<prompt> Human: Ive just been amazed at the influx of babies and houses on my Facebook feed. I dont feel anywhere near financially stable enough to buy a house, much less care for a child.Many of them would be making the same combined income as my boyfriend and I teachers married to cops or sales people, etc. - not talking about the software developers and so on. Our combined income is 86k, we are both 24. Edit: We only recently started making this much - many people I see buying homes w kids 1-2 years out of college couldnt make much more than 60-70k combined if that. I understand that combination can buy you a home - Im wondering how they do it so quickly is all.Now I realize thats enough of an income to afford a home in general, but we dont have the savings built up to have 10-20 on a house paying back our student loans not super significant, about 20k combined, adding to our retirement, and emergency savings.So Im primarily just curious - how are they even doing it? Do they typically get it from parents? Do they just not save the 10-20? Do they save a ton during college somehow?None of these people Im close enough to to feel comfortable asking. Edit: Thank you for all the responses. I actually didnt realize you could get a mortgage without the 10-20 down payment.As far as many of you implying that we suck at saving, thats certainly not the case. We save - but we only recently started making the money that we do there are plenty of reasons that we cant afford a house and baby right now based on our own life and decisions. I was merely wanting to know how people did it at all. These are people in a mid-cost of living area.  <response>: Houses are often cheaper than renting if you plan on staying put. While we recommend a 20 down payment, thats sadly not very common among most first-time home buyers. So depending on the house, they might be having an easier time affording their house than you your rent.Kids also dont necessarily have to be super expensive. Wed all like to be able to pay for our childrens college education, and buy them all new clothes every year, and private X classes, and a car when they turn 16, and vacations to Disney World, etc. None of these things are necessary. Most of us probably wouldnt be alive right now had our parents waited until they felt they could afford all that shit. If you can afford to give them food, clothes from goodwill, a bed, and your time, theyll be just fine.In addition to that, I think a lot of people wonder how they can afford to have kids while still maintaining their current lifestyle. The truth is your peers that are having kids are probably cutting back in other areas that you dont see. Maybe they spend less on hobbies, entertainment or eating out. Your priorities will probably change when you have kids too. Or maybe as unolancamp2 suggests they are just in a ton of debt. 