<prompt> Human: My husband 25 and I 23 got married last October. At the time he was only employed part time and I was just out of college starting a new job with no real savings to speak of. We are now both employed full time and have been sticking to our budget pretty strictly for the last few months. Neither of us have any debt own both of our cars, I was lucky enough to get a full scholarship for school. We really want to buy a house once we are able to, but I guess my question is how long should we save? What is an appropriate down payment? Is there anything we can do to speed up our saving?Currently, our combined take home pay is about 3,050month. This is after health insurance for both of us, dental insurance for me, HSA contribution for me set at 800 for the year, and my 401k contribution enough to max out company match. We currently have 2,000 in savings and I have a Roth IRA with about 1,300.Our monthly budget is as follows: Rent - 565.00 My cell phone - 45.00 I am still on my parents plan and pay them my portion each month His cell phone - 50.00 Internet - 34.99 Electricity - 150.00 Water - 25.00 Sewer - 17.00 Car Insurance - 97.00 Trash pickup - 13.00 Renters Insurance - 25.00 Netflix - 8.00 Tithe to our church - 300.00 Charity - 25.00 Charity - 45.00 Gifts - 40.00 Groceries - 300.00 Gas - 325.00 Car Maintenance mostly oil changes - 30.00 Husband is considering a gym membership - 50.00? Entertainment eating out, movies, etc. - 50.00 Furnituregeneral house stuff - 50.00 Clothing - 40.00 MiscellaneousHousehold goods - 50.00 Allowance of 40 each to spend on whatever else we want, hobbies, etc. Remaining 625.00 goes into savings accountOur current lease is up at the end of August, and we plan to renew for an additional year. Is there any way we could afford a down payment on a 80,000 house after that amount of time, or would it be worth waiting another year? I have a feeling I know the answer but at the same time I am eager for us to have a space of our own. Its possible we will need to purchase a new car for my husband in that time frame as well. His has quite a few miles on it and may not last that long. Also, the above doesnt take in some extra savings that would probably come from our tax return, and some small income I will have on the side I just finished co-editing a book which is about to be published by a smallish company. I will get some income from this project but I really have no idea how much to expect.A related question - I have basically no credit in my name. Husband has a credit card with 300 limit that we use for normal expenses and pay off each month. Should we be doing more to build credit in preparation for buying a home?Thanks in advance for any insight! I feel like were definitely on the right track, I just want to make sure theres not something else we could be doing.EDIT: I maybe should also mention that my husband was in the national guard for 6 years. I have heard that that may make him eligible for certain military-only loans but I dont really know any details.  <response>: You need an emergency fund in addition to the down payment.I dont know where you are located, but I assume an 80k first home is not a new one. You need to be prepared for repairs, appliance replacements, etc.I just put a new AC compressor unit in my house - 5k. Bam. Until you have sufficient funds to cover unforseen repairs, the house can wait. 