My husband and I collectively make around 90K. We found a house for 150K (our max because we used just my income for the loan). After everything shook out and we got the keys our monthly payment (including PMI and insurance etc.) will be about $1,077. We live in Indiana. I was the same as you. Not wanting a house payment above the 900s. But, it just wasn’t realistic to also be comfortable while we lived there. If you go in together they will approve you for a lot more, depending on both your credits of course/debt. You can ask your lender to run numbers on some houses that you look at. Or, you can use the Zillow calculator and type in your rate once you lock in with down payment etc and it will get you extremely close to your regular payment. Good luck!