<prompt> Human: Hello,I have been a lurker on this forum for quite some time, but have never posted anything until now. I know theres some good advice given at times, so I thought id give a go at it myself.My situation: I 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; 32k auto loan 0, and my credit score approx 715. For my area, 502k doesnt 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 amexs min monthly due apparently is a lot higher than traditional visa or mc ccs by transferring both CC balances to one card.I know theres 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?many thanks for taking the time to read through this. If theres any additional information you think i left out, then please let me know and I will add it.Edit: expecting to file 2014 fed tax return w 145k in earnings w 3 dependents.Edit: 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 2bd1ba would rent now for 3000-3200m in a heartbeat if not more. It seems to make more sense to buy a place w a 3200m mortgage a little further out of the area knowing that Im investing in the familys 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.Edit: My 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.Edit: 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.Monthly Budget 2,298.00 rent 1,745.92 groceries 979.66 car payment gas insurance parking tolls wash service 505.17 kids education part time pre-school rec center classes 465.83 contract employee payroll 448.33 family health amp; fitness out of pocket 428.92 restaraunts 367.02 finance charges amp; fees cc finance charges, cc membership, checking 320.33 kids - 4yrs amp; 2yrs- clothing, furniture, books, toys, diapers, etc 308.92 work equipmenttools purchases 308.33 furniture, appliances, cleaning products, hardware, general home purchases amp; maintainence 266.83 work: taxiparkingpublic transportation 236.15 work expenses office supply, expendables, subrentals, media 180.18 gasoline 179.80 general shopping clothing, household electronics, etc 161.36 gaselectricity 106.82 internet amp; cable tv 104.61 personal care haircuts, tooth brushes, shampoo amp; conditioner, makeup, spa, etc 102.30 wifes phone 100.71 work phone 80.53 gifts purchased vs. cash gifts received xmas, bdays, holidays, etc 79.55 travel vacation 72.17 insurance renters, earthquake, life 70.67 work computer related purchases 60.23 entertainment 59.84 work clothing 45.79 garbage 10,083.97 total expenses per month for 201413583 total gross income per month for 2014Assistant: Not to be cyncial, but good lord, 502k on only 114k income, with 44k in CC debt?! I dont understand how one can reasonably afford all the related home expenses on that income, with that much debt already. I wouldnt be considering home ownership at that price tag, with that much debt. Unless youre married and theres other income not included in the description? If it were me, Id try to consolidate as much of the debt as possibly and max the hell out of the monthly payments until you make a serious dent in that debt. Then make sure I have a hell of a down payment saved up and buy a house. Otherwise, youre playing with fire, imo.Best of luck!Human: married, but no other income besides myself what is listed  <response>: Okay. After looking at your updates, this I what I think:You have A LOT of extra unneeded expenses that you shouldcould really cut back on. You can snow pile all of the saved money towards your credit card debt. This is what you NEED to do if youre hell bent on getting a house, no ifs about it. Theres some serious room for improvement if you and your family are to attain the luxury of home ownership whilst not overextending yourself and making a huge mistake.If youre the only one working, you need to be that much more meticulous in your expenses. Get your wife on board, you guys need to get your spending under control.Of the expenses I personally think need to be trimmed down, they total 2,829.86. Cutting this WAY down will help you with that CC debt.60.23 entertainment this isnt too unreasonable79.55 travel this combined with ALL your commuting expenses, the car, gas, tolls, public trans are all pretty high. find a way to trim them down.102.30 wifes phone This is quite high for one phone. Find a way to cut it, check out T-mobile pay as you go plan for 30mo. Unlimited Data Text 100 minutesmo - its worth it104.61 personal care spas are not a necessity..cut it out308.33 misc house purchases this is a lot of misc house purchases on a monthly basis428.92 restaurants totally unnecessary considering how much youre already spending on groceries, trim this down by at LEAST half.1,745.92 food this is ATROCIOUSLY high, for 4 people?! Thats Almost 600person-you have to bring this down. Its nearly as high as your rent! Fix this STAT!I understand where youre coming from and WHY you feel that purchasing a home is a good idea. You have a family and youve outgrown your space. You obviously live in an expensive area, Im guessing somewhere in CA or NYNJMA area. Rent has been steadily increasing, youre right there. So I get it. HOWEVER, your credit card debt is seriously alarming. Combined with your budget, its clear there is an issue with spending. In all seriousness, this HAS to be addressed and FIXED if you have any desire not to lead yourself into BK years down the line. I cant tell you how many people Ive seen in similar circumstances that are just seriously misspending their money then get a house and something happens that annihilates their financial stability. 1 Either you drastically cut your expenses, make a big dent in your debt and then get a house. NO MORE than 500k and even then youre asking for trouble. Theres no way you can get a house for that much money with your current spending and debt. No way. You have to eliminate one of these things, period.2 If youre too small for your space, find a way to maximize it. Do you have a ton of clutter? A bunch of crap you dont need? Get RID OF IT! Utilize the space that you have already, get creative. MAKE it work for you so that you can get rid of your dang credit card debt and be in a better place financially. Youre the sole bread winner right now, you have 3 dependants. You need to be very wise with your finances so as to not screw yourself years down the line. Once youre financially secure THEN get a house. When you consider how much you can afford you need to also make sure youre contributing to your retirement, you have a cushy savings for a rainy day and a 529. Be very careful my friend. Very careful.Dont make the mistake of keeping up with the Joneses. Just because you have a lot of money doesnt mean you should be spending it all and tying it up in debt. Spend BELOW your means. BELOW. Please god. Dont waste your good income on a bunch of non sense just to maintain a certain lifestyle, its BAD news. Again, I have seen SO many people who earn a ton of money and should have NO reason to barely scrape by or have a ridiculous amount of debt; yet they do. It all stems from mismanaging your money. Read your money or your life, right now. It will be a god send for you. 