Why pick Warsaw? It's like using London as an example when someone lives in the UK - it's not representative of a country. I'm from the South of Poland, 145k after taxes gets you a big house with plenty of land, not a condo.
>>Buying an apartment but having my life remain the same, same job, same hours, same activities, is not "life changing" to me.
That's a weird definition,most people would consider not having to worry about housing pretty life changing. But you know, you're free to have any definition you want. "Having enough money to retire and not work" isn't the goal for all of us. I'd rather keep working and making more money, but not having to worry about a mortgage would be pretty life changing(for me).
Owning a house does not mean you stop worrying about housing. Property taxes, maintenance, insurance, HOA fees etc add up to rent.
I feel like we're just going to keep moving goalposts further and further and further. Home ownership is the dream of a lot of people - being able to buy a house outright or just put a deposit down is life changing for some people. I assume for a lot of people on HN it really is that 150k is nice but not life changing - I appreciate that there are a lot of very well paid people here.
As for worry about housing - when renting the landlord can kick you out almost at any time - you live in a constant fear that due to someone's whim you might have to move. If you own a house(even with a mortgage) that is generally lot less likely to happen. But honestly, I don't know why I'm explaining this.