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Suze Orman Tells You What You Can Afford
The Oprah Winfrey Show  |  June 06, 2009
Can Joanna afford to buy a house?


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?
Printed from Oprah.com on Sunday, May 26, 2013
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