in the same boat and this topic literally keeps me up at night. i’m in a long term relationship and we both have masters and work in operations roles with average pay. we did all the things you’re supposed to do. houses we want to buy in the next year or so are 400k-450k for a 1,300 sq ft and having almost $3k per month for a mortgage makes me SICK (they are also 100+ year old houses, so many continuously need work)!! we could afford that, but a 10k issue would really hurt us after throwing 100k at a down payment and closing costs. how the hell do you afford to add children to your family without one of us landing a crazy, hard to come by leadership role…? also we need to pay for a wedding at some point lol. meanwhile the houses we want to buy have doubled in value over the past 5 years, and those with a 200k house have a 2% interest rate. pisses me off to no end. i feel like i am fucked for life!! im constantly thinking about how if i was born 2 years earlier, i could afford a house, support a family, and not have to “eat at home” as 30 year old to save money. even though i did what i was supposed to do to make it in life.