosion" of financial opportunities and decisions as 18-year-olds are faced with offers of new accounts, credit cards, store cards and personal loans often overshadows young people's ability to fully take in the potential consequences, according to a report compiled by the Money Advice Service (MAS).

Some 72% of twentysomethings surveyed for the research said that they had made a financial decision early on in their adult life which they now regret.

The report, titled It's Time to Talk: Young People and Money Regrets, raised concerns of a "spend today, worry tomorrow" attitude.

It highlighted how young people can end up paying the consequences of their bad decisions for years, including being forced to drop out of university, juggle multiple jobs and move back into the family home as a result.

Nearly half (47%) of those who had made money mistakes said they felt "depressed" about them and 28% struggle to afford everyday essentials such as transport costs.

More than a quarter (27%) of young people surveyed said they had blown their budget on a holiday, while 7% had bought a car that was beyond their means. One in 11 (9%) had moved into a flat or house that they could not really afford.

One in 10 (10%) had taken out some form of high-cost credit, such as a payday loan, while 22% said they had blown too much money on credit cards.

The report highlighted the particular cases of some people, whose names it had changed, including that of a 22-year-old unemployed man named "Patrick" from Belfast.

It said: " Patrick was planning to go on holiday with his girlfriend, but when a better offer came up from a friend to go to Thailand, he jumped at the chance.

"He had an amazing holiday, saying 'yes' to everything - scuba diving, beaches, partying - everything.

"Patrick avoided checking his bank account when he was on holiday as he didn't want to put a dampener on the trip. When he came back from holiday and finally plucked up the courage to check his bank balance, he had spent all of his student loan, and gone £2,000 into his overdraft.

"Not only that, but his girlfriend had broken up with him for messing her around. Several years later Patrick is still paying off the accumulated debt from that trip."

Another young man, named as 25-year-old "Harry" from London, had bought a car to "impress the girls" using his student loan.

The report said: "He racked up several thousand pounds of debt because the car had so many problems and because of that had to drop out of university and take on three jobs.

"By the time we met him he was working hard to pay off his debts: he had moved back in with his parents, had a bike instead of a car and made a packed lunch every day."

Of the young people surveyed who had made money mistakes, 42% had borrowed money from their parents or friends, while one in nine (11%) were forced to move back in with their parents.

Kirsty Bowman-Vaughan, young people policy manager at the MAS, an independent body set up by Government, said: "Most of us make mistakes soon after we turn 18 and develop a 'spend today, worry about it tomorrow' attitude which isn't sustainable.

"I would urge anyone in the early years of adulthood to get into the practice of living within their means."

The service commissioned a survey of more than 1,000 22- to 29-year-olds from across the UK as well as speaking to groups of young adults aged between 22 and 29 years old about their money decisions.