<prompt> Human: Hi all,Im 28 years old working in a STEM field with an annual salary of 104k with a 5 bonus structure and restricted stocks vesting quarterly. I also receive approximately 1200 a month in veterans disability, and 800 a month in a housing allowance as Im attending school with the GI bill. The disability I should receive for the rest of my life, but the GI bill housing allowance will stop in the next 2 years after I finish my degree. I have only been working in this field a year, my prior salary was substantially lower 45k. I am married, with joint custody of another child from a previous marriage. Right now I pay approximately 600 a month in child support, though that number will likely go up dramatically the next time my ex-wife goes for an adjustment to approximately 1400 a month. I currently own a home in another state that I rent out through a property management company. I am planning on selling this house before I buy a new one, I should be able to come away with about 5-10k in my pocket. I can qualify for a VA home mortgage, so I dont need a downpayment in order to obtain a mortgage, though obviously having one would be better.I live in a very expensive area. Im looking to get out of here, at least a commutable distance away if not fully remote, in the next year. I would like to buy a house and start planting roots as my wife and I are looking at having kids. I have been using YNAB for years, but due to some unforeseen medical bills my reserves have been essentially wiped out. My wife is currently acting as a caregiver for her extended family and not working. Though that will change in the near future, I dont want to count on income from her in my budgeting because we are likely to have children in the near future and in my area daycare is so expensive it would be cheaper for her to not work. My parents are in very poor health, and its likely my dad will pass soon and Ill have to take care of my mother. I already take care of their cellphone and car because theyre on a fixed income with high medical expenses. I dont have any credit card debt.What Im really looking for is a reality check and sanity check to see if buying a house is even in the cards, or if Ill need to do something more drastic like relocate in order to get my financial house in order. Heres where Im at right now for expenses:Rent - 2300 Including utilitiesMortgage - 950My Car - 400Wife Car - 300Parents Car - 300My Student Loans - 200Her Student Loans - 200Child Support - 600, but I would like to plan for 1500Insurance - 300Total - 6450 with the higher child support rateIncome:Salary - 6000Disability - 1200Rental income - 1200GI Bill - 800Total 9200So naturally I will not be paying rent, I would like to sell my house before looking at buying another one, and I dont want to count on the temporary income from the GI bill, which puts the totals at - Expenses - 3200Income - 7200Thats a DTI ratio of .44, which is not great. Right now Im making extra payments on my parents car, and ideally I would like to have that paid off before I look to buy a house. It feels like with that child support payment theres no way I can achieve a healthy DTI while still supporting my family. Am I missing something? Assistant: OP I have a few questions: - Will you move to a lower cost of living area when you are done with schooling in order to buy a house? If so - what are the salaries in that area? - If not - what are the house prices where you are currently located? Assuming by your 2300mo rental Id say houses are in the 800k-Millions? - Do you have money in savings? How much? - Can you lay out the total amount of the debts your have and interest rates? What about your wife - any other debt? - What would your wife do if she goes back to work? What is her earning potential? Human: OP I have a few questions: Will you move to a lower cost of living area when you are done with schooling in order to buy a house? If so - what are the salaries in that area?I am attending school online. I might be able to transition to a position that lets me work remotely in my current company as well, so my salary should at least remain the same or increase. It would be more beneficial for me for career progression to have at least some presence in the office rather than going full remote. I also cant move too far away because of my son who I share custody of and my parents being in this area. If not - what are the house prices where you are currently located? Assuming by your 2300mo rental Id say houses are in the 800k-Millions?There are actually very nice options in the 300k-500k range if I accept a 30-1hr commute, which is a sacrifice Im willing to make to have the space I need to have children and take care of my parents. Do you have money in savings? How much?I had to wipe out my emergency fund and then some when my dad got sick. Ive paid off the credit card debt I had accumulated during that period as of last week, but I havent built up any savings since then. Can you lay out the total amount of the debts your have and interest rates? What about your wife - any other debt?Car 1 - I owe 15000 at 4.1, I round the payment up to 400 to devote extra money to principleCar 2 - I owe 10000 at 2.3, I round up the payment to 300Car 3 - My parents owe 8000 at 5.3, I round up the payments to 300My student loans - I owe 15000 at 6.3. Private loan through Wells Fargo.Wifes student loans - She owes 18000 at a lower interest rate than mine, but I dont remember exactly. These are federal.Mortgage - I owe 153k at 3.5. Current Zestimate of the property is 173k. I round this payment up to 1000.Those are all of my debts. What would your wife do if she goes back to work? What is her earning potential?My wife does not have a degree and worked at an entry level HR position until she quit to help care for her extended family about a month ago. I would expect she could earn 30-45k working full time. Between her familys health problems as well as my parents, in addition to wanting to start having children, its unlikely shed be able to work full time.  <response>: Ok so you have 66,000 worth of debt not including the mortgage hopefully you at the worst break even on mortgage when you sell. Id say your 1 priority should be getting an emergency fund started and then tackle your debts. A lot of people will disagree with me but Id do the following: 1 Your student loans 2 Your wifes student loans if higher than 5.3 3 Parents car 4 Car 1 5 Car 2 Once all debts are paid off Id work on a 20 down payment for a house. Id say at your current income a 400k house would be the best option with 20 down. If your income increases from now until your debts are paid off then you can always circle back here and get new advice. Another thing I would do is putting your GI Bill into a savings account and not touch it. So every month when you receive the 800 immediately put it in a savings account out of your reach per se a different bank maybe?. In 24 months youll have 19k in savings which will be an excellent Emergency Fund for your family. So your total income is 7200 minus your expenses of 5500 leaving you with 1700 for gas, food, entertainment, clothes, etc etc. What is your usual spending in these categories? If you can spend 1000mo for everything that would leave you with 700 extra to throw at your debts. 