ABOUT BUY OR BOLT

The math should
serve your life.

Most affordability calculators ask what a lender might approve. That matters, but it is not the same as asking whether you will still like your life after the payment clears.

Hi, I’m Miles.

I’m Miles Shannon, the creator of Buy or Bolt and a recent homebuyer. When my wife and I were looking for a home, the mortgage calculators gave us a payment. They didn’t tell us much about what living with that payment would actually feel like.

We spent hours building our own spreadsheets, comparing homes and price points, and figuring out what each one would change about our daily life. How much would we still save? What would we have to cut? Would we be happy with those choices once we moved in?

I got frustrated with how much work it took to answer those questions. With my background in clinical informatics, building a tool to help other buyers in the same position felt like a useful place to start. That’s why I made Buy or Bolt.

I’m sharing a homebuyer’s perspective, not offering professional financial advice. The goal is to make the tradeoffs easier to see before you commit to a home.

The calculator starts with take-home pay and real-life spending for its Life Fit. Lender Lens is separate because lenders use gross income and required debts. Future Fit shows what a change in monthly investing could become over time.

What Buy or Bolt does

Buy or Bolt is an independent planning tool. It is not a lender, mortgage broker, real-estate brokerage, insurance agency, financial adviser, or preapproval. No bank or insurer is paying to influence the result. If that ever changes, we will label it plainly.

How we approach the numbers

We use published sources and let you replace estimates with figures you know. The calculation suite checks affordability rules across a wide range of incomes, savings goals, down payments, and interest rates, along with every ZIP-level tax profile bundled into the site.

That still cannot know the condition of a particular roof, an insurer’s wildfire model, a future assessment, or the rate a lender will actually offer. When you have a real tax bill, insurance quote, HOA statement, or loan estimate, use it.

Run your reality check

How we put the guides together

Our guides focus on the questions behind a home purchase: what the payment includes, what it leaves for everyday life, and what might change for your savings. Sources are linked at the end of each guide so you can check the details yourself.

Dollar examples are illustrations, not stories about real customers. We distinguish our own planning rules from lender requirements and explain the assumptions behind the calculator on the How it works page. The guides are published by Buy or Bolt; they are not individually tailored financial advice.

If something looks wrong or out of date, tell us which page and what you noticed. We’ll investigate and correct errors we confirm. Article dates reflect substantive updates, not a promise that every linked source was checked that day.

How the site is funded

Buy or Bolt is free to use. There are no ads or affiliate links on the site today. We plan to explore advertising to help cover the cost of running it. If we add paid placements or affiliate links, we’ll identify them. Payment will not change how the calculator works.