Sally and Brett want to buy a $1.2 million house in two years and have a baby. Ramit Sethi warns against stacking multiple huge expenses at once: a new house, a car, and a kid. Better to space them out and keep a safety net intact.
We want a $1.2 million house and a baby. Can we afford both? Sally is 32 years old. She lives in the Bay Area with her husband Brett and a program manager. She works as an account manager. Sally says, we'd love to buy a $1.2 million house in the next 2 years. We also want to start a family around the same time, but we're nervous that we'll be financially stretched. We've been lucky to travel a lot and we are okay pulling back on that. I still want a feeling of security. I also feel like I may need to step in and help my parents financially someday. Sally's question: can we really afford a $1.2 million house in the next 2 years and also start a family without feeling financially stretched? One of the biggest mistakes that people make with their finances is to take on massive new costs all at once. The most common example is that people will buy a house and get a new car all at the same time as having a new baby. 1, 2, 3, that is way too much stuff to take on.
