The best way to work out how much you can afford with your salary is to use the 28/36 rule. As we covered earlier, this relates to having a mortgage payment of less than 28% of your pre tax monthly income and no more than 36% of your total debt.
So, to put this into perspective, if you earn $4,000 a month before tax, you can afford a mortgage payment of up to $1,120.
Obviously, you will need to factor into your calculations, any additional debt or expenses you need to service from your salary. This will impact how much you can afford to pay on your mortgage each month.