I’d like to have $30,000 (20% on a $150,000 house) in 2 years. I’m pretty sure this isn’t realistic, but it’s good to start applying actual numbers to my vague hope to own a house someday. I’m aiming a little high on the amount since there’s also other expenses associated with buying a house, and I’m not sure whether I’ll be buying in a more expensive or less expensive community. Plus, houses are relatively cheap now, but who knows what the housing market will be doing when I get around to buying.

Right now, I have $2,600 sitting in my dedicated house fund at ING. I haven’t done my budget for this year yet, so I might have some extra money sitting around in my bank account that I could throw at this. I’d like to be able to put $1000/month toward my house, but again, I’m not sure this is realistic. I’ll check in again once I crunch some numbers.