The dollar amount of mortgage payments is vital to qualifying for property financing. Many lenders use a formula of debt to income to decide how much of a monthly mortgage payment a borrower can afford. New home buyers should not solely rely on how much a formula or lender declares they can afford to pay each month for a house. A borrower knows their own income and spending habits better than anyone else. Crunching the numbers for all household income and expense on a monthly basis can usually be done in a few hours and can save years of stress and even loan default and foreclosure later. Many new home buyers enter into a home loan with mortgage payments that make them 'house poor.' The monthly payments are so large they cannot afford much else. Beautiful new homes with bells, buttons, whistles, and features galore can be tempting and entice people to overspend. Besides being comfortable with a monthly mortgage payment amount, ideally, every borrower should have six months of mortgage payments in the bank.