<prompt> Human: So, my wife and I recently moved to a new high cost area for my job, and have been living off of my income until my wife starts her new job in a couple weeks. We would really like to buy a house in the near-ish future. To complicate matters, we also recently found out that we will be having twins. Im trying to figure out the best plan for our family going forward - we currently rent a condo that is fine for now, but will quickly become too small and not very practical once the twins are crawlingwalking around. We live in a high cost of living area, and Im concerned that we wont be able to afford a decently nice house that will suit our needs. Ive been trying to use online tools to help me determine how much house we can afford, but I dont know how to factor in putting two kids in daycare. Ive laid out our income, planned down payment and monthly expenses below. Apologies if formatting is not good - suggestions are welcome.Income:We will have a combined salary of 147k once my wife starts her job in a couple of weeks, monthly take home after taxesdeductions will be 8300. I have no idea how this will change after having two kids - I realize we will get a tax credit, but It will likely be more than offset by health insurance on two children, right?Down payment:Ive worked out that we will have about 55k saved up for a down paymentclosing costs on a house by the time the twins arrive. We also have 28k in an IRA account and two 401ks - one at 8k and the other at 5.4k. Would it be worth tapping into some of the retirement savings to boost our down payment?Current Recurring Monthly expenses:- 1700 rent- 340 car payment this will be completely paid off in 5 months, before the kids arrive- 250 student loans 200 is the minimum payment, has 13k remaining loan balance- 165 mobile phones- 137 auto insurance for two vehicles- 113 TVinternet- 73 pet insurance two cats, we also have a dog who is uninsured- 60 energy billWe usually spend roughly 1000month on groceries, pet foodsupplies, and general home supplies. Weve been spending an average of 5300 a month total, the remaining money going to restaurants, entertainment, commuting costs, shopping, incidentals, etc Future Monthly recurring expenses with kidsmortgage:- ??? mortgage, PMI, property taxes, home insurance- 2000 daycare for two infants this will be on the cheaper side of available options- 250 student loans 200 is the minimum payment - 165 mobile phones- 137 auto insurance for two vehicles- 113 TVinternet definitely not opposed to axing cable, which would bring us down to around 40month- 73 pet insurance- 100 energy bill? this will probably go up for a house as compared to a condoI have no idea how to quantify what our other child-related expenses will be. Given our other expenses, I think Ive worked out that the maximum we would be able to handle is around 3000month in mortgage, PMI, property taxes, and home insurance - which would translate to around 500k maximum budget for a house. After all recurring expenses and bills, this would leave us with 2400 a month to spend on foodsupplieswhatever else. We likely wouldnt be able to save much money at all while the kids will be in daycare other than our 401k contributions. Does this sound reasonable? Will we be at risk of putting ourselves in crippling debt with a 500k budget for a house while trying to pay for daycare for two kids? We obviously do not have to go to the maximum on our budget, but in this market anything less than that will probably force us to make huge sacrifices in quality, size, neighborhood, etc. Edit: OK, so it sounds like my top end of the budget was pretty optimistic at 500k - I was partially basing this off of multiple online calculators based on our income and expected downpayment, but wasnt sure how to factor in child-related costs to those calculators. Many of you have pointed out that I am insane for thinking we can afford 500k. So, what should I target as the top of our budget? Or, would it be wiser to keep renting for the time being?  <response>: I would strongly suggest you not take your wifes salary into consideration. Its a new job, and Ive known plenty of people who mysteriously got fired from new jobs due to poor work performance or some other trumped up thing shortly after revealing that they were pregnant. Ive also known quite a few people who got pregnant before they had FMLA and didnt get to keep their job after maternity leave. Ive also known some people who just couldnt stand to go back to work and ended up being surprise SAHMs. If you buy a house you can afford on one salary, and end up having two, thats awesome. Pay it off faster, go on trips, buy piano lessons for the kids. If you buy a house you can afford on two salaries and end up with one... well that doesnt end happily. 