Assessment of Financing New Construction 425k € / Overall Financial Situation

I actually just got a mower that was standing by the roadside for free. Unfortunately, the height adjustment is broken and set to a low position. The cable also bothers me and I want something battery-powered.
Since I only have a very small lawn area, it will probably be a cheap Einhell model for under €150. The hassle with used devices is not worth it.

Depending on what you mean by small, a manual lawn mower is something. It goes almost as fast and is relaxing. I like mowing the lawn at my sister’s.. She only reluctantly lets me do it. I wish some neighbors had a manual lawn mower. Ratsch - Ratsch - Ratsch - a pleasant sound.

Since I only have a very small lawn area, it will probably be a cheap Einhell model for under €150

If you buy cheap, you usually buy twice. Mowing is supposed to be fun. At the moment, I am mowing at my neighbor's with a Bosch (with interchangeable battery).

Stuff is the right word for most things. Children have the most fun outside in nature; the toys are just lying around and are part of the world. The "stuff" is not like that and therefore quickly becomes uninteresting. Especially the classic "play equipment" you see in gardens. Mud and water, on the other hand, are always popular. But they also don’t cost much to buy. When it comes to larger garden toys for children, the best way to save money is there.

Sure, they also get by with sticks and stones. But, for example, ours have a sandbox (which used to be the compost), a mud kitchen (built from leftovers), and on the neighbors' property, the neighborhood (which has many children) pooled money together and put up a playground including a trampoline. All of that is used with enthusiasm. We have a raised pond, where the children stand for hours and "pet" the fish. None of this is for free. And you kind of want to spoil your offspring a bit.

Lawn mowers can be bought well used. Because there are always people who want the newest model. The old ones are more useful and still good to use. New and good ones get reasonably expensive.

But with a low income, even a used lawn mower is too much. It’s already about the fact that an unexpected 100€ can be too much.

depending on what you mean by little, a manual lawn mower is something.

Thanks for the tip. I have just under 50m². Now I'm actually thinking about it :D
Which one do you recommend?

Stuff is the right word for most things. Children have the most fun outside in nature; the toys are just lying around and are part of the world. The "stuff" is not, and is therefore quickly uninteresting. Especially the classic "play equipment" you see in gardens. Mud and water, on the other hand, are always popular. But they also don’t cost much to acquire. You can save best on larger garden toys for children.

I want to add my two cents to this junk. We have the groundbreaking in August and our daughter (3 years old) almost has more in the garden than many playgrounds. Trampoline, swing, tall playhouse, garden house, 2 spring riders. I don’t even want to calculate what it would all have cost if new. But we are lucky that in Berlin people often give away or sell the newer toys for a small price. (due to lack of space) What I want to say: It doesn’t all have to be new, and all those many things are only half as fun if no other children join in playing. That’s why, from our observation, playing together is much more important to the little ones than the large selection we have.

Everything has been thoroughly discussed with my partner (what if it’s not financially feasible for us – do we go for a condominium?) etc.
So for now, I can only see what happens in the next few weeks.

We faced the same situation as you three years ago and ultimately decided against a house because we were too concerned about the monthly payment and unexpected costs during the construction and moving-in phase. We then chose a condominium, which was significantly cheaper than the houses we looked at.

In an emergency, the 800 euro monthly payment can actually be covered by one salary alone. We are currently replenishing our reserves every month and have had the apartment done up exactly as we wanted.

Maybe we will buy or build in a few years after all, but for now, a condominium is perfect for us. With our little daughter, we currently don’t have enough time or desire to maintain a garden completely – the 60 m2 roof terrace is more than enough.