re: In the market for a house...

It's easily a few thousands every year just on bullshite. Forget about new flooring, replacing windows, a new AC unit, whole home generator, etc.

In just the last few months we've bought a new dishwasher, now we need a new garage fridge, spent damn near a grand on removing a couple small trees, grinding a few stumps then re-sodding over them, spring time garden crap (flowers, pine straw), new gable vents and siding repair cause squirrels are worthless pieces of shite. Don't even factor in new front brakes for my wife's SUV, LSU football season tickets, two vet trips for our dog, and down payments on two summer camps for our daughter. Not to mention all the other money on things like travel, dining out, date nights, etc.

No way I would feel comfortable with that much money tied into just my home if we made $160k.