<prompt> Human: TL;DR: How do you determine whether a purchasing a home, and the corresponding budget and lifestyle, is worth it?x200B;Scenario: For the past year, Ive been toying with buying a first house with my husband. We are recently married, in our late 20searly 30s, and finally at a point in our professional personal lives that wed like to settle down and start a family. I grew up in the same house in a very privileged community, and its been hard for me to shake the American Dreamconsumerism mentality. I would love to buy a single-family home in the suburbs, with space for guests, a yard for the dogfuture kids, and great public schools. I work remotely and spend a lot of time at home, so the space is important to me.The Good: Ive been doing lots of research. I am aware purchasing a home is a huge expense, and often entails a lot more money than people think in terms of maintenance, property taxes, etc. I dont view it as an investment, as much as a lifestyle choice. We would plan to live there 10 years. We have no debt, excellent credit scores, and a decent emergency fund. I am relatively risk adverse, so likely wont bite off more than I can chew. I know finance should trump emotions, ultimately.The Mediocre: We live outside a HCOL area, generally MCOL, but houses in my target suburb with the best public schools are still in the 400-600k range. I have downgraded my dreams to something a little smaller and older, but it is still a huge purchase. When I run the numbers, they are certainly doable, but not amazing. Our savings rate would take a hit. We have a sizable down payment ready 30k, but nowhere near 20. The Bad: We are a little late to the game in terms of our retirement savings and net worth, so the argument that we rent for a few more years while putting extra money into a taxable investment account instead of a house is very compelling. I view a home purchase as a large, life-altering decision, and I think Im suffering from analysis paralysis. I have been flip-flopping for a while about every aspect of this decision should we buy and if so when, how much should we spend, is what wed get actually worth it, should we save for the 20 versus putting 10 down, should we stretch the budget a little because this is important to me, are the things I think I want actually important in the grand scheme of life Will they be important to me in 10 years? Will they be important to my kids?, and so on. I dont want to have buyers remorse, but I also dont want to sacrifice too much for the sake of being financial conservative. The Questions: Ive read lots of threads about buying versus renting, the financial impact of buying, etc. However, Id like to get anecdotal responses or sage wisdom about how to balance the financial with the emotional tug of buying a home. Did you overspend? Did you rent and it was a better choice ultimately? Was your decision more financial or emotional? Do you regret it?  <response>: Youre first time home buyers. Theres nothing wrong with a starter home. You dont have kids yet, why pay a premium for schools when they wont be relevant for at least 8 years? My advice: start with something far more modest. Home ownership is a big jump for a variety of reasons, and financially speaking, the larger the home, the more expensive EVERYTHING is. Its not just the mortgage, its the furniture, the utilities, the landscaping, the repairs, the HOA fees, the maintenance etc. Youll make mistakes in your purchase. Thats a fact. You wont do it perfect the first time. Cheaper home cheaper mistakes. Youll get to learn what you want. A friend of mine loved the idea of a old house with character. They ended up selling it at a bit of a loss because they couldnt handle the maintenance that came with it. Start small. Work your way up. If you go into a purchase thinking that youll need other raise a family and die there you will buy more than you can afford and you will likely overpay. 