<prompt> Human: I know my situation is not the most typical but still seeking advice. Im a 30 year-old anesthesiologist and finished my residency not too long ago. Summary of my current situation...I have 300k in student loan debt at around 6.8. I dont have much in savings, just paid off all my credit card debt. I live in California. I am single with no children. I currently live with my parents because my job is only 15 minutes away from their house and didnt make sense to me to have my own place at this time especially since I just moved back to California. I may look to rent some time next year once Im more settled and established but living with my parents saves me at least 1000 a month...I am an independent contractor with a 1099 so I have to pay my own retirement, malpractice, and health insurance. I dont get any paid vacation or paid sick leave. I make between 17-20kmonth after federal and state income taxes. This is what I am estimating...I actually havent received my first full paycheck yet because theres a 2 month lag for billing. My monthly student loan payments around 3.6-3.7k. I pay it off in 9 years if I do that. After living expenses, disability insurance, malpractice insurance, health insurance, tax-protected retirement savings, etc. I figure I have around 7-8k a month to throw at my student loans or savings. My question is if I should throw everything at that student loan or should I start saving for a down payment or split and do both at the same time. I do live in California so cost of housing is expensive. I was planning to save at least 120k for a down payment on a house or condo. Im not in a real rush to own a home yet especially since I am single with no children but advice from family is to do minimum payments on the student loans and buy a home ASAP but not sure if thats the best financial decision. Thoughts?  <response>: Having the monthly student loan payments will greatly reduce the amount you can afford on a mortgage because of the front-end ratio and back-end ratio: Front-end ratio: A standard rule for lenders is that your monthly housing payment principal, interest, taxes and insurance should not take up more than 28 percent of your income before taxes. This debt-to-income ratio is called the housing ratio or front-end ratio.Back-end ratio: Lenders also calculate the back-end ratio. It includes all debt commitments, including car loan, student loan and minimum credit card payments, together with your house payment. Lenders prefer a back-end ratio of 36 percent or less.So assuming 20k monthly income: with 3600 going to student loans each month, that would leave you with only being able to get a mortgage with a 3600 monthly payment. Without any student loans, you could get approved up to 5600 monthly payment.. just something else to consider.I think you should pay down your student loans as quickly as possible to reduce the amount of interest you will have to pay 