What % of your take-home (not gross) income is your rent/mortgage including

[rafiki]

.

[Tracey in TX]

21%

DH's rule of thumb was below 25% including mortgage, insurance, taxes, fees, and maintenance.

 

ETA: Edited for take-home numbers.

Edited December 4, 2008 by Tracey in TX

[Plucky]

That maintenance figure will kill homeowners. What do you think it a good rule of thumb for saving for maintenance and repair?

 

Oh, ours is 25% and I wish it were less but we live in an expensive area and did buy after the price downturn.

[Renee in NC]

Currently about 40%, but there is no way to go any lower without living in a tent.:D

[rafiki]

.

[Beth in Central TX]

Ours is about 23%, and I feel very comfortable with what we pay. Electricity, water, cable, phone, and internet take another 6% of take home pay which brings us up to 29% of our monthly take home pay for our total housing cost. I think this is reasonable. If we were spending 31% of our take home pay on the house alone with utilities, then I would pause and think twice too. However, in this economy it may not be wise to make a housing change, but I would look at tightening the budget in other areas if possible.

 

Good luck!

[Pamela H in Texas]

32%. Electric, water, trash, septic maintenance is another 15%.

 

Honestly though, it'd be hard for us to go much cheaper. Electric would be considerably cheaper if we lived in town but we'd never find a decent place in a decent area for what we pay or lower house wise.

Edited December 4, 2008 by 2J5M9K

[PariSarah]

. . . because it doesn't leave much for saving for maintenance (and because we still have utilities on top of that).

 

But, until we're at full employment, that's just the way it's gotta be.

 

31% is a little much, if you think you're going to be at that income level for awhile. If you foresee it going up, or if you can do occasional part-time work to build up some savings or pay down the mortgage, it can still work.

[TwinMominTX]

We are right at 25% including property taxes (which are $$$). Our utilities are very low so we are in good shape.

[Jan in SC]

Ours is around 15%. We are thinking of moving in the next year or two and it would probably put us to 25%.

[Wendi]

Our is 27%. I wish it was a little less, but considering the real estate situation, we'll be staying put.

 

Wendi

[Tracey in TX]

That maintenance figure will kill homeowners. What do you think it a good rule of thumb for saving for maintenance and repair?

 

Oh, ours is 25% and I wish it were less but we live in an expensive area and did buy after the price downturn.

 

Heard 2.5-3% is a good number to budget. Won't spend anywhere close until a major replacement is due.

[Rhonda in TX]

We don't have an escrow account, so I would have to figure out the taxes and insurance and I'm too lazy to do it right now.

 

Mortgage only is 17%, so I figure I'm safe claiming 25% for it all.

[TraceyS/FL]

~20% - and that is only taxes and insurance. The house is paid for. I'm afraid to open the insurance bill that just showed up.... how much did it go up this year? (it's gone from $800 to $1600 in the prior 4 years since we bought).

 

Another ~20% to the electric company.

 

We live on about nothing though...... i'm not a fair person to ask this right now! LOL!!

[jonesloonybin]

Ours is 31% but that is it. We rent so we do not have "Maintenance" costs or property taxes. That is included in the rent as it the HOA dues. We had hoped for less and we are thinking about not renewing our lease in June but it depends on what else is out there. We do have our van paid off and our other car is almost paid off too.

[Kari C in SC]

Disclaimer - I took Dayquil and my mind is fuzzy. We have an different situation. We rent our Florida house out and that covers both mortgages on our FL house and our SC house. That would make it a wash - sorta. We do not have escrow on either - so we still have to come up with what amounts to about 15% of our take home income for taxes and insurance on both properties. BUT... we get a wonderful tax write off for the rental and that helps with the taxes and insurance. We do pay for the pool service in Florida on the rental, so I am guessing it is still about 15% of our income. When/IF we ever sell the Florida house - the taxes and insurance would only be about 5% of our income. Then maybe we can save for retirement. We can hope, right? We lost a lot of our income when I lost my job in Florida. That is why we did this, so we could live on less income.

[KS_]

Ours is 24%.

[Tree House Academy]

27%

[KrissiK]

Ours is 23%+/- and that includes taxes and insurance.

[Daisy]

19% if you don't include our small second that was for home repairs/upgrades like double pane windows

22% if you do.

 

Both include taxes, insurance, garbage, and sewer.

 

It does not include water or electricity.

[Amy loves Bud]

We live on a steadily declining commission-only income, but I would say around 7% on average. That's tax and insurance, we don't have a mortgage. Before we paid off the mortgage it was about 15%.

 

The biggest percentage we've ever paid was when we lived in D.C. It was somewhere in the 27-30% range. Unless you count the year Bud lost his job and started his business - then it was about 400%. That was unpleasant.

[JFSinIL]

About 19% hubby says. Our first home (townhome) was 35%!!!!

[TxMama]

15%

[Plucky]

Love the pug picture! We are hoping to get a pug in a couple years.

 

Thanks. She is really fun. I warn you though pugs may attach themselves to a particular person above all others. She is in total love with my oldest dd because she gives her the most care. She loves all people but especially dd. I was supposed to be her main squeeze but alas that was not the case. LOL

[PrairieAir]

Approximately 20%. We built this house ourselves and dh got contractor discounts for materials, so that helps. And we've had help from his family. I feel like we're in a good place as far as how much we owe on this house.

