<prompt> Human: Background Income: 45k before taxes - 2500 monthly Savings: 9k Debt: Student loan - 20k min. 225 monthly Living: Chicago suburbs House Budget: 225k?Current Monthly Budget 1000 - Student loans 1000 - Savings for house 300-500 - general spending and savingsCurrently I am in the process of looking to move out of my parents home and into a space of my own. I have just graduated college this past may and landed my first job before I graduated making 45k a year. Living with my parents for the last 6 months has allowed me to save up money and put a large portion of income towards paying of my student loans. I would like if at all possible to try and buy a home in the very near future, but am open to renting an apartment.I would also like to add that if and when I move out my long-term girlfriend will be moving in with me and would be able to help pay any sort of rent or mortgage. Combined our income would be approximately 3000-3200 monthly. The biggest reason for buying a house vs renting is that where I live the cost to rent a decent 1-2 bedroom apartment can cost nearly the same as a mortgage payment for a small house 1100 - 1500 monthly. I guess my question is can I afford to buy a house in the Chicago suburbs? And if so, what would be a decent house budget to have? What could I also do to put myself in the best situation to buy a home?  <response>: The rent is the HIGHEST amount you will pay every month for housing. The mortgage payment is the LOWEST amount you will ever pay in a month thanks to maintenance and repair expenses, and its already higher than the rent would be. Thats problem number one. Problem number two is that you dont have any cash to make a downpayment and you wont have any cash left after the purchase to serve as emergency fund and repair fund - a bare minimum target would be an additional 30k 10 down and 3 for costs and thats going to take you two and a half years at your projected savings rate. Problem number three is that you already have 20k in loans to deal with.So, dont buy a house just yet. 