Special repayment, saving or consumption?

That's exactly what I think too. From 01.08., including the extra repayment, we will have €1,800 more available monthly - there's no better salary increase ;). Even though I haven't gotten the maximum out of it financially, I am rid of the burden of debt and can actually sleep better, I'm independent and can say that the house belongs to us. I have become much calmer, more relaxed and more at ease since I know that the house loan issue is almost settled. That is more important to me than having debts and possibly having made a bit more return because I would have invested the money somewhere - the debts, term, interest payments etc. remain anyway and nobody knows what the future holds.

And no, I don't earn that much either. Although above average, I am the sole earner - my wife only has a €450 mini-job. So if you divide my salary by 2, it’s okay, but not more than that. We simply bought at the right time and cheaply (the house is now easily worth 4-5 times as much) and stuck to the financial plan 100% as intended. I know enough people who have never made extra repayments or increased the rate even though they intended to.

But yes, today’s times are not comparable anymore. I wouldn’t buy anymore either. I wouldn’t be able to sleep peacefully if I had to think about repaying until retirement.

We definitely did not have above-average salaries in the past.

but then below average little credit ;) otherwise it would not be possible. With the Netto*100 rule you do not pay off without (large) external cash inflows in 10 years.

Besides the grief, nothing has collapsed, the house is still inhabited by her, and the children pay.

Yes, she cannot keep the house without support, by the way only from us and her 92-year-old mother and not from all the children. About 500€ flow in every month. The structure is collapsing more and more, because her costs are also rising further. Surely she still lives in it, but it is anything but enjoyable. I would have wished they consumed less and made special repayments. But they did not.

but then below average credit ;) otherwise it wouldn't be possible. With the Netto*100 rule you don't pay off within 10 years without external cash inflows.

If I remember correctly, we initially calculated with a monthly net household income of 3.5-3.7K€. Accordingly, we had to watch the budget and chose a low loan amount as well as a low installment. We also brought quite a bit of self-saved equity. The situation has relaxed significantly with some salary jumps/job changes. Currently, our household net income is probably slightly above average. However, this is more because I work full-time and my wife almost full-time.

KfW loan last month paid off early by nearly €40,000. Only saves us €160/month, but feels good. The main loan also received its early repayment. Everything will be refinanced at the beginning of next year: €80,000 financing remains. With early repayment, we will be done in 6 years. We still consume quite well. It is all somewhat embarrassing. We do not have anywhere near the income that some people here have, but we were quite down-to-earth when building the house. That then shows in the monthly surplus :)

The exciting questions are: 1) Will inflation remain as a result of the now 10-year QE policy or will everything normalize again once energy prices have normalized? 2) Will salaries increase accordingly leading to a wage-price spiral or will wage development remain restrained? 3) Will there be a correction in house prices despite inflation? Depending on the answer or combination of answers, financing at high loan-to-value ratios (100%) and short fixed interest periods can become very tight. The idea of investing in ETFs instead of repaying the loan can also of course end very badly if the super cycle since 2008 ends because China no longer consumes us out of the crisis.