House buying - No idea what one can afford

Respect 60%

We are not repaying yet, still saving up. Currently saving about 80-85% of net income

Please also respect

yes - I have already said that we will start with that

Only cash is real! If possible, I pay in cash. In general, it is also said that paying in cash gives you a better overview of your expenses (the counterpart is apparently "shopping" with a credit card, perhaps more of a US-American thing). With you, it seems to be the other way around.

For me, it is exactly the opposite. Many years ago, I started paying almost everything by EC card. The only exception is actually the bratwurst at the snack stand because they don’t accept EC. Why? Because thanks to Quicken and intelligent rules (filters, classifications), I can say at the touch of a button at any time where our money is going. To the cent. In addition, there are fixed budgets each month for all non-fixed costs. For example, 800 EUR food, 300 EUR pocket money for each of us, 1000 EUR family money (e.g. for vacation, trips), 300 EUR mobility (fuel, car care, etc.), 100 EUR mobile phone, and so on. As soon as a budget is dangerously "full," there is a warning. We have been doing this for several years now and it works surprisingly well. This way, I can always look quite a bit into the future. If a budget is exceeded, it can be balanced out by others. So last year, we had only a minimal deviation of a few hundred euros in total.

Some may see all this as a bit exaggerated, but I really enjoy it. I like calculating and "thinking about money." One of my mottos: "It is often more productive to think about money for a whole day than to work for a month."

Regards, Steffen

Next logical step is obviously to pay off all debts, so faster than in the repayment plan, that should be clear. Unfortunately, I haven't had time to gather everything so far, but I think we could manage that by the end of the year. Then there would only be my wife's BAFÖG 10k left – I am not familiar with that yet, I had to take a KFW loan back then.

So we currently have 20k on the debit side. In the beginning, it was only 10k... Really sit down together and write down exactly what you have going on where.

The car topic, I have a company car, but my wife's is financed, with a remaining balance or to give it up, etc. The plan was actually that it would continue to be financed, then it belongs to you, but eventually the residual value will be very low and something new will be needed. For that reason, I currently still assume that the second car is always something that is financed in some form, whether it is a new car or if something bigger is needed.

Even if a car is worth nothing on paper, it is still cheaper to maintain than a new ride that is not repaired but whose value must be financed. Of course, it depends on the annual mileage. But our second car already has 150,000 km on the clock. I will drive it as long as it really only needs simple repairs.

Another finance topic: When I finally have everything paid off and build equity, I don't know if it should go into a fund or really just a classic bank account – interest rates aren't that good anymore...

For the intended time horizon, a simple savings account is enough. The main thing is that it is not sitting in the regular account.

I like ... to think "about money".

Nobody has probably noticed this here yet

On the topic:
We have created an Excel sheet as an annual overview with all income and expenses. It takes some effort once, but then it’s not that difficult. The sheet is simply kept up to date when, for example, expenses change or there is a salary increase.
Expenses like lunch, gasoline, etc. are included as realistic estimates, that’s enough for us.
In any case, this way we have a good and quick overview of our finances: what remains per month, which month has many expenses, etc.

The saved money belongs in a daily money account; it is not speculated with.

I don't think there is a separate Tagesgeldkonto at DKB, which might not be a bad thing anyway, and then something like Ing-Diba or something like that, I assume?