<prompt> Human: So a little background here. My fiance and I have been together for five years and are getting married in the fall of 2018. Hes a software engineer making 95k a year and I just graduated nursing school and have been offered a position making base 50k a year. I have differentials and overtime that will get added onto that, but Id prefer to plan for worst case scenario. We live in the Greater Philadelphia area for context on taxeshousing marketsetc.My fiance has been leasing his apartment for about two years now and pays 1600 a month. I have been splitting my time between his apartment and my parents house, as there is a 50 minute commute in between and I work where I grew up. He obviously works closer to his apartment. My job offer is closer to our hometown, so I dont want to commute to his current apartment - especially considering that Id be doing it after a 12-hour overnight shift. So we both agree that we need to move somewhere closer to in-between.Weve been debating on whether or not we should rent or try to buy a house. Ive always looked at a house as an investment and an apartment as throwing away money, although I do realize there is much more to it than that. We were discussing the other day if wed be able to save up a downpayment for a house between now and March when his lease is up. Although we theoretically could, were not sure itd be the best idea.Heres a rundown on finances for the both of us:I have pretty much nothing saved. I have a custodial account that my mom is on that I guess I could technically touch at this point, but Im honestly not sure how much is in it. Ive had some issues with school which led to me using credit cards for tuition. I have five credit cards with a total combined credit limit of 17k. In total, I have about 9k in credit card debt across three cards with interest rates ranging from 10-18 from tuition payments. My priority while Ive been in school and working has been to pay those down as much as I can, but when you make a bit above minimum wage and can barely reach part-time hours, its not easy. I also have about 50k in student loan debt. My minimum credit card payments monthly are 172 and I know how bad it is to only pay the minimum, but during school it was all I could do.... My minimum student loan payment will be about 500 in six months when they start collecting. I also have a 36-month car lease running through 2019 of which my monthly payment is 215. So my total monthly payments equal 887 not counting foodentertainment purchases. I currently have my money in a traditional bank, but plan to switch to a credit union offered by my work. He has a savings of about 10k. He has two credit cards with a combined credit limit of 2k and he pays his cards off every month. He has about 25k in student loans and pays about 400 a month minimum payment is 260. He pays rent and utilities about 1800 total, a car payment of 420 with a principal of 17,900, and a furniture payment for a bed he bought when moving into his apartment 75 per month interest free for 60 months. His total monthly payments equal about 2695 not including foodentertainment. There is also the consideration of our wedding. Weve committed to a contract of about 28k for the wedding of which both of our parents have offered to cover most of for us. With that being said, stuff happens, and in the event that something happens to either side, we need to be prepared to foot that bill.Im honestly not sure what would be better for us... Buying a house and paying less monthly for a mortgage than we would for rent, or continuing to rent and not needing to worry about emergency maintenance, etc. I recognize that there are pros and cons for each. I realize that if we were to buy, wed likely be stretched thin while paying down our student loan debts. I dont want to be house poor, but I would love to build equity. I just dont know what to do... Your thoughts would be appreciated.Assistant: You have too much debt to think about buying a house. If you want to be financially responsible then pay that off, contribute to retirement, and then start to save for a house down payment.Human: I guess Im not seeing the difference between putting 1600 towards a mortgage to own something and putting 1600 towards a building that someone else owns where the money basically poofs and disappears once it leaves our hands. Either way that money is coming out of our pockets. If that makes sense...  <response>: A house costs more than renting an apartment in so many aspects. 