Maria probably read my post most carefully, because the good 4000€ include the special repayments, just spread over the month. So we can also pay less if necessary. Before I let the money sit in the account, I prefer to repay.
As several others have already noticed here in the forum, many are economically well positioned and have both high income and expenses.
There were times when I had to manage on 1650€ for rent, car, and life in general. That worked well, no big deal. Contrary to most others, we have not adjusted our lifestyle in the same measure as our rising salary.
Sometimes one forgets that (especially us here in the forum) we are doing quite well. I’ll quote an excerpt from Focus:
One in three full-time employees in Germany has to get by on a gross salary of 2400 euros or less. This is according to a statistic by the Federal Employment Agency for the year 2015.
That means after tax, these employees have 2100 euros per month left to live on – provided the employee does not pay church tax. After all deductions, only 1600 euros remain from this salary.
So we are not yet in the field of self-mutilation.
I don’t know what circles you move in, but we live visibly better than most here in the new development area, except for the fact that we have an old car parked in front of the house. Despite it being a luxury car, one might think poverty has broken out with us because the car is already 8 years old. (Warning: That was irony!)
We can all be glad to have such luxury problems. World trip? Vacation in Europe? Hey, there are plenty of people here in Germany for whom that question doesn’t even arise – even without a house.
So always smile, it could be worse for all of us!