What Can I Afford?

Joanna is a single woman in her 30s who doesn't want to wait for a man to buy her first house. "It's always been my dream to have a family," Joanna says. "I'm looking to buy a home so that I can adopt a child or two."

As a second grade teacher, Joanna takes home $2,908 a month. She has $1,845 of monthly expenses, and $8,500 in her emergency fund, which gives her a monthly excess of $1,063.

The home Joanna wants to buy is $150,000, and she needs $5,000 for a down payment. She plans on taking the $5,000 out of her emergency fund, and the bank has already approved her for the mortgage.

Can Joanna afford to buy her first home?