 

Property taxes, on the other hand, are killer. They keep hiking them up, up, up. I'd like to know when our roads out here will be paved with all those property taxes they're collecting. The answer is that they probably will not be paved in my lifetime. There are streets in Wichita that are still not paved.:glare:

[Tutor]

Currently about 40%, but there is no way to go any lower without living in a tent.:D

 

That's about where we are, too.

 

ETA: we rent, btw

Edited December 5, 2008 by Tutor
see above

[Desert Rat]

We're at 24% for our mortgage and extras and about 7% for utilities. What hurts us are our vehicle payments and insurance which is another 20%. I'm comfortable with the housing numbers but I'm working on getting those dang car payments outta here!

[dragons in the flower bed]

Ours is twenty percent. It's an older house so the maintenance kills us.

[Ferdie]

Our mortgage is paid off - yeah!!

 

Approximately 10% of my dh's take home pay goes toward property taxes and house insurance - booo!!

[Scarlett]

principal, interest, taxes and insurance?

 

Ours is 31% and I feel it's too much of a house for us.

 

Dave Ramsey strongly suggest no more than 25% of takehome go toward housing mortgage/taxes/insurance. If you were to call his show he probably would not suggest you sell your home since you already have it, unless you are deeply in some other type of debt.

 

Ours is 21%. That doesn't include utilities...but it does include taxes and insurance on the house.

[homeschoolmomtutu]

9.5% including mortgage, insurance, taxes

[mamaof2andtwins]

I am in the 40% club.

[Snickerdoodle]

I am in the 40% club.

 

Yep.

[Pamela H in Texas]

If you were to call his show he probably would not suggest you sell your home since you already have it, unless you are deeply in some other type of debt.

 

Yeah, I can't imagine getting much lower myself without living in a drafty old 2 bedroom in a bad part of town at least. Thankfully, though our credit is shot, we don't have credit cards or anything like that. We also don't have extras like cable or whatever.

[LisaKinVA]

Ours will be about 30% when everything is said and done... but our payscale is heading on a steady upward schedule for the next 5-10 years, so that percentage will go down a bit more each year (plus, the extra payment a year will help too). We are also owner-building the house, so we'll owe tremendously less on it than buying it already done, but that's pretty much sweat equity.

 

On our lot right now, we are at about a 40% equity position...

[ssexton]

Ours is about 23%, including taxes and insurance. Unfortunately, our health insurance is about 16%. :(

[joannqn]

It used to be about 31% for mortgage, taxes, and insurance.

 

Then DH's job cut his pay and it went up to 47%.

 

So, he quit his job to go self-employed. I can't say what it is now because we don't have any income figures yet. We are living off of what he's making plus his cashed-out IRA until he gets his business up and running.

[Okie]

I guess I'm just astounded by other's mortgage payments being such a huge percentage. Ours in only 20% of take-home and I feel it's large. Makes me feel better.

[Nestof3]

We pay insurance and taxes separately, and we have flood insurance on top of homeowners. Taxes and mortgage is 15 % of net.

 

We have a small house, and my husband has had this house since 1988. If we had to buy it today, it would be a much greater %. He bought it for around 60,000, and now it's worth 200,000.

[Snickerdoodle]

I guess I'm just astounded by other's mortgage payments being such a huge percentage. Ours in only 20% of take-home and I feel it's large. Makes me feel better.

 

We live in a major urban area where unfortunately the cost of living is extremely high.

[LisaKinVA]

We live in a major urban area where unfortunately the cost of living is extremely high.

 

Unfortunately, we do too. Now, our area is currently being hit very hard by the bursting of the housing bubble, but housing is still a long ways from what it was in 2001, when we could buy a QUALITY completed new house for less than $100 a square foot. Some of the cheapest builders in the area are about that, but the flip side is that you're dealing with minimum code... and higher utility/maintenance costs.

[Melissa B]

50% without taxes and insurance - so probably 55%.

[Mad Jenny Flint]

for mortgage, tax, interest, insurance, and utilities. Possibly a bit more. However, it's a fifteen year mortgage. It is by far the biggest thing we spend on, and we could live on a good bit less, if we ever needed to, while paying down this house.

[Mommyof4ks]

18% with taxes and ins., but we are looking to 'upgrade' in a few months, so that might go up. We should save some for maintenance, but so far we never have. We have had to replace a few appliances and our roof, but nothing really big yet (that was not covered by ins).

[Quiver0f10]

23% and we are renting.

Edited December 5, 2008 by Quiver0f10

[Ria]

28%

 

Ria

[SheilaZ]

Ours is 14% not including utilites. I'd love more house but I sure don't want more house payment.

 

We were fortunate to get our house at a good price and it has increased in value...even with the housing market at its current state.

At least that's what I keep telling myslef that as I covet newer, bigger houses with lovely cabinets and hard wood floors.

[rafiki]

.

[MyThreeSons]

We're at about 23% for mortgage, taxes and insurance. Our utilities are almost as much.

[Michelle T]

DH is a commission-only loan consultant and his take home pay varies wildly from month to month. Most months, our mortgage ends up being around 50% of what he makes. Some months, he doesn't even make enough to cover it. Some months, he does very well, and things are great.

 

The past 1.5 years have been very hard on us. The housing market fell hard here, and his work has been very tough. Our house is worth less than we owe now, so selling isn't an option.

Michelle T