It’s time to tell some of my story I guess, because I could really need some advice. I’ll drop the facts first for those who don’t really care about the background. 
TL;DR
In short, my GF and I are now living in an apartment for 2100.-, and we are considering moving to one that’s 2900.-. The current tenant is a friend and we could take the place over.
In terms of salary I’m currently receiving 8400.- after deductibles on my bank account each month and I’m covering rent + food for both of us. The GF is still studying. She works part time and so she can cover her own health care costs, clothing, make up and all that. The new apartment would cost 2900.- CHF. She can contribute ~400 CHF rent per month, which would make the 2900.- rent be just a bit less than a third of my income. Still a big yikes!
But:
- The new apartment is in the same village as we live in now, which geographically is really the best fit for us
- We live so close to Zurich now, that I can cycle to work every day. In the last 6 months I maybe took the train 10 times. So almost no expenses there.
- Taxes are super low here
- We don’t own a car
- We don’t have expensive hobbies
- No pets or children
Reason for the move
So looking at the numbers, it looks like it’s too expensive, and I need to explain why we want to move:
2019-2021: We moved together in a small, okay-ish apartment for 1700 CHF per month. Little did we know that next door on the same floor an elderly couple lived, who had no respect for anyone. On top of that the walls were so thin, that you could hear normal conversations even when they were not yelling, or when they were on a phone call. Fast-forward a year and they hated us because we complained a few times. They had their grandchildren over who would tear the place apart until 1:30 AM at an age of just ~4 years old. During these two years we did not sleep well, we didn’t feel at home at all, and I despised living there with every single day that passed. But it was tough finding a new place for the same amount.
2022: By chance we managed to score an apartment near Zurich, at the lake. We now pay 2100 CHF. The increased rent is cancelled out by the lower costs for public transport and lower taxes. On top of that our commute is way shorter, which gives us more time in general. We have been here for a few months now, but it turned out that the previous tenant was not very honest with us. It’s not as bad as the previous apartment, but we can still hear everything that goes on in this house. I don’t want to go into too much detail. But long story short is that the family owning the entire house is living in the bottom floor, and we involuntarily participate in their every day live. They are loud and inconsiderate, and we can’t do anything about it because they own the place and grew up when all apartments were occupied by family members. So they never learned any different.
I’m at the same point again where I don’t feel comfortable in my own home. I hate coming home from work, exiting the train at my stop, walking back to the apartment. The problem is, I also don’t see any quick remedy. We have been looking for apartments for a while again now, but in and around Zurich they are often crazy expensive. I don’t need to tell you guys. Somehow I also refuse to accept, that a couple needs to shell out close to 3000.- CHF in rent in order to be happy and have a somewhat decent place.
Saving rate
My current saving rate is ~1800 CHF per month in ETFs and 573 CHF per month into 3rd pillar. By moving to this new place, my saving rate would drop from a total of 2373 CHF to 1673 CHF per month. But honestly, I don’t even know what I’m saving for anymore. I don’t think I will ever own a home, because of how expensive everything is and it just doesn’t look realistic to me. Also it starts to feel like my drive to save money is making me more and more unhappy. I thought about what I could spend money on now that would make me happier, and there really is nothing material other than a home where I feel comfortable living in.
I’m just worried, that with this saving rate I’ll never see FIRE before being old and grey. But then again I’m currently only earning 110k CHF with an enginering Master’s degree, and there’s no reason to assume that I can’t score a few 10k more over the next years. So on one side I think I should worry more about increasing my salary, on the other side 2900.- for rent just doesn’t sound mustachian at all. On top of that my gf will also have her master’s in a year or two, and then I hope that we can soon enter the 200k territory.
Salary progression so far
Last but not least, my professional development for those who are interested:
- 5 years ago: I finished my Master’s degree and started working as a Lab Assistant. 70k salary, stayed for 1yr
- 4 years ago: Worked as Software engineer in startup 1, 90k, for 3yrs
- 2 years ago until now: Software engineer in startup 2, 110k, 2 yrs
In this 5 year period I somehow managed to save ~ 150k. It’s not bad, especially given that I only started investing about 2 years ago when I discovered this community through, ironically, an ad for Selma. But reading other people’s numbers here I still feel very humble with my income and savings.
I’m sorry for the long post. It’s difficult to keep it informal, but also explain the desperation sufficiently without getting too emotional. I’m interested in similar stories maybe, and how other people see this. Finding an apartment near has been a topic for me for a few years now and it feels like I just can’t take it anymore.
As I wrote above, my plan is to buy into Genossenschaften in and around Zurich, and then hopefully find something nice in the next few years, where prices are okay and neighbours respect each other.
all of these factors come at a premium, they are, so to speak, an (affordable) luxury.