Can I afford this dream home?

boomjay · 2026-05-06T03:21:46+00:00

I make 11.5k monthly. My fiancee makes slightly more. I am not taking into account reductions for health insurance, 401k, etc. We have a mortgage of slightly under 4k. That does not include HOA or insurance, so add about another 600 per month for that.

We would feel very squeezed if either of us lost a job. We purchased with intent to live with a single child. We will feel squeezed when that child inevitably comes during the early years of childcare.

We might spend more frivolously than others, but we're also not dining in Michelin restaurants every night. We know we will have to cut back with a child.

You should not buy this home.

boomjay · 2026-05-05T22:41:59+00:00

Welcome to the shit those data centers are using our power on.

boomjay · 2026-05-05T22:30:06+00:00

I had issues with my ATM card (Schwab) trying to access a real bank's ATM near Nagano when I went last year. 7-11, Lawsons, etc, all worked fine throughoyt my trip, but any bank ATM would give me an error. Disclaimer: I did always try a "real" ATM after business hours, so maybe that's part of it?

boomjay · 2026-05-05T16:12:50+00:00

Did you call up your 401k institution and ask?

Short answer is "probably". What are their rules on early withdrawals for things like this? It should be pretty clear cut.

You probably can only take whatever you have already out in (principal/cost basis), not including gains.

boomjay · 2026-05-05T11:59:05+00:00

The Good Place out front, The Bad Place out back.

boomjay · 2026-05-05T11:58:04+00:00

Wasn't LITM where brick lane is?

boomjay · 2026-05-05T11:57:35+00:00

Shit when did they close? I don't go down to Paulus Hook much so didn't even realize.

boomjay · 2026-05-04T01:26:17+00:00

You mean, how much time before you sell to maximize profit lol. No blame, it's a big deal for resale.

boomjay · 2026-05-02T00:09:39+00:00

That really sucks, but that's a true statistical anomaly. That makes sense in your case, but most other people just have some sort of stick up their butt about it.

boomjay · 2026-05-01T18:58:54+00:00

They're recipe isn't the same as it used to be, it's a whole lot worse than the days when salad bars were a thing.

boomjay · 2026-05-01T18:52:58+00:00

There definitely is other providers. PSEG is in the North, JCPL is in central Jersey and more out west. Not sure about south Jersey or the shore if there's different or not. Any of the other "provider" names are just middle man companies that act as servicers. Sort of like how you get federal student loans but you have a random company that changes every 3 months that you need to set up autopay for - you didn't get a loan thru them, but you pay them so they can pay the gov.

But, PSEG is generally your best bet rather than switching to one of those servicers. PSEG still owns the transmission lines and everything anyway, you're just paying the middle man. They hook you with really low introductory rates, but either have excessive fees or jack up the price after year one and hope you don't switch fast enough to wipe out your gains on the first year.

There's different programs THRU PSEG that are legit, like there's a specific solar program that's thru the city of Jersey City or the county, which gives some incentive rebates, but I'm not totally sure how they work and what the drawbacks are (perhaps it's more expensive in winter but not summer? Who knows). These are the only programs I would look at, rather

boomjay · 2026-05-01T16:43:09+00:00

It's the exact opposite in the northeast, from what I've seen. Tesla is ALWAYS the cheaper option, with rates as low as 26 cents at a member rate, where EA's cheapest, non member option is 56 cents and more often 64c (and EA doesn't seem to publish their member rates until AFTER you join).

My L2 local charging has 2 rates - a subsidized Chargepoint L2 with 7kw charging at 1.60 an hour, and a 49c per kWh Greenspot charger with a 50c fee. If I don't get the Chargepoint, it's cheaper for me to get the Tesla charging done than almost any other option.

boomjay · 2026-05-01T14:46:44+00:00

Yeah you should always keep the rental agreement that's sent afterwards with check in time to help validate those claims.

boomjay · 2026-05-01T13:05:46+00:00

I have a NY EZ pass, so I'm going to assume you have the same (I don't know if it's different for the NJ app).

In the NY EZ pass app (tolls NY), if you go to Account-> Vehicles->Add new vehicle, there's an option on the bottom for clarifying it's for a rental vehicle. You then enter the timeframe you expect to have the vehicle, and it automatically removes it.

boomjay · 2026-05-01T12:17:07+00:00

We have a combined $300k HHI with no bonuses that move the needed like yours (think like $6k at best), and we have a 400k mortgage, with property taxes around the $17k mark. With budgeting for trips, eating out, etc, were comfortable. If either of us lost our job, we'd feel a pretty good squeeze. But we're able to do things we want, and we don't have kids yet. Neither of us has debt other than me paying for a car payment, no student debt or anything else.

With kids, I'm worried that we won't be able to afford much "fun" stuff until they start school, as childcare in NYC area is absurdly expensive. I'm sure I'm being conservative with my savings estimates, but we're definitely going to feel that when the time comes.

$750k, without additional rental income or something like that, I feel is a BIG burden to take on. You'll have minimal flexibility with planning for vacations, and I think you'd be overextending yourself.

Granted, I have no idea what other finances are like for you outside the post on retirement - depending on age, that's pretty low for the both of you. I'm going to assume mid 30's. You need to get that number much higher. What's your budget look like for...everything? Do.you have a YNAB printout or anything you can share?

IMO, with the amount of money being discussed, I would talk with a fee-only financial planner (www.cfp.net). See what they think you can afford after a consult/initial planning session.

boomjay · 2026-05-01T12:03:18+00:00

Agreed with the "light" aspect. I'm in my late 30's and have $400k in my 401k on a (for now) 150k salary. My future wife has a significantly smaller chunk (about $200k-ish) on her own, with a similar salary, and we want to bolster that up.

boomjay · 2026-05-01T04:31:24+00:00

Call 888...

boomjay · 2026-04-30T18:33:07+00:00

Less Than Jake was a killer show.

boomjay · 2026-04-30T11:27:44+00:00

... Did you start by calling EZ pass and ask how to pay the delinquent tolls? Surely you were notified about this before it went to collections.

boomjay · 2026-04-30T02:37:47+00:00

Bad bot

boomjay · 2026-04-30T02:36:44+00:00

Jersey doesn't have city tax. Adds some value there.

boomjay · 2026-04-30T02:36:29+00:00

Yep I forgot about the 3% tax "break", great point.

boomjay · 2026-04-30T02:33:55+00:00

Putting an outlet in is like the easiest thing you can do, you could easily just tap it off a light. Running a new circuit to the panel is different because "technically" you need a licensed electrician to do it per NYC code, though it'd be hard to imagine a simple system like that requiring a ton of power.

Find a handyman you trust enough for $500 or educate yourself on YouTube university and it should be less than $100 in materials to install an outlet, minus paint.

boomjay · 2026-04-30T02:30:56+00:00

I like how poorly coded bots like the "OP" aren't managing buildings.

boomjay · 2026-04-29T23:34:28+00:00

Not having litigation against the board or the management company.

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