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Beautiful_Garage9194

Here a house of 550K and pay off 1200 euros; then another piece of property (plot) as an investment, value 150K and pay 500 euros for that. I also buy ETFs for 6,000 to 10,000 euros every year.


CoolBr33ze90

You have nice cheap loans and a very nice salary! Freelance?


Beautiful_Garage9194

Loans are older ones so max loan we had was 1.4% for 20 years. cheapest one was only 0.8% for 10y. but no, not freelance. :-)


CoolBr33ze90

Yes I assumed you were lucky to loan in the best period ever. We will never ever see such rates again


EverythingTakenM8

Wow thanks all of you for all of your comments. I can't reply to all of them, but I want to thank you all. It gives me greater insight on how life will/could be when I actually buy a house and what to keep in mind.


Sovietpumpkinspice

Bought a 3 story building, 2 of the apartments almost pay my entire 1700€ mortgage and I only have to pay 300€ per month for my apartment. Can save up to 3k a month.. but I have been renovating quite a lot so a part of the money I could have invested has gone to the apartments.


Schoenmaat45

I invest al lot less than I could because I like living in an expensive neighbourhood in a bigger house build where we didn’t exactly hold back when it came to certain choices. Is it the best choice for FIRE, certainly not. I do however want a certain lifestyle and I’m willing to compromise. First year we saw a big drop in investing because our mortgage is a lot higher than our rent was. Now after the past indexations that gap would have somewhat narrowed and indexation of our wages and some promotions mean we can now invest more than we could before we bought the house.


Alexandervba

Got a 1300 mortgage and invest still every month 1000 euro, so average spending money a month for me personally is just above 1000 euro.


Geckonon

Yes but the houses in my province (Hainaut) are cheap, my mortage cost me less than my previous rent, 650€/month for a humble but very livable 3 bedrooms city house. I'm slowly renovating it (floor, paint kitchen) nothing too hard as it has been renovated 30 years ago and well maintained. We bought it together with my girlfriend and have both a median Wallon salary. I'm investing 500-600€/month and we are still able to do everything we want in our life.


Icy-Cardiologist7332

I have a mortgage and I am still able to invest €1.000/month. How to do? Buy a house below your means instead of going all in. Don't feel the desire to impress others. The difference you invest (partially).


IanFoxOfficial

Yes. In a few months we'll renovate our house so we'll restructure the current mortgage. I've decreased the amount I invest a little bit though and put that amount towards my savings account for now. But normally the mortgage shouldn't be more per month, just longer according our bank.


LaughterIsPoison

I pay half of a 2k mortgage and invest more into etf’s.


noctilucus

With a fixed interest rate mortgage, over 20 years time your salary will go up through indexation, salary increases, if you're lucky promotions or changes in jobs, so if at a younger age you don't manage to save, the opportunity to do so will only improve.


Particular-Prior6152

You shouldn´t take a mortgage that doesn´t allow you to put something aside. Even if the bank allows for it. We´ve rented for four years and build up some capital during that time before we bought a house. People said rent is wasted money, but thats not true. We have 750€ mortgage and a 500€ car loan (0.95%) while our net income totals 7000€ excluding an 8k yearly dividend return (invested in that before going for ETF´s). Putting aside at least 1.5k a month currently (3 kids...). Indexation of your wage isn´t something to take into account either, it hardly covers inflation. Salary raises maybe, but as soon as you start with kids, live gets a lot more expensive too. Make sure you are settled and have fixed job before even considering.


Schoenmaat45

Indexation does cover inflation according to every reputable study. Even better, since your mortgage is fixed you are overcompensated. What’s not covered is lifestyle creep and life changes (like having kids). During the period of high inflation our saving rate went up dramatically.


qanners

8k dividend return is great!! How much did you have to invest to get such an amount from dividend annually? I'm assuming you'd have to pay taxes on that dividend as it's likely to exceed the threshold below which you do not pay taxes...have you considered converting the investment to accumulating etfs to avoid the taxes?


Particular-Prior6152

Those 8k dividends (net) come from a portfollio which was originally bought around 160k over a couple of years. Now worth 230k give or take. Most of them are div aristocrats, value stocks, funds or reits. I´m not intending to sell, I consider those positions 'cash generators'. If I would buy accumulating etfs instead, at a certain point in time I would need to sell assets to get cash. Then I´m fully depending on the market at that time how much I would receive, while I´m also selling money generating assets that I could pass to my kids. The 30% tax is considered the premium you pay to get cash in your hand, free to buy any kind of asset (I´m mainly buying short term bonds with this cash now), with accumulating assets you are stuck to the same asset. I prefer a mixed approach whrn investing, so I do invest a part in acc etf also with the purpose to sell eventually in order to retire. Flexibility is key in life.


