Living paycheck to paycheck is more common, even when the paycheck is higher
More households are living paycheck to paycheck, or spending all their income on essentials - Including 20% of families earning more than $150,000
If you bought a house at the very top of your budget and the payments went up, it doesn't really matter how much money you make.
People don't always budget for this stuff and fail to factor in that in some areas your property taxes and insurance can creep up and pretty soon your manageable mortgage payment becomes less manageable.