Thanks for the responses so far.

Indeed, the deduction would not be used towards paying the bills.

However the deduction would be used towards building up a savings account.

Barring a double-dip and mass layoffs, two things are going to happen to them over the next few years:

1.)Student Loan will be paid off, hence one big expense gone.

2.)Very, very, very good reason to believe that one of them will realize more income than they have today...realistically 20% more.

Conversely, we'd like to try to get them into a decent home, good schools for the kid, and something they can "grow" into just in case interest rates are too high 5 years from now.

So for the 1st 2 years, the deduction wouldn't pay their bills, but would be a good chunk of their savings.

Jedi