conversation: User (110atFOH): "Hello,\n\nI have been a lurker on this forum for quite some time, but have never posted anything until now.  I know there's some good advice given at times, so I thought i'd give a go at it myself.\n\nMy situation:  \n\nI have qualified for $502k FHA home loan from my certified mortgage planner.  To my knowledge the main factors contributing to my qualifying amount are my provable income (avg between 2012-2013 fed tax returns - $114k), my debt ($44k CC debt - $35k amex @ 15.24%, $9k b of a visa @ 9.24% &amp;amp;amp; $32k auto loan @ 0%), and my credit score approx 715. \n\nFor my area, $502k doesn't get you much unless you are willing to commute 1hr + and live in the outlying suburbs.  In an effort to raise my qualifying amount, my mortgage planner suggested i try to lower my minimum CC amount due on paper (amex's min monthly due apparently is a lot higher than traditional visa or mc cc's) by transferring both CC balances to one card.\n\nI know there's a sea of cards to swim through to find one that works right for you.  But is there any that you know of that are ideal for this situation?  Im looking for a transfer CC that will accept $44k, give me some kind of introductory rate (like 0% interest for 18mo + no balance transfer fee).  Is there another avenue that i might explore? like a lower interest personal loan?\n\nmany thanks for taking the time to read through this.  If there's any additional information you think i left out, then please let me know and I will add it.\n\nEdit: expecting to file 2014 fed tax return w $145k in earnings w 3 dependents.\n\nEdit: reason I am looking to buy vs. rent a diff (larger) place is that in my 4years at my current apt, rents (on avg) have increased 30-40%.  The $2300 i pay for my current 850 sq ft 2bd/1ba would rent now for $3000-$3200/m in a heartbeat (if not more).  It seems to make more sense to buy a place w/ a $3200/m mortgage a little further out of the area knowing that I'm investing in the family's future rather than re-rent a larger apt half the distance between my current place, and where I would look to buy for the close to the same monthly price.\n\nEdit: \n\nMy below monthly budget includes my small home business in addition to my employee earnings. For reference, my combined income for both employee (w2) + home business income is $163k for 2014.\n\nEdit: I should have noted that this budget is an avg from the last 12mo. Some of these individual expenses are trending downward. I will put up a 'last 3mo' spending avg soon.\n\nMonthly Budget \n\n* $2,298.00 	rent\n* $1,745.92 	groceries\n* $979.66 	car payment + gas + insurance + parking + tolls + wash + service\n* $505.17 	kids education (part time pre-school + rec center classes)\n* $465.83 	contract employee payroll\n* $448.33 	family health &amp;amp; fitness out of pocket\n* $428.92 	restaraunts\n* $367.02 	finance charges &amp;amp; fees (cc finance charges, cc membership, checking)\n* $320.33 	kids - 4yrs &amp;amp; 2yrs- (clothing, furniture, books, toys, diapers, etc)\n* $308.92 	work equipment/tools purchases\n* $308.33 	furniture, appliances, cleaning products, hardware, general home purchases &amp;amp; maintainence\n* $266.83 	work: taxi/parking/public transportation\n* $236.15 	work expenses (office supply, expendables, subrentals, media)\n* $180.18 	gasoline\n* $179.80 	general shopping (clothing, household electronics, etc)\n* $161.36 	gas/electricity\n* $106.82 	internet &amp;amp; cable tv\n* $104.61 	personal care (haircuts, tooth brushes, shampoo &amp;amp; conditioner, makeup, spa, etc)\n* $102.30 	wifes phone\n* $100.71 	work phone\n* $80.53 	gifts purchased vs. cash gifts received (xmas, bdays, holidays, etc)\n* $79.55 	travel / vacation\n* $72.17 	insurance (renters, earthquake, life)\n* $70.67 	work computer related purchases\n* $60.23 	entertainment\n* $59.84 	work clothing\n* $45.79 	garbage\n\n $10,083.97 = total expenses per month for 2014\n\n$13583 = total gross income per month for 2014"
  Self: "You're asking for temporary credit card relief so you can add on even more debt. Just drop it. You are walking yourself and your family straight into a buzzsaw here.\n\nHow long is that auto loan going to be 0%? I assume not for long. That's only going to make your situation worse. You are not in a position to take on more than $500,000 in debt. Not remotely. I don't think you're even in a position to take on half of that. I don't care what you've been qualified for.\n\nYou say you're paying off your debt by about $500 a month. Good. Fantastic, actually. Continue on this path of debt reduction for another year, preferably another two years, before you reevaluate whether you can buy a house or not. By then I don't think you'll have paid off enough to buy, but you'll be in much better shape than you are now. You're taking one step forward at a steady rate. Please, don't take 20 steps back.\n\nRent a bigger apartment. You DON'T need a house. There's a reason why everyone here is giving you the same advice, and I know putting off your plans for a few years can be hard to accept, but your family's security trumps your family's comfort. If you want to take the time to do so, post your budget here, and we'll help you pick it apart and find ways to scrounge up even more money to pay off your debt faster.\n\nI'm sorry, but you're just going to have to take this one step at a time. That's the price paid for prior spending. Anything else is going to dig you into an even bigger hole."
