<prompt> Human: Hey rpersonalfinance. Ill give the tl;dr and then Ill let my verbose self take over:I want a house for me and my family before Im 40 and I know very little about personal finance.Basic info: 26, happily married 5 years, infant daughter, PhD, 45k salary for a year will be raised to 65-70k next year, 25k student loan debt, great credit.Story: Ive always been cautious with money. My attitude is that I dont know enough, so Im not going to take any risks. As a result, I have no investments. I also never budget, because I never splurge. For the most part, I just pay for whats needed in life.I have no long-term financial plan because, for a long time, I was earning a graduate student salary. Now that my degree and postdoc are done, I can finally move up in my career and earn a real salary. The job that I just got trains for a year and pays a 45k training salary. After the first year, the pay ups to 65-70k, with further opportunities for advancement.My wife is currently a SAHM. I am something of a free spirit, so my attitude towards her is do what makes you happy. I have no expectations regarding her financial contributions going forward. There may be some as she develops in her career, but she may also stick with being a SAHM.Like many young millenial families, we would like a house, and preferably before my daughter starts school. So were looking at a 5 year timeline. Also like many young millenials, we find the market expensive, exclusive, and daunting. Looking forward, with 10k in savings and a steady upper middle class single income, I really dont see how we can make this work before we turn 40. We also live in a trendy US metro, and have no intentions on leaving, so that complicates the matter further. Ideally we get a place in the inner ring burbs.Besides save, save, save, what do we do? How do we smartly invest money? Do savings accounts with decent interest even exist anymore? What do I need to know about the housing market? What are the questions that I dont even know enough to be asking?Thank you all in advance for your input. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated!  <response>: steady upper middle class single income??? I make around 70k in a non trendy area I think. I am definitely not upper middle class. My parents might be but Im definitely not. as someone else said I would say 200k is closer to upper middle class. 