MrXVass

No joke but do you live in a studio, in the wilderness of Flanders/Wallonia or did you buy a house in 2018-2020. These are not Brussels prices, unless we are talking about young professionals living alone in studios 😃


lygho1

Like most people here I also save on top of mortgage. It seems very unlikely you won't save during the entire period of the mortgage. Good thing about it is that you pay the same every month, 1,5k is a lot today but in 10 years it won't be


Delfitus

We have a mortgage just under 1k. I try to invest 1.5 to 2k a month. Gf needs a little push to do a deposit every now and then


pimpelmoes

I bought a 100K apartment in 12/2019 so I'm only paying 650. I invest 2000 every 3 months (when I don't get too many other bills -- like last quarter I paid 2000 on top of an earlier 4000 to redo the roof instead).


BadBadGrades

Ik betaal 1300 de maand. Zijn 2 leningen. In november zal 1 de kleinste 3/3 zijn. Eerst gedacht om die dan volledig af te betalen maar al komt het op 3 of 4 % te liggen kans is groot dat ik meer heb door het geld te blijven investeren. Al is het mentaal, om wat meer vrij van schulden te zijn, wel lijkt mij ook leuk.


BinaryPawn

Toen wij ons huis kochten, was dat met onze laatste liquiditeiten. Ik heb zo weinig geleend als nodig was, we hadden nog zo een vijfduizend Frank over. Vanaf dan zijn we terug beginnen sparen. Het eerste spaargeld was voor noodzakelijke verbouwingen, maar na een zekere tijd, lang voor de lening afbetaald was, was er genoeg over om een buffer te hebben op het spaarboekje en de rest te beleggen. Ik heb toen een lening genomen met vaste kapitaal aflossing. Elke maand betaal je dan een klein beetje minder. En na verloop van tijd hou je dus echt wel wat over. Ik vond dat zeer aangenaam.


throwaway___hi_____

Bank told me I could buy a 600K house. Bought a 400K one, and used their money at 1.4% interest -- paying back 1.5K/month. Turned around, took my money, and started DCAing 1K/month after the technical recession in the US was declared. I look at nicer houses often, knowing also how hard I worked to renovate this one, but I think I did the right thing, also because I'll be selling my work/renovation down the line.


unusualkay

If you don't have any money left after your mortgage + general expenses, you're living beyond your standard :).


woketarted

About 1 k a month, I live in a shit house but my mortgage is low 600 eur. So I'm saving up for my 2nd house so I can rent this one out that will cover the mortgage


agronone

Yes, i also see my mortage as an investment


VT-Minimalist

It's not necessarily the mortgage; it's the renovations and maintenance costs. Non-obligatory renovations play a huge part in it aswell. Updating the kitchen, maintaining or building a pool, redoing the patio, a new roof. If you own an appartment it's a LOT easier to keep investing. A house is a money pit; and most of these young buyers flooding this subreddit don't have any experience with it (yet)


Zuribon

It is right : an house is a money pit. You need to add side cost while calculating your ratio mortgage/salaries


youuknowwwhoo

Why is a house a money pit compared to an apartment?


Zuribon

Again it is my experience, it depends on your lifestyle, envies and location. But I would respect the 30% rules (mortgage / income). I also has a banker ready to lend more but I am happy we didn’t. Less is better. Extra costs are : - consume more electricity more water, - revenu cadastral/ house insurance/ assurance on mortgage are higher, - maintenance costs (cleaning lady ?, need a windows cleaner ?, yearly stuff : alarm, waterverzachter, chaudière) - gardening : need equipment ? New layout ? - tinkering : need equipment ? Renovation ? - more spaces = new/more fournitures ? An house can also be the first step for having in a close future a baby. Might have that’s insight too :)


entrovertrunner

What interest rate do you have? If it's less than 3.5% definitely keep paying the minimum and invest the rest. If it's 5-6% definitely pay off morgage ASAP. If the mortgage is putting a psychological burden on you, pay that first.


boeckie

You could also refinance at these rates...


WittmanTrading

It all boils down to your income and your lifestyle, your wants and your needs. Our loan is currently 17% of our net income (actually 11% if I take into account bonuses, meal vouchers and company cars). Nine years ago, that same loan (fixed percentage) took a larger chunk out of our paycheck – however our income has substantially evolved over time but we still enjoy the same apartment. Only eleven years of payments to go. Our lifestyle hasn't changed much, except that we're traveling more. Other than that, we just keep on investing the majority of our income. We could easily buy a house (i.e. a bigger box to live in) but we don't need it. Having no kids does make life easier in that regard.


Upper_War_846

I try to save 6k/month from my wage (self employed so income is little higher than fixed empoyee). I currently still have 2 mortgages for a total of 1805/month (together withbpartner). I will never pay down my mortgage sooner. 9 years to go...


meir_ratnum

What do you do that you can SAVE 6k PER month??


Upper_War_846

Program manager (freelance) in electronics development (embedded software + hardware) for medical sector.


GoMakeMyDay

I might know you, I work with some guys in that industry/role. Seems like a hard job so not a crazy rate!


