the definition of being able to afford something I believe lies in how well it allows you to grow your assets.

now, for both of your cases (2k and 4k) if you buy to rent and the rent is enough to cover your mortgage, the end result is a net gain.

but then you see people who earn 2k buying 60-70k cars which take them 9 years to pay off and by the end of that suffer a loss due to both the large amount paid for interest as well as the depreciation of a cars value. whereas, if you bought say a second hand waja for 25k paid it off within 3-5 years and used the extra cash to invest wisely, you would end up with both a form of transport as well as steady growth in assets.

the problem then is due to people living above their means, ie. changing cars every few years and renting apartments bigger than they need. I remember reading somewhere in the forum about a guy renting a 3 bedroom apartment for himself and wasnt willing to rent out the other rooms.

but then again, please correct me if im wrong. Im still a student who hasnt started to invest yet and my opinion is limited to the small amount of FQ that ive been trying to gain prior to entering the workforce