  User (110atFOH): "Monthly Budget\n\n* $2,298.00 	rent\n* $1,745.92 	groceries\n* $979.66 	car payment + gas + insurance + parking + tolls + wash + service\n* $505.17 	kids education (part time pre-school + rec center classes)\n* $465.83 	contract employee payroll\n* $448.33 	family health &amp; fitness out of pocket\n* $428.92 	restaraunts\n* $367.02 	finance charges &amp; fees (cc finance charges, cc membership, checking)\n* $320.33 	kids - 4yrs &amp; 2yrs- (clothing, furniture, books, toys, diapers, etc)\n* $308.92 	work equipment/tools purchases\n* $308.33 	furniture, appliances, cleaning products, hardware, general home purchases &amp; maintainence\n* $266.83 	work: taxi/parking/public transportation\n* $236.15 	work expenses (office supply, expendables, subrentals, media)\n* $180.18 	gasoline\n* $179.80 	general shopping (clothing, household electronics, etc)\n* $161.36 	gas/electricity\n* $106.82 	internet &amp; cable tv\n* $104.61 	personal care (haircuts, tooth brushes, shampoo &amp; conditioner, makeup, spa, etc)\n* $102.30 	wifes phone\n* $100.71 	work phone\n* $80.53 	gifts purchased vs. cash gifts received (xmas, bdays, holidays, etc)\n* $79.55 	travel / vacation\n* $72.17 	insurance (renters, earthquake, life)\n* $70.67 	work computer related purchases\n* $60.23 	entertainment\n* $59.84 	work clothing\n* $45.79 	garbage\n\n $10,083.97 = total expenses per month for 2014\n\n$13583 = total gross income per month for 2014"
  Self: "Thank you, but I might actually recommend that, if this doesn't get enough visibility, you make a new post asking specifically for help with cutting costs, otherwise this might just get hidden here. Reference this post or restate the details of what brought this about to provide context. This is very detailed though, so it will make it easier for people to give you suggestions. Also make sure you plan this using your take-home pay, not your gross income.\n\nAre all these expenses things you are planning for the next year or so? Or are they just an average of what you spent last year? Stuff like the furniture seems to indicate that it's the latter since you say you're done with most of your purchasing. If you do this with your planned expenses, it'll be a little easier, because right now it looks like you are just throwing money out the window left and right. It would also help if you went into a little bit of detail about what your small business entails. It seems like you're doing an excellent job of bringing money in and a subpar job of holding on to it.\n\nCommon suggestions and good places to start are:\n\n* Downgrade your phone plans\n* Cut your cable tv\n* Holy shit, cut down on the restaurants\n* Cut/downgrade any gym or other recreational memberships\n\nTo address one of the other edits in your main post, the reason why it doesn't make sense to just buy a house for a little bit more each month (not really a little bit, but let's pretend for the sake of argument that it is) is because you currently are in no position to absorb any major expenses related to home ownership. Right now your landlord is on the hook for repairs to your apartment. Those services are part of what your rent pays for.\n\nYou can't just look at the mortgage payment as a direct replacement for your rent, because the mortgage is merely rent you pay for renting the bank's money. It covers none of the costs associated with actually owning your own home. It's a common misconception that is one of the easiest ways new homeowners find themselves in trouble. That's why everyone is waving red flags here."
  climb-it-ographer (climb-it-ographer): "It's not the restaurants, it's the groceries.  $60 per day at the grocery store is just ridiculous."
  User (110atFOH): "Well, I believe our more current grocery bill is closer to $1550m now (I will post a 3mo avg soon), but we live one block from whole foods (in San Francisco) and would basically just buy whatever we wanted off the shelves, w no restriction.  It's typically about $50-$70bag on avg id say. In the last 6mo however, we've cut back on luxury items and are also getting a few things at diff stores as a competitive alternative.  As a disclaimer, we do only eat organic foods w no plans of that changing... So that is contributing to the grocery bill more so than buying gmo foods at say a Safeway.\n"
  elmoret (elmoret): "&gt; we do only eat organic foods w no plans of that changing\n\nYou cannot afford this."
  brutalhonesty11 (brutalhonesty11): "Sure he can. Because, he deserves it. haha."
  Dragonfly518 (Dragonfly518): "He needs a backyard garden.  "
  