<prompt> Human: Hey everyone.I live outside Detroit and have two part time jobs. I make about 500 a week and have zero debt and good credit. I recently started ring shopping to propose to my GF. I moved back with my parents last year to take a job i used to live out of state and she is currently renting in the area. She has about 14k in debt from school loans and otherwise has no debt. Her rent is about 1k a month. I think that is a little steep. I dont want to move into her current place because she has a roommate. But, this got me thinking. Is renting more affordable than buying a place? I have zero hard skills and cant do a fixer-upper. I am content renting to save myself from going into debt but IDK if that is the wisest. Why should I pay someones elses mortgage when I could pay my own? Not sure if that made any sense. Sorry im terrible at getting my thoughts across in writing.Assistant: Theres a simulator on the side bar from the New York Times about renting v. Buying.Human: Im sorry. I looked right over it. Thats actually really nice. I guess ill have to actually get the price of the home rent and everything before i can use this. Thank you for the link.  <response>: Make sure to load up all the advanced options too - there are a lot of little things e.g. taxes, utilities, upkeep, etc... where a small estimate difference can make a big outcome difference.One of the most overlooked pieces of owning is the upkeep - people dont realize you have to spend a few percent per year on average on regular maintenance but also periodic big projects like roof replacements and so forth. 