I guess we will see ya back here for an upgrade in 2018 
FLAC is a perfect logical choice for the masses. Oddly - outside of this specific thread - I do not recall anyone ever complaining that FLAC “doesn’t cut it”. I am thinking that’s directly related to the fact that no one would ever work in Nuendo (Or any recording app for that matter) in compressed format for actual production.
If your biggest concerns are saving “space” and “money” - neither of those is possible in the recording game - it is what it is. Maybe time to move over to Reaper - it sounds like it has what you need?
VP