So begins the long, arduous process...

We officially have a meeting with a realtor next Thursday. And, we've been pre-qualified for a mortgage. But, we're still not sure that buying a house is what we should do.

We have a lot more debt than we would like to have. Most of that debt is in student loans. Unavoidable, yes. Beneficial, yes. But still debt. And we don't want to have it. We want to get rid of all of it so that we can be generous. So we can have savings. So we can have nothing but a house payment--and really if we're being honest, I'd love to not even have a house payment.

So we're faced with a difficult decision. Do we significantly reduce the size of our living space (i.e., down to a one bedroom apartment), so that we can reduce our rent to $500-$600 a month, and dedicate the majority of our income to paying down debts. Or, do we buy a $80,000-$100,000 house, and continue paying off debt the way we have been. We just can't decide. I suppose it might come down to whether or not we can find a house that we really like, or even an apartment that we really like or can live with.

Eric is at this moment is interviewing for a part time job at IKEA. If he gets it, then both of us would have 2 jobs--one full time and one part time. I just wish this decision was easier to make. We both stress about it. We just don't know what to do.

If anyone has any advice, please feel free to share it. We would greatly appreciate it...