How is a 400k loan financible without equity? Net equity at €4,500

That's why a very precise calculation is not only the be-all and end-all but everything from A to Z. And don't sugarcoat anything. It's better to factor in too many expenses. It's like at work. It's always better to adjust the positive result upwards rather than downwards.

Whoever as an average earner in 2020 still dares the adventure of building/buying a house often can't avoid swallowing some bitter pills.

So, I quoted the terms 1:1 from your post, that’s what I referred to. You don’t have to explain yourself and as far as I can tell you do exactly what you like. That puts you way ahead and you’re doing it absolutely right. If you were able to make compromises regarding housing that work for you, that’s even better, because just spending money without any noticeable added value would be nonsense. I referred to the fact that sometimes it seems as if people without flight vacations or regular holidays live an inferior life. If they "suffer" under the house, they should stop. But many find a new kind of well-being in their own, stylish house and that is just as good. For some, it’s just either-or and I don’t find that bad at all, even right, because if everything were always possible, the path to decadence wouldn’t be far. So, in no case do I want to criticize your life philosophy, how could I. But it’s entirely yours, just as I or someone else has a completely different one again, because he loves collecting garden gnomes. If he likes what he does, I think that’s great.

Hasn't it always been like this? I think it was quite normal back then. When my parents-in-law built their house at the end of the 60s, it was clear that saving was necessary. It was normal to put every penny into a home savings contract in advance. It was normal to only build what was affordable when building a house – in my parents-in-law's case, the central heating was actually on the chopping block back then and was only possible because of a financial boost from the parents. The outside area was far from finished when they moved in. There was an old couch from relatives in the living room; the wall unit came only years later. In the first years after building the house, there were no vacations, but hiking – every penny was put towards paying off the loan. That was quite normal back then. Debt was simply unpleasant.

That is different now. For many, debt is something completely normal – TV and furniture on credit, even clothes and vacations by installment payment. When building a house, people prefer to go all out; an extra few ten thousand doesn't really matter anymore. Money that isn't theirs is spent extravagantly.

For many, long-distance travel has simply become standard. Acquaintances have newly built their houses, and in the end, due to extra costs, there was no money left for the terrace, carport, and fence. Last year, however, they still went to New York for 2 weeks – you have to treat yourself – and then got upset again about the missing terrace during the remaining 50 weeks of the year. Everyone as they like it