To budget, I took my last two years spending and averaged it monthly and then added $500 as a cushion. 

How much cushion is there based on comps?

The reason why i say yes, is because if you do escrow your taxes and insurance when you go to purchase or refinance, you will be required to have some reserves and/or cushion in the escrow account which are typically financed into the mortgage so the borrower does not have to pay out of pocket.

Do you guys just call the utility company when you analyze your potential property and use the highest utility number in your calculation to add a cushion?

This allows me to keep all of my saved money for emergencies/other investments, I like a big cushion.

Have a nice cushion of cash in the bank.  

Because housing is so expensive, you'll likely go for the FHA loan, so you start with so little cushion.

The DCSR of 1.25 implies that for every dollar loaned, there will be $1.25 generated by the property (+.25 cushion)

In the end, you will want to keep your job and restructure your finances as much as possible so you can save as you will probably need some cushion in the beginning if things go wrong.

I have that as a goal and I was thinking about a $5K - $8K cushion which is another reason I'm learning towards finding a partner (or two).