I was very sad by the conversation with my sister last night. She has never made much money (15-25K/yr) as she's always gone into things such as Massage Therapist or Beading/Crafts. Her choice, though.
Her and her SO are looking to buy a home. Her SO makes 150+.
ME: "Awesome! I'm really glad you guys are doing that. Are you looking at buying outright or doing 20% down?"
Sister: "Oh, we're working on saving up for a down payment. We have 1,000 right now and hope to have 4,000 by THE END OF THE YEAR"
I'm going to stop there for a second and let that sink in.... Angry yet? Awesome. Lets continue.
Me: "What the [inappropriate words], [Sister]?? You guys make great money. You'll need to save for a year and a half just to get 3% down for a FHA loan, then have to worry about PMI. If you can just save 10% of your incomes, you'll be able to do your 3% down before December (and I go on to recommend not doing only 3% down, and keeping the home cost low, etc...)"
Sister: "Yeah, rent is 1700/mo, and you know, he's really into Kickstarter and spends upwards to $500 on a single Kickstarter these days, and there isn't much money left over each month after food and bills, so we're saving slowly."
It was a lengthy conversation to say the least with me becoming more and more flabbergasted. I want to help her, but it's definitely a realization she needs to accept on her (and his) own without me being pushy. It's just... rough to watch happen.