<prompt> Human: My wife just completed her Masters program and immediately got a job that she loves. The trouble is that its just over an hour away. Weve started looking at houses in that area but last night she saw our bank account and is scared we dont have enough money to buy a house. Is she right, am I jumping the gun?We currently have 22k in the bank and only have student loan debt 100k. With her new job well be saving 5k a month. The houses were looking at will need about 12k down. So if in two months closing date is 60 days out from offer date we put 12k down, wed have roughly 20k in the bank which is about 5 months of bills. Im comfortable with that, but shes not. Should we be waiting longer to have a larger cushion?  <response>: Im going to sound arrogant here, but Im about to give you some very good advice: You already have something new in your life here, wifes new job plus new degree. Short story is, thats enough new stuff for this year. Seriously.What this means for you is, DO NOT buy a house just yet, and wait for one year. By that time you will have saved 3000x12 and will be in a MUCH better position to gauge wherewhat to buy. Also she will be familiar with her job, and you literally lose nothing by waiting a year. But the housing marke-. No. Fuck the housing market. The housing market will be what the housing market will be. YOU need to be in good standing first before entering the market. Wait one year, let the dust settle, save about 30k, and then you will be much much better able to buy and settle in a new home, stress free. 