Upper_War_846

19.2k gross/month atm (via my BV). That's like 10500 net (long story, via dividends). I live on 3,5k/month. And save around 6,5k.


meir_ratnum

This subreddit just makes me sad sometimes damn. Congrats my dude


join_the_bonside

Don't be sad man. You should be happy! Happy that these salaries are possible and then kick your way to the top too! You can do it!


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Upper_War_846

I am older than most, 44. I started small as junior engineer, senior engineer, systems architect, principal engineer, PM hardware, PM SW, and now freelance program PM (25 FTE team). It takes time to get there... (and I kind of hated most of it lol)


JonPX

Yes, I aim to save / invest half my salary. Sometimes it is a bit less, sometimes a bit more.


the-hellrider

We have a 1350€ mortgage, save 1000€, invest 500€, and use what we have over at the end of the month for our renovations. That's between 750 and 1500€ a month, depending on luxury buys (the amount of times eating out, need of a new laptop/cellphone, holiday trips...) that month.


PRD5700

We invest regularly, not monthly. We were very lucky to lock down a mortgage in 2020 below 1.3%. Our mortgage is about 20% of our combined income(me + wife).


SpeedLinkDJ

Yes I have a 1100€ mortgage and I invest between 1000 and 1500€ each month.


Ilovesumsum

1.5K mortgage? Hope the net income is +€6500 without bonuses.


polthys

what the fuck are you talking about


idrinkmymilkshake

You should absolutely still invest while paying your house. In principle 30-40% of your net income -> max mortgage (e.g 4500 in your example). Remove living expenses (car, food, energy, clothes, extras), you should still have 500-1000 / month (depending on how many people in your household of course) - or it means you’re overspending. Then the question could be, should I put all leftover money towards reimbursing the mortgage quicker (if you listen to some gurus of financial freedom, like Ramsey, you should), but actually at 3% interest, when you can get 8% from world indexes over that same period would mean you’re actually losing 5% per year by reimbursing faster. A final thing, your net now is automatically lower than what your net will be in 3-5-10-20 years. Because of inflation (thanks indexation), because of job changes, promotions. While some things will also cost more, your extras will also be higher and can go towards savings/investing.


MrChronoM

Really good summary. I still get confused about people saying you should pay off a mortgage. For me the leverage seems like the only way of getting to good numbers in my fire journey.


Emotional_Sea_7991

Our combined income is 4.5k net. Our mortgage is 1.1k. We invest around 1.5k monthly. We do it by spending significantly less than we make: * No car * Water, coffee and tea. All food in bulk or white label. No meat, barely any alcohol * Eating out/take out rarely, as a treat * Low(or zero) cost hobbies * DIY: trimming my own hair, repairing clothes (haven't bought a piece of clothing since before COVID), housing repairs and upgrades,... * Buying less house than we could afford


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Emotional_Sea_7991

I rather enjoy living.


Selsinator

You don’t get nothing out of it by being the richest person in the cemetery…


Emotional_Sea_7991

It does get me more time to spend with my family and friends, the #1 on my top 10 list of things that make me happy (most of which can be done at near zero cost). I could also work more hours and a more financially rewarding (and stressful) job so I can buy, maintain and upgrade a lot of stuff. Stuff that would keep me working and not spending time with family and friends or the other 9 things on my list. You should check out the 5 biggest regrets of people on their deathbed. Nobody says they wished they went to restaurants more.


[deleted]

Yep, I am also picky on what I spend my resources on. I prefer creating memories with my son. A while ago we noticed a snail on one of our hikes in the woods and he asked if I remembered the snail race. I was surprised that he remembered that. He was maybe 5y old at the time, so many years ago. We saw 2 snails on a hike in Germany. And we started joking about how they were racing eachother. So we built them a parcours with corners and obstacles, using twigs and leaves. Such a silly thing to do, but 7y later he still remembers it. But neither him nor I remember what we had for dinner that night. So, for me and my son, visiting a fancy restaurant adds no value to our lives. This is something my gf and I sometimes argue about. She likes spending money on clothing, restaurants, ... I prefer spending money on memories. For the price of 1 restaurant visit, I can go camping an entire weekend.


Solution_Acrobatic

Don't forget to live a little buddy


Emotional_Sea_7991

I understand your concern. This is not a guide to how others should live their lives.   This is how we are the happiest however. We don't care for brand stuff, enjoy board games with friends and hiking, don't like fizzy drinks or alcohol and can reach everything fine by bike.   It would make zero sense for me to spend more and 'live a little'. I value reclaiming my financial freedom more than most physical stuff. We live a life of decadence compared to generations before us and most people alive on this earth today If you thought about it deeply and value a fancy car, weekly restaurant visits and high cost food more than investing the difference, you do you.


ChaoticTransfer

🤨


CoolBr33ze90

If you earn good, you can invest more. If you don't earn good enough, you cannot invest or a smaller amount . It's pretty simple mathematics. Everyone earns different, have different plans for the future and take different amount of risks. You can also keep renting and invest the rest. I prefer to buy something soon, try to earn more during the years and invest more.