1. Who the heck worries about falling behind in Land Tech in 1450?? You don't fight straight-up battles with the AI countries then anyway, so who cares if you fall behind a CRT level? Invest in Infrastructure 100%. Get to Infra 5 as soon as possible (I guarantee you won't likely "beat" the Ahead of Time Penalty date on this, so don't worry about it). Then promote all mayors to Governors. This will give you inflation free treasury cash, whereupon you can start working at upgrading through military action. Since you are not a colonizer, you don't really need LT 5 that quickly (assaults won't be that important), and if anyone tells you it is important to get LT 7 for artillery, tell them artillery aren't worth the money for at least the first 25 levels or so (if then!). Investing in Land Tech in 1450 is just plain a waste of effort.
2. Austria has three main inheritance events it looks forward to. First, in the late 1400's, it can inherit the Lowlands, as well as some Rhineland provinces held by the Duchy of Burgundy. Austria isn't totally in control of this, but there are things you can do to make it more likely to happen. If you want to know what to do, peek into the Event file for BUR.
Second, in the early 1500's, it inherits Bohemia. This is almost a guaranteed event. Bohemia is a great gain, though to be at its best for you, you do need to convert provinces to Catholic, since Bohemia was riddled with Hussites, an early Protestant sect. By the way, it is good to ally with Bohemia so you can defend it against predation by Poland and Brandenburg.
Third, in 1540, you inherit Hungary, or, at least, portions of Hungary. The Ottomans can get a fairly hefty chunk, too, so again, if you want to know how to maximize the issue, peruse the event files for Bohemia, Austria and the Ottomans (TUR).
To get an idea how this will make your country look, switch to the political mapmode and imagine Bohemia, Burgundy and Hungary in White. Big White Blob.
3. If you are experiencing negative cash flow on a monthly basis, there are only two possible reasons: Army maintenance that is too high, and loan interest. You can't do much about loan interest except pay off the loans as they come due, or force yourself into bankruptcy. But you can always do something about maintenance.
First, and I said this before, make certain your maintenance level is at 50% when not at war. All maintenance does is increase your troops' morale, and that is only key when fighting. Chuck the slider all the way left and leave it there until you have to fight.
Second, never have any more troops on hand than you can afford. You can see how much each 1000 infantry and each 1000 cavalry are costing you in the land army information window (hover the pointer over the numbers and it is broken down for you). Disband troops that are costing you too much. You MUST have positive cash flow on a net yearly basis; your goal with loans is to make enough each year to be able to pay the 200d when the loan is due. Take your yearly census tax, subtract the amount you want yourself to save yearly, and then divide the remainder by 12. That is your ideal monthly budget for troop costs and loan interest. If you must keep more troops on hand than you can afford under that calculation, then you have to "mint" money by moving the "To Treasury" slider to the right enough to add ducats to the Treasury sufficient to cover your needs.
There is a caveat to troop levels: your potential enemies judge whether or not to declare war upon you primarily based upon your troop strength. If it falls too low, they pounce like hungry sharks.
To avoid this, you need to be in a good, strong, alliance. Then, the decision by your enemies to go to war is based upon the combined power of your alliance, and AI countries are great at keeping tons of troops on hand. The downside is that your alliance partners may get you involved in wars you don't want, but often you can just sit them out by refusing to increase maintenance or troop levels, unless the opponents come knocking at your door.
4. Ignore trade. You are at a level where you can't afford the cost of the merchants, you don't have the trade efficiency of your southern neighbors Venice and Genoa (not to mention Portugal), and there are tons of countries sending traders to all the good Centers of Trade. End result? You spend money wastefully trying to keep your poor merchants in Centers of Trade. Other than a presence in Veneto (which costs very little), and the occasional attempt to insert a trader into an "empty slot" in another European CoT, don't bother with this. Wait until you have 4 or 5 refineries, your Trade investment is substantial, you have yourself with a trade efficiency to rival most of Europe, THEN become a trading giant.
5. Inflation is not a bad thing. You may well have to accept some to avoid bankruptcy. It makes it harder on you in the long run, but it beats being unable to field troops. Somewhere between .10% and .20% per year is perfectly acceptable. You will laugh about inflation when you get to Infra 5 and experience yearly deflation.
