Wife and I Are Trying to Buy a House and Are Budgeting For the First Time As a Result

Expense Management Forum
1

Hey y’all. My wife and I are looking to trade in our COVID-purchased starter home (2 BR, 2 BA at a 3% interest rate) for a larger home to prepare to start a family within the next few years. We’re preparing to make an offer on a house that would cost us about $2,100 per month. Before we make this move, I wanted to put together a sound monthly budget that we can stick to so that we don’t get ourselves into financial trouble. For context, we make $7,200 in take-home pay each month. We’ve never really budgeted seriously before, so this is new to us. We’re guilty of eating out too much right now, so that will be the number 1 thing we’ll have to reign in. I already contribute 11% of my pre-tax salary into my 401k and my employer matches 3%. I also contribute $100/month to a Roth IRA. My wife contributes $50/month to her Roth IRA. My wife has a monthly student loan payment of about $600/month, but no other debt to speak of. We pay our health insurance directly from our employers and contribute a few bucks to our HSA’s each month, too. Please let me know if you think this is feasible for a married couple (29 M, 29F). And let me know if you have any tips!

2

Remember full-time infant childcare will cost probably about a minimum of $1,000 a month. Include childcare in your budget if you’ll be utilizing it.

3

This is very good advice. Unless grandparents are retired and going to be babysitting for free, it’s a huge cost to consider.

4

You don’t really need a bigger house right now. Many couples have trouble conceiving, so buying a house before the baby is here seems premature.

5

This seems reasonable. Just ensure your emergency fund is fattened up, and don’t underestimate the cost of raising a child.

6

I would focus on not spending period and paying off all your debt instead of trying to budget in eating out and fun.

7

Have you thought about renting your house and maybe renting? That interest rate is hard to give up.

8

We had our kids sharing and didn’t go bigger until we were talking about having a third. You can make it work in a smaller space.