Is $2,500 the only income to pay down these amounts?

34K is gross or net?

Lenders will only lend about 3x gross wages at current rates. $34K gross would be roughly $100K.

Unless you find a lender special, FHA requires about the lowest down payment at 3.5%.

Lenders will charge PMI/MIP if you don’t put 20% down.

Property taxes, homeowners insurance, PMI/MIP, and HOA fees will all affect your monthly mortgage payment and how much house you qualify for.

Any on-going debt payments will count against your available income.

Roommates will not be considered as qualified income unless you are purchasing a property jointly. If it is a multi-family unit, rent for a separate unit may be considered.

There’s a lot of folks here that would leave and never look back.

Since the new position is entry level, are the expectations in line with what you are looking for? I never recommend someone go from hourly to salary especially with such a small difference in pay.

I think this very dependent on the field and company you work for. I had three jobs in a row over a five year period where I worked 60-80 hour weeks as a salaried position.

One of those companies had salaried positions track time and another one wanted us to, but I convinced the owner otherwise.

That’s not a lot of money to move out of state with - seems like a simple enough reason.

You should do what is comfortable for you. I don’t think you need validation from fellow Redditors to support your position.

Do you have any savings at the moment?

I agree with other folks’ sentiment that your best path forward is education or training to increase your current wage. Why work 60-80 hours if you can get paid the same for 40 hours of work?

That being said, if you find an opportunity in the evenings or weekends that works for your schedule, you can take the money and invest it to improve your chances of getting a home sooner (or just grind and save if you are low risk).

Part-time work can have some good upsides - meeting new people, trying new things, gaining connections, etc. It’s not as big of a deal to walk away from the work if it’s too much or you find something better because it’s only part time.

I started out at minimum wage ($7.25 US) working for the parks and rec department in my home town. I ended up working for them part time/seasonal for seven years. I became an evening site manager making $10/hr and a volleyball referee making $15-$16 per hour. I did the evening/weekend work all through college because it was a laid back gig, and I could study and complete homework while I was there.

I ended up boosting my weekend pay to $20/hr in the winters helping a soccer league that was using our facilities. I also went on to referee volleyball at the high school and club games making $18-$24 a match.

I have not actually used my college degree throughout my career, but I was in a good position to buy a house at age 26 even though I wasn’t making a ton of money.

How long have been at your current job? Have you asked for any significant raise? Growth opportunities?

I feel like $10K/$11K is not much of a stretch if you like your current job. You should see if you can get the same or more money from your current position.

While job # 2 offers excellent matching funds, they are difficult to compare since you mentioned a pension plan for your current job.

1. Determine your budget for your house purchase
2. Determine how much you will need for a down payment for said house purchase
3. Save aggressively for # 2

Ideally you are putting 20% down to avoid PMI. If you can’t, then the question becomes how large of a mortgage payment can you afford? The more you put as a down payment, the smaller your mortgage payment will be.

The most important thing about retirement savings is to get in the habit of setting money aside to give it time to grow. It’s difficult to determine if you should or should not contribute without knowing your expenses and the answers to the questions above.

I think of a house investment as another avenue for savings. You should certainly contribute enough to earn any matching funds from your employer.

Edit: There is a $10K exception to the early withdrawal penalty for your first home if you absolutely need the funds from an IRA but no exceptions for the 401K to avoid the 10% penalty in relation to a house purchase.

How much is minimum wage for your state? There’s a big difference between $7.25 and $15 per hour as a minimum wage.

My first thought is that should only work extra if you have a goal in mind - whether it’s learning something new, saving for education or a large purchase, etc. Having said that, I don’t feel like you can’t put yourself ahead financially if that is more important for you than hobbies, activities, socializing, dating, etc.

It’s difficult to project what five years will look like. A property that is $1.5M now could be $1.75M-$2M in five years.

If the house values and mortgage rates stay somewhat consistent, you will need to save somewhere between $750K-$1M to put as a down payment.

A five year timeline seems doable given your income and current position, but you are going to have to tailor your budget. You will need to save $100K at a minimum each year and probably want to save more for some cushion.

If you put away $10K per month that leaves you with $2K for expenses and $600K in cash to add to your $300K in savings ($900K total). This does not include your bonuses or earnings from your savings/investments.

I don’t think you have to stop living a nomadic lifestyle, but you do need to create a monthly/annual plan to achieve your goal. I personally would tie my travel budget to the bonuses rather than the base salary.