$4,000.

Remember that most people who respond to these threads are VERY conservative financially, so expect to hear low numbers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would think that $2700-2800 would be the max.

We make a bit more ($13,500/mo net and have a couple more kids too) and, all in, we pay $2500 for our mortgage. It allows us enough flexibility to not worry about money. We do pay for daycare ($1100/mo) We also save for cars when these crap out on us, max out all retirement accounts, save in 529 plans, not worry about eating out once in awhile, pay for kids extracurriculars and summer camp, and go on a small vacation once a year.

I consider all of the above pretty standard for middle class folks in this area and we still feel like we could be saving more. I wouldn't want to pay any more towards my mortgage.

It must be real tough living on $11,000 in take home pay

You spend 132K per year on incidentals and bills? Give me a break. You're being extremely conservative.

and you sound extremely jealous. I congratulate the PP for choosing to have a small mortgage and not worry about whether or not she can afford summer camp.

Anonymous wrote:our net income is around $12K and our mtg is close to $6K a month. Amazing people are this clueless. Millions of americans live on a $100K income, and live well. So to have that lifestyle AFTER housing costs is hardly being reckless.

yep, that was us and we didn't sleep a wink the whole time we owned the house. it was an expensive nightmare. you are fooling yourself if you think a $6k mortgage on a $12K net is comfortable - unless you have an nice annual bonus you're not telling us about?

Anonymous wrote:I would think that $2700-2800 would be the max.

We make a bit more ($13,500/mo net and have a couple more kids too) and, all in, we pay $2500 for our mortgage. It allows us enough flexibility to not worry about money. We do pay for daycare ($1100/mo) We also save for cars when these crap out on us, max out all retirement accounts, save in 529 plans, not worry about eating out once in awhile, pay for kids extracurriculars and summer camp, and go on a small vacation once a year.

I consider all of the above pretty standard for middle class folks in this area and we still feel like we could be saving more. I wouldn't want to pay any more towards my mortgage.

It must be real tough living on $11,000 in take home pay

You spend 132K per year on incidentals and bills? Give me a break. You're being extremely conservative.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$2000 max.

We net $13,500,
rent is $3K
maxing 401K,
2 kids in public, one in college.
2 kids in braces.
few extra curricullars
2 car payments (total $900 a month), paying down some debt accumulated while DH was unemployed. about $20K in credit card debt.

We do not live a fancy life and we do not feel like we're saving very much every month.

do not go about $2K, Life happens and you need to be prepared for changes.

This has to be a joke or you're completely disconnected from reality.

I net about half of what the OP makes and pay 2K for my PITI. It's not hard at all. I am still able to save money every month.

The OP could easily do $3500. If you have a hard time living off 5k after housing and retirement then you're doing it wrong.

I think that you're missing this poster's point. She is telling the OP that [expensive] things come up during the course of a child's life and if you are tied to an expensive mortgage you may not have funds available to pay for them. She is also pointing out that their income may not be stable for the next 30 years and there may be some periods of unemployment. She is merely making a suggestion based on her life experience and frankly I don't disagree agree with her.

I am the PP who said $2K. Yes thank you for bringing home the obvious point I was trying to make. We used to have a big mortgage ($5K) with slightly lower earnings than we have now and totally regretted our decision. It totally sucked the life out of us. Sure on paper it all looks very doable but then stuff starts to happen to the house - water heater, pipes burst, leaky roof, HVAC, plumbing etc. when you own a home and you have a hefty mortgage you better make sure you have a respectable rainy day fund because things will happen that you were not expecting. Now factor in all the non-home related issues that could pop up - health related, cars break down etc.

but go ahead OP - saddle yourself with a $3500 payment. Enjoy the misery.

Anonymous wrote:our net income is around $12K and our mtg is close to $6K a month. Amazing people are this clueless. Millions of americans live on a $100K income, and live well. So to have that lifestyle AFTER housing costs is hardly being reckless.

.

Wow. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night. Our take home income is more than 2x yours and our mortgage is less. And I still wish we could save more. Retirement is expensive.

our net income is around $12K and our mtg is close to $6K a month. Amazing people are this clueless. Millions of americans live on a $100K income, and live well. So to have that lifestyle AFTER housing costs is hardly being reckless.

Anonymous wrote:op here. yikes, can we all just get along? Before i posted this thread, I too thought that about 1/3 of net would be a good safe amount for PITI...

so in my circumstance, PITI would be about 2700-2800 bucks.


I am going to have to stretch my budget a little bit to get into a house that I want.

So would everyone agree that a 2700-2800 PITI would be ok on my income? (even if my mother in law stops watching our kid and we have daycare expenses)

PP here. Yes, I think you can spend and still be comfortable and able to swing daycare if needed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would think that $2700-2800 would be the max.

