OP, you can afford it mathematically for sure. You're getting some tough love on the forum because you're a bit dismissive of some of the thoughts others are offering. This forum is ultra conservative in my opinion, and some of that conservatism isn't healthy (that's a different conversation).
You've got a lot of fat in your budget in the eyes of some, while others would call that being young and enjoying a good income. Here's the good news, if / when you do have kids, I promise you won't be spending $12,000 a year on vacations in year one, you can kiss the season tickets at $550 a month goodbye for a while, and the going out at $1,000 a month becomes something much less. The bad news is you'll have other expenses, such as childcare, additional health insurance costs, etc. You are really underestimating the move-in costs / finishing costs of buying a home. Here's a tip - there is ALWAYS something to be done to the house.
Not a chance in hell you and your wife can do full-time jobs working from home and doing childcare. 0%. You're going to have childcare expenses, and your wife (or you) may want to stay at home with the future baby for a while, so your childcare expenses might be cash outflows, or a reduction in income. One of the two will happen. And sometimes getting a kid into this world isn't possible without IVF, or the desire for one kid max becomes a strong pull for multiple when you see how freaking cute they are. Be careful about overplanning for the future. No plan survives first impact!
All of this to say... you can afford the house, but it's probably time to clean up the budget a little bit and create some capacity / additional savings each month. Also, this forum tends to skew on the "eat rice and beans five times a week and you can save $2,500 a year, and do that for 50 years and you'll have $5mm+" type of advice. Focus on maximizing your income. You're not even close to hitting peak career earnings. Put in the extra time at work, take on more responsibility, figure out how to keep climbing.
You've got a lot of fat in your budget in the eyes of some, while others would call that being young and enjoying a good income. Here's the good news, if / when you do have kids, I promise you won't be spending $12,000 a year on vacations in year one, you can kiss the season tickets at $550 a month goodbye for a while, and the going out at $1,000 a month becomes something much less. The bad news is you'll have other expenses, such as childcare, additional health insurance costs, etc. You are really underestimating the move-in costs / finishing costs of buying a home. Here's a tip - there is ALWAYS something to be done to the house.
Not a chance in hell you and your wife can do full-time jobs working from home and doing childcare. 0%. You're going to have childcare expenses, and your wife (or you) may want to stay at home with the future baby for a while, so your childcare expenses might be cash outflows, or a reduction in income. One of the two will happen. And sometimes getting a kid into this world isn't possible without IVF, or the desire for one kid max becomes a strong pull for multiple when you see how freaking cute they are. Be careful about overplanning for the future. No plan survives first impact!
All of this to say... you can afford the house, but it's probably time to clean up the budget a little bit and create some capacity / additional savings each month. Also, this forum tends to skew on the "eat rice and beans five times a week and you can save $2,500 a year, and do that for 50 years and you'll have $5mm+" type of advice. Focus on maximizing your income. You're not even close to hitting peak career earnings. Put in the extra time at work, take on more responsibility, figure out how to keep climbing.
Statistics: Posted by AZAttorney11 — Sat May 11, 2024 9:09 am — Replies 83 — Views 5366