It's fun to window shop for the home of your dreams by driving by homes for sale or looking at ads in the newspaper or on the Internet. However, before you get too excited about any home in particular, you should determine whether you can afford to pay for the home and maintain it. The best way to do that is to figure out how a home payment might impact your budget.

Size of your mortgage - Many lenders use guidelines to determine whether prospective homebuyers will be able to comfortably and confidently pay their mortgages. These guidelines vary. Visit Fannie Mae's Website to learn more about determining a proper level of housing debt.

These are only guidelines though. What really matters is how comfortable you feel in making a mortgage payment (including taxes and homeowners' insurance), based on your other monthly expenses. You may qualify for a loan, but the lender cannot know how much you need for flexible expenses. If you enjoy taking vacations or spending lots on entertainment, you may be willing, or able, to spend less on housing than the amount for which your lender will qualify you. Remember, no matter what your lender believes, you, not the lender, will be making the payments each month. Only take a loan for the amount you can, and want to, pay each month.

Extra home costs to consider - Maintenance, repairs, supplemental insurance, home improvements and decorating can cost hundreds or possibly thousands of dollars a year. In addition, additional bills homeowners may face, such as utility bills (water, electricity, gas), garbage, cable and possibly neighborhood association fees costs hundreds more each month.

There are many other expenses involved with owning a home that many first-time homebuyers don't anticipate. For example, maintaining a lawn will require owning a lawnmower or paying a lawn care service or gardener.

If you have been renting and now think you are ready to purchase a home, you'll need to think ahead about how much home you can really afford.