Hellobee Boards

@Lindsay05: Not necessarily. I have a car loan at 0% and a fixed rate mortgage loan.

As I said in another post, really wealthy people are not like you and me in terms of what we pay for a rate on credit cards. For a normal, regular person, they can do a balance transfer for a set period, like 6 months, to another lender.

I am not advocating people rack up debt, don't get me wrong, but it's not so black and white when rates do and will go up.

I voted for family 1. They have 2 higher incomes which means they have more options. They can always sell their home or summer home for more cash on hand. It does sort of depend how MUCH they have on their credit cards (I might feel differently if they had like 150k in credit card debt vs. 10k). But in general I feel like more earning potential = better off, even if they aren't necessarily making the most of their situation.

But I might be biased because I personally place a premium on quality of life (and call me materialistic, but my 4 bedroom house, nice car, the fact that I can buy what I want within reason, and the fact that we go out to do stuff and go to eat pretty frequently make me happy because it is the life I want. I'd be unhappy if I had a bunch more in savings but felt like I was having no fun and living in a place I hated).

I'd vote for family two due to savings, however number one has more to liquidate if they have a financial emergency (and can adjust habits if needed to save money)

@looch: Yes, it's a very different world.

If I were in family 2's situation I'd be terrified. Wages have been stagnant for decades while rents keep going up. I think at some point down the line their situation would become unsustainable.

One fire and poof - there goes their food. And I don't even want to think about what their lives would be like in old age.

At least family 1 has the option to pare down...

I didn't even see the food in home food storage. That sounds, um, appetizing.

I don't know if could answer this question. Well off? Family 2 is doing very well with savings and living within their means but Family 1 has a home. Also, we don't know how much debt they have. Do they have $10k over 3 cards? $50K? or 5K?

Family 2 is definitely more responsible (?) with how they save and spend their money.

I think both families have different priorities. I would personally rather own a home than rent a home.

Also, income wise, how much does Family 1 make in a year?

Lots of factors here.

I don't think either are well off but family #1 has assets and materials they could sell.