We make a bit more ($13,500/mo net and have a couple more kids too) and, all in, we pay $2500 for our mortgage. It allows us enough flexibility to not worry about money. We do pay for daycare ($1100/mo) We also save for cars when these crap out on us, max out all retirement accounts, save in 529 plans, not worry about eating out once in awhile, pay for kids extracurriculars and summer camp, and go on a small vacation once a year.

I consider all of the above pretty standard for middle class folks in this area and we still feel like we could be saving more. I wouldn't want to pay any more towards my mortgage.

to each his own, but i'm sure that even you would agree that you are being extremely extremely conservative. how many kids do you have?

3.

I don't think we are being that conservative. I mean the spending on incidentals can add up so quickly. There's always the need for more wine! New patio furniture. Deck refinishing. Carpet cleaning. The need for a new transmission can come out of nowhere and, in all honesty, something like that is usually happening on one of the cars (of which we have 2). Admittedly, we're not wringing our hands about turning up the heat when it's cold but I don't think we're very frugal at all. It's nice to not have to be frugal because we aren't house poor.

Anonymous wrote:I would think that $2700-2800 would be the max.

We make a bit more ($13,500/mo net and have a couple more kids too) and, all in, we pay $2500 for our mortgage. It allows us enough flexibility to not worry about money. We do pay for daycare ($1100/mo) We also save for cars when these crap out on us, max out all retirement accounts, save in 529 plans, not worry about eating out once in awhile, pay for kids extracurriculars and summer camp, and go on a small vacation once a year.

I consider all of the above pretty standard for middle class folks in this area and we still feel like we could be saving more. I wouldn't want to pay any more towards my mortgage.

to each his own, but i'm sure that even you would agree that you are being extremely extremely conservative. how many kids do you have?

I would think that $2700-2800 would be the max.

We make a bit more ($13,500/mo net and have a couple more kids too) and, all in, we pay $2500 for our mortgage. It allows us enough flexibility to not worry about money. We do pay for daycare ($1100/mo) We also save for cars when these crap out on us, max out all retirement accounts, save in 529 plans, not worry about eating out once in awhile, pay for kids extracurriculars and summer camp, and go on a small vacation once a year.

I consider all of the above pretty standard for middle class folks in this area and we still feel like we could be saving more. I wouldn't want to pay any more towards my mortgage.

op here. yikes, can we all just get along? Before i posted this thread, I too thought that about 1/3 of net would be a good safe amount for PITI...

so in my circumstance, PITI would be about 2700-2800 bucks.


I am going to have to stretch my budget a little bit to get into a house that I want.

So would everyone agree that a 2700-2800 PITI would be ok on my income? (even if my mother in law stops watching our kid and we have daycare expenses)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$5K easy

That is totally insane

then most calculators are insane. OP mentioned their NET pay. Gross pay sounds like it is close to $210K/year.

I thought everyone knew that those calculators aren't financially prudent. I would spend no more than 30% of my net on housing. Being house poor would suck.

because it sucks having an asset worth $1MM being paid for using 3% financing with amazing tax benefits?

No. Because everything around here is expensive. And who knows how long Grandma will be able to provide free childcare. It you want to be house poor, go for it. But OP asked what I would be comfortable doing. And 30% is my max.

I can't decide which I enjoy more: That you dislike using calculators yet rely on a silly rule of thumb, or that half of the online calculators are specifically designed based around your silly rule of thumb.

The online calculators use 30% of gross. I was talking about 30% of net. I am not sure what your problem is. Not everyone wants to live on the edge of financial ruin and hope they never have experience any changed circumstances. No fiscally responsible person would ever advise that you should spend 60%+ of your net income on housing expenses.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$5K easy

That is totally insane

then most calculators are insane. OP mentioned their NET pay. Gross pay sounds like it is close to $210K/year.

I thought everyone knew that those calculators aren't financially prudent. I would spend no more than 30% of my net on housing. Being house poor would suck.

because it sucks having an asset worth $1MM being paid for using 3% financing with amazing tax benefits?

No. Because everything around here is expensive. And who knows how long Grandma will be able to provide free childcare. It you want to be house poor, go for it. But OP asked what I would be comfortable doing. And 30% is my max.

Where would you live comfortably and safely for 2500$ per month?

Plenty of places. Sheesh.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$5K easy

That is totally insane

then most calculators are insane. OP mentioned their NET pay. Gross pay sounds like it is close to $210K/year.

I thought everyone knew that those calculators aren't financially prudent. I would spend no more than 30% of my net on housing. Being house poor would suck.

because it sucks having an asset worth $1MM being paid for using 3% financing with amazing tax benefits?

No. Because everything around here is expensive. And who knows how long Grandma will be able to provide free childcare. It you want to be house poor, go for it. But OP asked what I would be comfortable doing. And 30% is my max.

I can't decide which I enjoy more: That you dislike using calculators yet rely on a silly rule of thumb, or that half of the online calculators are specifically designed based around your silly rule of thumb.