‘You Can Have The Highest Taste In The World,’ ‘Ramsey Show’ Host Says — But Warns, ‘If You Can’t Afford It, You Can’t Afford It’

What starts as a housing question can quickly become a test of expectations once the numbers are on the table.

That was the lesson David learned when he told “The Ramsey Show” about trying to figure out how to afford the kind of home his girlfriend expected, just as he was thinking about proposing.

Calling from Santa Monica, California, David said his girlfriend earns a decent living and has clear ideas about the home she envisions. As they talked about marriage and next steps, he wanted to get clarity on money first and understand whether those expectations fit within what he could afford.

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“You can have the highest taste in the world and the greatest standards,” co-host John Deloney said. “That’s awesome. If you can’t afford it, you can’t afford it.”

When The Math Meets The Relationship

Deloney first addressed timing, saying buying a home with someone you are not married to creates risk because dating couples do not have the legal protections that apply when a marriage ends and a house has to be sold. 

Even after shifting the conversation to a hypothetical marriage, the message stayed the same. Taste and standards were not the issue, Deloney said. It was “a matter of math.”

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As David focused on how his girlfriend might respond, co-host Ken Coleman shifted the discussion to expectations. “I want to know if this woman wants you,” he said, “or if she wants a house.”

Coleman said unrealistic expectations don’t simply go away when they aren’t confronted and often resurface later as tension. Deloney added that forcing the numbers means trading an unaffordable house for anxiety and stress.

When The Math Gets A Number

When David said he wanted “to give her a number,” Deloney gave one directly. A mortgage payment should stay under 25% of take-home pay, with 10% to 20% put down in cash. Anything beyond that, he said, puts the decision outside what is affordable.

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David said his girlfriend had bought a home years earlier despite not being able to afford it at the time and later benefited from rising equity. Deloney responded that getting lucky once doesn’t justify doing it again.

“No house, no ring yet, David,” Coleman said.

For David, being unable to afford a home purchase doesn’t mean abandoning real estate entirely. 

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