<prompt> Human: My fiancee and I are planning to buy a house before we are married Nov. 2015. We want to be ready to move in once we are married so the transition will be better. We currently both live at home with our parents and work in our respective career fields Me- Probation -- Her- Register Nurse. We have been talking about the expenses of buying a home and how much we can afford but we cant seem to find an agreement on what we actually could afford that would still allow us to save money for retirement, emergency fund, and when we will have children. Just as a little background. I am 23 years old and she is 25. I graduated college last year with a degree in criminal justice not a very high paying field until you work your way up. She graduated with a degree in Nursing in 2012. She does not believe in renting because she thinks that is money being wasted. We have both lived on our own in college for most of the time while in college and are now living at home until we find a house. Her goal is to find a house that is no more than 250,000 but I believe we can afford maybe up to 300,000. We have found many homes we like but disagree on how much we are willing to pay and how much is to much. She grew up very poor and is very afraid of living paycheck to paycheck. I am more of the type who tends to crunch numbers and do research on money saving, retirement, and etc. I check PF daily and you all have helped me so much with the advice you guy others. Please help us decide what would could pay monthly and not live pay check to pay check. My SalaryExpenses:I work for the state and get paid on the 15th and the 30th. After insurance, 401k, and other contributions I roughly make 900checkSalary - 1800month1000 personal loan - 54monthInternet - 35month24000 student loans - 93month 2400 credit card engagement ring - 200monthRent goes to my parents - 450month FoodGroceries - 200monthGas - 150monthTotal: 1182monthLeaves me with roughly 620monthI have 2500 in savings roughly right now and try to contribute 200 per check.---My fiancees PayExpensesAs a Registered Nurse she gets paid per hour and her checks varies depending on what days she work nights and weekends and holidays but she generally brings home 1700 every two weeks. Pay - 3400month roughlyExpenses:Car - 600month owes 3 more yearsCar Insurance - 130monthPhone - 70monthCable - 245month she pays it for her householdStudent loan - 80monthGas - 140monthFoodGroceries - 300monthCredit Card - 200monthTotal: 1765monthLeaves her roughly 1635I put these numbers together kind of quick and of course some of this will change once we live together.Please help us make some decisions. Ofcourse I understand I didnt not provide much information such as interest rates and things but I am really just looking for general tips on what we should look for and how much we may need to save and such. Thanks in advance.  <response>: I hate to break it to you, buy you guys need a reality check - you are no where near being ready to buy a house. It appears that you have a negligible emergency fund, no money saved for a down payment, have an outstanding personal loan, and carry a balance on your credit cards. Step 1 is save up a larger emergency fund 3 months of expenses MINIMUM. Step 2 is pay off your personal loan and credit cards. Step 3 is start saving up a down payment for a house. By the time you accomplish all of those things, you will likely be well past you wedding date, so I guess I can skip the dont buy a house before you are married lecture.As far as price range goes, if you save up enough for a 20 down payment recommended, I agree that a 250k house is a possibility. If you only do a 10 down payment most of pf would recommend against this, but, personally, I am not totally opposed to it, you should probably keep the house under 200k. Edit to add: 300K for a house just doesnt make any sense on your income. MAYBE, after you pay off those student loans and get rid of that ludicrous car payment of hers. But even then, it would be pushing the envelope of affordability. Also, what do you have budgeted for the wedding andor honeymoon? Even with a modest wedding and family help, the costs add up quickly. 