I'm the wife :) I'm looking to put down 30-40% on a 125-150k home. Couldn't comfortably afford to pay the mortgage, taxes, homeowner's insurance, life insurance, increased utilities, and increased gas costs involved, AND put that remaining 5k of savings into retirement, otherwise. I pay all the bills, the only impact my marriage has on my finances is with regards to tax filing. I suppose most people would say I shouldn't get to buy a house. But that's the thing I want most in life, so I'm willing to do whatever I have to to make it happen.
What I'm saying about taxes, though, is that if I invest the other 1580 in an IRA, I won't have enough deductions to itemize. I'll have to take the standard deduction, and thus pay taxes on that 1580, which I wouldn't have otherwise, if it had been deducted from my paycheck.