Yeah, we qualified for a lot more than we could actually pay for. Not to mention that our taxes have gone up several times (and thus our mortgage payment). Not to mention that if you don't have a sufficient down payment you have to pay private mortgage insurance, which is an extra 100 bucks a month or something stupid. Until you've got 20% equity. Then there's all the crazy house things that pop up... we had to replace our garage doors pretty soon after we bought our house, and we just had a disaster with the air conditioner that cost us a fortune. Houses are so expensive! They eat money!!