The housing figure I used was for PITI (all-in). Obviously the T and I will vary by jurisdiction. But feel free to call realtors in e.g. Atlanta, Cincinnati (me

The housing figure I used was for PITI (all-in). Obviously the T and I will vary by jurisdiction. But feel free to call realtors in e.g. Atlanta, Cincinnati (median price: $110k) or Jacksonville, FL (median price: $120k) to confirm that an all-in number of $1400 or substantially below is reasonable for a single-family house. (I know a number of people who pay < $1000/mo to own 3+BR houses in the city limits of Atlanta. Again, that's all-in, counting all the non-utilities expenses you think I'm leaving out.) Student loan payments will largely be made during years in which most people will not have two kids and a brand-new car. While I wouldn't begrudge anyone the choice to do both at the same time, they're obviously going to hurt a bit or push out hitting the seven-figure mark a few years. Plus, you doubled the student loan debt but didn't allow any increase in living expenses for having a second wage-earner in the HH or account for the second wage-earner's savings. Point I'm making is the math isn't that far off, if one chooses to live anywhere outside the most expensive real estate hotspots in the country.