The first two are quite useful. Home improvements or paying off credit cards. Is it still debt? Yes, but it's cheaper and easier to manage and still better than bankruptcy or being destitute. The problem is that so many people run the cards right back up.
The last option is for people stupid enough to live in places like San Francisco where a 2 bedroom mobile home costs 400 grand.
"The last option is for people stupid enough to live in places like San Francisco where a 2 bedroom mobile home costs 400 grand."
And don't forget, there's a lovely 300 square foot houseboat in a leased slip in Tiburon for $750,000. Paying for the view, basically. Which, I'll admit, is fantastic. But, what is the asset that any mortgage would be secured with? The houseboat can't be worth more than $50K. The value has to be in the lease for the boat slip. Which, unless it's something like a 99 year lease, really has no "value" as an asset. Certainly not $700K.
Yep. And now it's your house on the line.
Back when I was a kid (...about a zillion years ago. I had a dinosaur instead of a dog...) parents used to teach their kids about financial responsibility. First you take care of a place to live... Then food... Then savings... Then charity... A ways down the line comes a car... And waaaaaay down the line comes all that fun stuff. Doesn't anybody learn that lesson anymore?