<prompt> Human: In general, what is the difference between being house poor and being a foreseeable perpetual renter living paycheck to paycheck? Im in the position where I will have to choose. I have the savings to make the full 20 down on a carefully selected home, but I will be house poor theres no workable math around it. Or I could just rent and live from paycheck to paycheck but not really because Id always have the existing savings. However, my existing savings will most likely not being growing except by very small increments due to all renting costs. So my question: non-specifically and theoretically, which condition is better or worse?  <response>: I suppose the big one is that when youre a broke renter and your furnace goes out in December, youre not the one on the hook for the 10k to replace it.Home ownership in most places is really only cheaper when you count equity accrued over time, which doesnt matter if you get foreclosed on. It can be quite a lot more expensive than renting in upfront terms or it may not be and sacrifices a whole lot of flexibility in your life and finances. Its like a forced savings plan into your one, most likely biggest, asset. 