Special repayment, saving or consumption?

One must also say, however, that they are probably very frugal. No high demands on technology and cars and presumably not on the property either. That way, besides vacation trips, we have closed the biggest money pits. Then it is of course absolutely carefree to live on a middle income. Honestly, I envy them, sometimes I wish I had somewhat lower demands here and there. I have tried it in places, but unfortunately failed miserably. :oops:

Yes, the thing with high demands is, I think, a problem many have. I don’t know if you can still call it a middle income with apparently about €5500 net income and only 70% positions each. I consider that quite luxurious. I have a 100% position and my wife 55%, and we only come to just under €5000. But our demands in the luxury segment (house, car, vacation) are not that high either, so we get along more than well. Edit: however, we do have demands in other areas that cost more money than the standard. For example, we always buy our meat only from the butcher, preferably from one who only processes regional meat and also slaughters himself. Furthermore, we often enjoy grilling a delicious beef fillet with a price per kilo beyond €50 and only buy our drinks in glass bottles because we simply prefer the taste, even if it is more expensive. We also like to invite friends and relatives over for barbecues from time to time, which can quickly cost €150-200. But all that can be done without any problems if you only spend €2000 instead of €5000 for the family vacation or only drive an old used car instead of a leased new car every few years. Also, my wife does not need a status symbol handbag for several hundred euros.

I would currently never make special repayments if I have a long fixed interest period. The time for bargains for cash will come. Generally, I enjoy investing much more than consuming. Consumption simply doesn't satisfy me. Except for food, I don't skimp on that. If the US Prime beef costs 80€/kg, then it costs that.

We could easily be done with the financing in less than 10 years. I just wonder why?!
We have about €5200 net household income per month and a payment of €788. Theoretically, we could save a lot of money every year and make special repayments. But I prefer to enjoy the luxury of having that much money available. We spend at least €1500 every month on consumption that is not necessarily essential. Just recently been to the furniture store again and spent €6000 on a bedroom and a few cabinets for the utility room. Did that have to be? No. But it’s fun.
By now, thanks to my son, I’m a big LEGO fan again. For about 2 years now, on average €300 go towards LEGO every month. Sure, I could also put that money into the loan repayment. But that’s not as much fun.
If we want something, we just buy it. For me, that’s a huge luxury.
I have about 27 years left until retirement and about €190,000 remaining debt.
In return, I have a house that cost €300,000 including the land, incidental building costs, and everything else 6 years ago and is now worth about €500,000. In addition, there are about €60,000 in reserves in the account. So why rush it?

Quite simply. Because life is even more fun then, you have no obligations and no creditor breathing down your neck. You are free and the house really belongs to you. For you, it will only belong to you in 27 years; until then, it belongs to the bank. From 01.08, we will have almost €1,900 more per month available. And exclusively for consumption. With just that amount alone, to exaggerate a bit, I could go to the Maldives, Seychelles, or if I save 2-3 months more, to Bora Bora every 3 months for 2 weeks... Or I could buy a new kitchen for €30-40K in a year or build a pool in the garden—or whatever. The possibilities that arise from the monthly savings on the installment are just amazing.

For me personally, it’s also a different feeling of life when you don’t have a creditor breathing down your neck. But I’m also shaped by... my parents lost their house in a forced auction back then. Probably that’s why I want to get rid of debts immediately. My siblings feel exactly the same way.

Are you nearly done with your "ridiculous" installments… :D

I would base the question of the relationship between loan interest rates and inflation or the expected profit from saving. The question comes down to whether it is cheaper to make special repayments or to invest the money until the end of the fixed interest period and then repay in one lump sum. For those who took out a loan at the extremely low interest rates of the last 2 years, the latter probably applies, at least if they are somewhat willing to take risks with their investments. For investments, the tax aspect must also be considered, as the state retains 25% plus possibly solidarity surcharge and church tax from the returns. However, there are also individual factors to consider: cash and investments are easier to take away, so if care needs, unemployment, maintenance for relatives or similar threaten, special repayments are certainly better.

Quite simple. Because life is even more fun then, you have no obligations and no creditor hanging on you anymore. You are free and the house really belongs to you. It will only belong to you in 27 years, until then it belongs to the bank. Since 01.08. we have almost €1,900 more available per month. And exclusively for consumption. For this amount alone, I could, exaggeratedly speaking, go to the Maldives, Seychelles every 3 months for 2 weeks, or if I save 2-3 months more, to Bora Bora... Or I can buy a new kitchen for 30-40K in one year or build a pool in the garden – or who knows what. The possibilities that arise every month through the savings on installments are incredible.

For me personally, it is also a different feeling of life when you have no creditor hanging on you. But I am also shaped by... my parents lost their house through a forced auction back then. Probably that is why I also want to get rid of debts immediately. My siblings are exactly the same.

You always talk about "one". YOU apparently have a big problem with having debts. You provide the explanation for that yourself, and that’s okay.

Personally, I take it relatively easy and have absolutely no problem with having debts. Why should I, if the debts are opposed by a real value that ideally exceeds them? What interests me in the matter is the monthly burden I have from the property. That is already a ridiculous 27% of our income, and the salary development is going steeply upwards. Loans are secured by life insurance and disability insurance. So what is supposed to happen? Divorce? Yes, that can happen, but it presumably won’t immediately lead to insolvency. Just stay chill and don’t drive yourself crazy.

Apart from that, it is of course nonsense that the house belongs to the bank or does the bank actually sign the purchase contract at the notary? :)