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[quote=Anonymous][quote]I remember being your age and wondering how some of my colleagues could go house hunting in neighborhoods I couldn't dream of being able to afford. I thought maybe we should just stretch our budget if everyone else is managing to afford a $800K starter home. You have to be really careful not to compare yourself to others. You have to focus on yourself and your budget. You just never know who has extra help behind the scenes. Frankly, I'm surprised your friends were honest enough to tell you they were getting help.[/quote]

I graduated law school and started out with a top firm - $86K base + bonus in 1998 - with nearly $100K in debt (student loans @ 8% in those days + I had about $30K in credit card debt from all the stuff that student living expense loans did not cover in college/law school).  I was also living/working in NYC.  No help from parents post-age 20 (so a lot of regular living expenses like food during college went on CC).  I really tried hard, but it still took me 7 years to fully pay off all the debt with no help from parents or anyone else for that matter.  Paid for my own wedding.  Bailed out parents several times for various expensive home repairs or medical expenses.  Bailed out brother a couple of times too.  By 2006, debt was gone, and had saved $100K for a down payment, had a 2-yr-old and wanted to buy.  And yet . . . it still was a stretch when we bought our house in a neighborhood my colleagues have been known to refer to as "ghetto".  I sometimes wonder how I could have worked so hard for so long at such a high salary and have so little to show for it . . .  but the truth is that a lot of people have help along the way and it makes a huge difference.  Imagine if I'd started out debt-free out of college/law school?  And add to that help with a downpayment?  And not having expended thousands in helping out family members?

Everyone has a different starting point.  Try not to compare to others and work within your own budget.  This is good advice.[/quote]

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