<prompt> Human: Me and my girlfriend have been renting an apartment for 2 years and were approaching lease renewal time in several months. Wed LIKE to start looking at houses more seriously but our lack of savings for a down payment combined with low monthly income isnt helping. Our combined take home income is a few hundred less than 60k a year, both making almost exactly the same monthly. Were no Rockefellers thats for sure. Ive been with a small business for several years with solid 401k matching. At the expense of padding my own savings I threw a lot into my 401k early on. I have about 12k in a Roth 401k with them and me and my girlfriends combined personal saving accounts only total 6k. We both have good credit, girlfriend has no debt whatsoever and Im in the hole 14k on a car.Is it a wise move to use my 401k for a house downpayment? What are the cons to this that arent so obvious to me? Were only 24 and 25 right now so this is no rush, but renting is beginning to feel like throwing money out the window. Most of the houses weve looked at online that weve liked are around 300-350. We dont want any Mcmansion but we do live in a fairly expensive area.  <response>: You cant afford a 300-350k house on your kind of income. Plus, its not like your 401k is any kind of fantastic shape. Youve certainly done enough in that department, but its not like your so far ahead on retirement savings that you can afford to take out a 401k loan. Furthermore, retirement savings is a much more reliable long term investment than a home.Honestly, sounds like you might need to take a thorough look through your monthly spending. 