In the US a lender usually asks for your two most recent statements. It looks for large deposits it must trace, the balance you will have left, and regular payments that are not on your credit report.
Mind My Money reads your own statements on your own computer and lists every regular payment.
This is for households in the US about to apply for a mortgage or a preapproval, who will hand over their bank statements and would rather read them first. It is taken from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and from Fannie Mae's Selling Guide, the rules for the loans Fannie Mae buys from lenders, all read on 31 October 2026 and linked below.
Under the federal ability-to-repay rule a lender has to make a reasonable, good faith determination that you can pay the loan back, and to do that it must “find out, consider, and document a borrower's income, assets, employment, credit history, and monthly expenses” (CFPB). Your bank statements show two of those at once: the money you have, and the money that goes out every month.
The CFPB's own checklist for a loan application lists “Bank statements, two most recent” (CFPB). Fannie Mae's guide says the same in more detail: for a purchase, statements covering the most recent full two months of activity; for a refinance, one month. Each must name the bank and you as the account holder, show at least the last four digits of the account number and the period it covers, list every deposit and withdrawal, and end with the balance. If the latest one is more than 45 days older than your application, the lender should ask for something more recent (Fannie Mae B3-4.2-01).
| What they look at | What the guide says | What it means for your statements |
|---|---|---|
| Large deposits | A single deposit of more than half your total monthly qualifying income. On a purchase, if you need that money to close, the lender must document where it came from; money it cannot source is taken off your verified funds (B3-4.2-02). | A paycheck or a tax refund that is plain on the statement needs no explanation. A transfer from family, a sale or a bonus does: keep its paper trail. |
| Borrowed money | “The lender must investigate any indications of borrowed funds” (B3-4.2-02). | A deposit from a loan or a credit line is a new debt, and it counts as one. |
| Regular payments | The lender counts “all other debts of a recurring nature”, and must verify any liability that is not on your credit report with papers from you or the creditor (B3-6-01). | A monthly payment to a lender, a lease or a payment plan shows on your statements even when it is not on your credit report. |
| The balance | Every statement must end with the account balance (B3-4.2-01). | That is the money you can show for the down payment, closing costs and any reserves the loan asks for. |
The CFPB puts it in one line: your debt-to-income ratio is “all your monthly debt payments divided by your gross monthly income”, income before taxes. Its example: $1,500 for the mortgage, $100 for a car loan and $400 for other debts make $2,000 a month; on $6,000 a month before tax that is 33 percent. It adds that different loans and lenders have different limits (CFPB).
For loans sold to Fannie Mae the ceiling is 36 percent when a person underwrites the loan by hand, up to 45 percent with the credit score and reserves its matrix asks for, and 50 percent through its automated system, Desktop Underwriter (B3-6-02). The debts in it are the new housing payment, revolving accounts such as card minimums, installment loans with more than ten months left, leases, alimony and child support, and other recurring obligations. Taxes, retirement contributions, commuting costs, union dues and voluntary deductions are not (B3-6-01).
So groceries, utilities and streaming are not in the ratio. They are still on the statements the lender reads, and still come out of the same account as the mortgage would.
Mind My Money reads your own statements on your own computer. You sign in to your bank yourself in a browser; it downloads every transaction the bank lets you export, names the company behind each payment, and writes a report for the last twelve months with every regular payment listed by what it costs a year. Nothing is sent to us. It does not tell you how much to borrow, or from whom: that is between you and your lender or loan officer.
Runs on your own computer, and the app is free.