🏠 How Much House Can I Realistically Afford Without Feeling House-Poor?
A clear-eyed guide to buying a home that supports your life instead of squeezing it Introduction 🧠 Buying a home is often framed as a finish line. Bigger house, higher price, higher status. The problem is that many people cross that finish line only to discover they’re now trapped inside it. House-poor doesn’t always mean broke on paper. It means cash-tight in real life. It’s the feeling of watching your paycheck disappear into a mortgage while everything else becomes a negotiation. The tricky part is that lenders will often approve you for far more house than your lifestyle can comfortably handle. Approval is not affordability. Comfort lives in the gap between what you can pay and what you should pay if you want breathing room. This article walks through how to define that gap honestly, without scare tactics or fantasy math, so your home supports your life instead of dominating it. 💸 What “House-Poor” Actually Feels Like House-poor isn’t just a number. It’s a pattern. It loo...