Credit: Many financial institutions seem to have extremely loose lending guidelines. I remember pre-qualifying with Washington Mutual for a home loan last year and they said I could borrow up to $295,000. I mean that is just absolutely amazing. I'm single, still in my 20s and here I can add nearly 300K to my liabilities. Granted, my income is pretty decent but I really don't know why they think I can swing a 300K mortgage. With P&I, PMI (yea, try putting 20% down on a 300K house) and taxes, that's at least $2000 a month.
Not being a person who likes owing money, I ended up borrowing $105,600 and face much more tolerable $870 monthly payments.
Few people can really afford a $50K vehicle. They must be all leases or "owned" by highly leveraged individuals.