Most people wouldn't say that. If I buy a $500K home with a $400K mortgage and the mortgage ends up costing me $600K over the next 30 years, I don't know anyon

Most people wouldn't say that. If I buy a $500K home with a $400K mortgage and the mortgage ends up costing me $600K over the next 30 years, I don't know anyone who'd claim that I spent $700K. Most would say I spent $500K; a few would say I spent $100K and borrowed $400K. Among various things that could happen: I might pay off the $400K next year and pay a grand total of $411K in interest. I might sell the house for $700K and book a $200K profit on my $100K cash. I might lose my job, get foreclosed upon, and then be out $100K plus whatever payments I've already made. I might have had $500K in cash to begin with, but wanted to invest $400K in Ethereum, see it moon for a 20x return, and make a cool $8M profit on top of the house. Or I could carry the mortgage to term, and then I really will have spent $700K.