This is a good starting point if you’re thinking about buying a home one day. You have to be consistent with this. You don’t need to be debt free to get approved for a good rate usually, but you need a low debt load in order to get the best rate and lowest monthly payment possible.

Car loans are absolutely a killer to your approval chances, rates, and approval amount. The more debt you have, the more risk to the lender, so the more they’ll charge you to cover that risk. A lender is like an interviewer you want to look good and present yourself as best as you possibly can so make sure you have your finances in order and your credit cards aren’t charged high. Keep your balances, and usage low. It’s how much you CHARGE every month that matters and affects your score. Keep that in mind and don’t finance anything else in a monthly payment plan because that’s bad news for your loan application. Keep debt low and then you’ll have more to make your savings higher.