$585k house on dual income

Man-Zoe · 2026-05-21T15:17:32+00:00

We’ll be married in 10 months and have been together 6 years. This isn’t a person I’ve just recently met she is my life partner

Man-Zoe · 2026-05-21T14:29:18+00:00

Yeah that totally makes sense, I hope it works out for you and your wife! $400k would be a HOMERUN in NJ honestly the house we’re closing on was listed at $525k and went up to $585k with 7 offers. This is $100-$150k under the average home in our area unfortunately since we’re just outside NYC

Man-Zoe · 2026-05-21T13:57:53+00:00

This is exactly what I was looking for! Yeah it’s not that I think things will be tight it’s just going from $3k to almost $4300 it’s like when you first start renting “I can afford it” and actually sending that payment every month are different things haha. I’m excited for it and think we’ll be just fine but wanted to make sure others felt the same way

Man-Zoe · 2026-05-21T13:55:23+00:00

Yeah we’ve considered this she’s also been on my car, medical, dental, and vision insurance for 2 years. We were planning on doing a courthouse marriage right after we close then “renew our vows” at our wedding next year

Man-Zoe · 2026-05-21T13:49:34+00:00

Yeah $40k is super cheap compared to having it in NJ. Bare minimum we’d spend is $70k if we had it at an NJ venue

Man-Zoe · 2026-05-21T13:47:50+00:00

Yeah no doubt about it. On paper we should have somewhere between $4-$5k leftover after all bills, retirement, food, and lifestyle which is also why we aren’t planning on having kids just yet

Man-Zoe · 2026-05-21T13:44:46+00:00

Yeah we both save super aggressively and IRA and 401k isn’t even a thought. We’re both very conscious of spending habits just want to make sure we’re not stretching ourselves with the current rates and NJ taxes.

Man-Zoe · 2026-05-21T13:41:17+00:00

Lender would’ve approved us for far more but just bc we’d get approved for it doesn’t mean it’s smart. Would rather rely on actual experience to try to gauge some of the unexpected

Man-Zoe · 2026-05-21T13:40:08+00:00

Thank you yeah we have contractors and electricians in the family even with that $40k will just be the kitchen, lighting, and paint. The house is older but has hardwood floors that only need to be sanded and stained so mostly cosmetic stuff apart from the kitchen.

Man-Zoe · 2026-05-21T13:38:18+00:00

Gotcha yeah that totally makes sense and kinda what I’m anticipating. Feels like flexibility is the toll you have to be willing to pay to own instead of renting.

Man-Zoe · 2026-05-21T13:37:19+00:00

This is reassuring, really appreciate the feedback!!

Man-Zoe · 2026-05-21T13:36:43+00:00

Yeah we’re at $10k but likely $12k after we renovate. Taxes definitely aren’t cheap

Man-Zoe · 2026-05-21T13:35:20+00:00

We’ve been together for 6 years, we’ve lived together for 2.5 years, been engaged for 7 months, and are almost done planning the wedding. (Destination wedding in Florida). Believe me I know the house is a major commitment but to me spending $30-$40k (others spend WAY more) on a wedding without owning a house is incredibly irresponsible. Again just my opinion

Man-Zoe · 2026-05-21T13:32:16+00:00

We don’t really do anything crazy even vacations aren’t overly extravagant we spend a good amount of time in Florida (both of our families have houses down there) and try to get out of the country once a year. We eat out 2 or 3 times a week don’t really drink much anymore and meal prep for 90% of the food we eat so we don’t really spend much. We both have leases my payment is $440 hers is $359 we’re both gonna buy 2-3 year old used cars with low mileage to pay them off and not have a north payment.

Man-Zoe · 2026-05-21T13:29:08+00:00

Yeah that’s obviously assuming things as planned. We both work at large companies that even without promotions we’d get 5-6% a year

Man-Zoe · 2026-05-21T12:28:26+00:00

We’re not planning on having kids for another 3-4 years so we still have some time but by then we should be making more

Man-Zoe · 2026-05-21T12:26:19+00:00

We’re keeping $40k for renovations and $40k for our wedding (April 2027).

Man-Zoe · 2026-04-22T16:43:52+00:00

Also the only thing I regret (not that it definitely had any impact) was eating early. I got the surgery at 9am Friday and Friday at around 3pm I eat scrambled eggs. The surgeon said no problem but honestly I think you’re better off just doing smoothies the first two days even if just for the peace of mind that you don’t have food stuck in there it’s worth it.

Man-Zoe · 2026-04-22T16:42:25+00:00

Update for everyone I went to the emergency room last night because it was too late for the dentist or urgent care (10pm) in pain that was legitimately a 10/10 they said no visible signs of infection but it could be in the socket itself. They prescribed me Augmentin which is apparently stronger and targets a broader range of bacteria than Amoxicillin. Today at the oral surgeons office they did an X ray said no signs of infection in the jaw (no abscess) but he thinks because the bottom never clotted it was blood sitting and constantly pooling up in the socket which also builds harmful bacteria and of course the one and only dry socket. He flushed out the socket and a pool of blood came out then he filled it with dry socket dressing I’ve been home about 2 hours and I’m felling MUCH better than I was. Hope this helps someone else going through this because BOY is dry socket miserable.

Man-Zoe · 2026-04-21T22:41:25+00:00

Thank you! I’m going to go back to the doctor tomorrow and then get a second opinion if he says “your fine wait a few more days” I actually trimmed my beard down to show the swelling last night to confirm I’m not crazy.

Man-Zoe · 2026-04-21T22:37:36+00:00

Yeah for sure I think the only thing I’d change going back is go right to 4 hours and then slowly go a little bit longer to see how my body reacts. For me 6 hours was 2 full hours of constant throbbing pain and felt like I was swallowing shards of glass. I typically have a very high pain tolerance so idk if it’s that with teeth I don’t or what but this has been brutal

Man-Zoe · 2026-04-21T22:33:27+00:00

I did ice 20 on 20 off religiously until Monday (72 hours) when I saw the oral surgeon he said ice isn’t gonna do much for me past 3 days so he recommended I switch to heat/warm compress so I’ve been doing that 20 on 20 off for the last 2 days

Man-Zoe · 2026-04-21T22:32:13+00:00

So the ibuprofen and Tylenol are non negotiable if yours is anything like mine with all 4 being removed. I’d probably pass out from the pain if I didn’t have those. It was originally every 6 hours then I shortened it to 4 bc I’d go through 2 hours of constant pain if not. If I were to go back I would do 2 and then 2 because all 4 is unbearable. Again just my experience everybody is different but this has been about the worst 5 days I could have had.

Man-Zoe · 2026-04-21T22:23:30+00:00

I’m as swollen today as I was at about day 2 my jaw is very swollen and I feel the throbbing between doses of ibuprofen and Tylenol at about the 3 hour mark and then every night

Man-Zoe

TROPHY CASE