Remember, you need a place to live, so you can't compare buying a house to spending nothing. The question that matters is whether buying a house makes better f

Remember, you need a place to live, so you can't compare buying a house to spending nothing. The question that matters is whether buying a house makes better financial sense than renting a place to live. Now, there are a few hacks here. You could rent a room in a house with 7 housemates, which will invariably be cheaper than buying your own place. You could also choose to live in a tent, or van, ro something very cheap. If that works for you and makes you happy, then sure. But if you're serious about maybe buying a house, then I think of it like this: If interest + property taxes + maintenance are less each month than you would have been paying in rent, then you are betting off buying your own place, and anything you pay down onto the capital is just a form of forced savings.