unless you or your wife got a raise… your budget isnt new.
VERY common trick banks pull, well used to way more befor and now they are paying for it with too many foreclosures and repositions.
I know you are not a dumb dude so this might not necessarily be news to you. Banks love to pre-approved people for way more than they can COMFORTABLY afford to pay. They look at credit, income and outstanding debt. dont care if you like to enjoy a dinner on the town once a week with the wife, dont care if you like to buy parts for your cars, like to ride motorcycles, etc. Many actually assume that you will only pay bills, and therfor think “yeah with this guys income and it seems like he pays his bills on time, sure lets give him a $250K mortgage” all the while they are strapped to make payments each month. This is what effectively KILLED the housing market in the last few years. When I was 23, and my gf was 21, combined income was less than 2/3’s what we have now and were approved for a $280K loan! retarded. young adults looking for a house and the casted out the lure and could have reeled us in. 3 years later we did it again making more money and having better credit, and the approval was $250K. And its been cut back more now. WAY too much credit was loaned out because the banks knew they high monthly payments would be quick money, and the realtor were trying to inflate housing values. MANY realtors worked with banks to preapprove people for houses they couldnt actually afford just to sell the house. And you can see how well that worked out for the economy in the long run.
Your budget shouldn’t have changed at all. Look at your NEEDS and WANTS hard. Put it all on paper all your spending’s, and leave room for unforeseen expenses that could flip your life upside down, god forbid, if something were to happen. Make sure you can make the payments and be happy, not stressed out 12 times a year making a $1500+ payment.
My mother was a realtor for 15years and got out when it started getting too political. Banks were pulling strings and she was being forced by her company to do things she shouldnt, so she bailed. The lady we got our loan through has been in it for ever, and worked with my mother alot. she actually invited us to her office off hours and sat down and helped steff and I balance out budget and made sure we didnt over spend. even though we were approved for 250K, it literally left us with something like $300 a month to save. We settled on a good price point and stuck to it. We also remodeled our entire house with a reconstruction loan included into the mortgage, so we stole the house (total dump from the get go) and put some serious work and money into it. Extremely happy with it now.
In the last 2 or so years owning it, I can tell you I am very glad I didnt over spend. When I went down on the street bike and was out of work for a while it hit us hard that month, and almost a year later dealing with hidden medical bills as they popped up and I fought with insurance. Steff recently shattered her arm and got plates and pins, and has been out of work for 4 weeks now too. Again, its tough. We luckily gave ourselves a decent amount of wiggle room each month which really helps alot.