I read this last night and have been thinking about it on and off today.

First, I wonder if your bank is charging fees. I once misplaced my checkbook when it was time to pay the student loan, so I used the bank's electronic Bill Pay feature. The next time I looked at my list of transactions, I noticed that the bank charged a 13% fee for that payment!

All your monthly expenses are much lower than mine except for gas and car insurance. Is carpooling an option at all? Can you start driving right after starting the engine (as opposed to using a remote start to get the cabin to a moderate temperature)? Can you try "hypermiling" where you change your driving habits to increase gas mileage?

Car insurance may be out of your control. Rates vary depending on the type of car and where it's "garaged." But I wanted to mention that you pay more than I pay for two cars (although I bundle it with home insurance, and I live in a very low-crime area.)

Anyway, housing makes me mad. The root of this situation is greed. There are investors who pay into REIT (Real Estate Investment Trusts) to profit from housing. It's true that money to build new housing needs to come from somewhere. But in some cases, housing construction (or renovation) is funded by government programs, yet it's the investors who benefit from it.