Mortgage vs. Rent: I stopped using Excel and wrote a money simulator

The author of the article faced the limitations of standard mortgage calculators and the complexity of Excel spreadsheets for long-term financial planning. To objectively evaluate the benefits of renting versus buying a home with a mortgage, he developed his own software engine to simulate cash flow. The tool allows for modeling various scenarios, taking into account income, expenses, and early repayments. During testing, the author compared two approaches: renting while saving, and buying a more expensive property while directing saved rent money toward the principal. The results showed that the second option allowed the mortgage to be paid off nearly a year earlier, despite the larger loan amount. This project demonstrates how programming skills can be applied to everyday financial tasks, providing clarity and calculation accuracy that are often unavailable in standard spreadsheet software.