Q: My wife and I plan to look for and hopefully purchase a house this spring. We have been preapproved for a decent amount (approximately $400,000). Although we are looking now, current inventory is lacking and we feel after the new realty season in our area (traditionally the week following Super Bowl Sunday) we should be able to find something we like and can afford. We are determined to find a house that we can easily live in for at least a decade.

In the meantime, we currently have two automobiles that eventually need to be replaced. We plan to replace them with newer used cars. My 1997 Mustang needs $1,200 worth of repairs to make it safe to drive. It would be a game of Russian roulette to continue navigating Chicago winters (read: snow) with my current set of tires. (I actually ended up putting in $400 in other repairs the other day.)  more...