Anyone who rents their home has inevitably, at one time or another, fallen victim to home-buyer envy. Renters often hear things like, "You're just throwing your money away," or "You can't afford not to buy your own home." Forget that double negative a moment to consider this: there are actually a few instances when home-buyers should envy you for being the shrewd home-renter that you are.

Instance #1: You know you can't afford to buy.

Case in point, this author, who sits in his $325/mo. studio apartment, making a monthly net of $2500/mo., can't afford his city's median home mortgage of $1200/mo. I know this because I live by one simple financial rule of thumb: never commit more than 30% of your net income to debt. And debt includes phone bill, car payments, insurance, text messaging, anything that you need to pay towards monthly. By living this way, I have money for food, gas, food, entertainment, RETIREMENT, and of course, food. Buying a home would definitely put me over the financial edge by cutting into my food budget and retirement (aka. food budget), and at this time I'd rather save my money for these things than spend it on a mortgage.

Instance #2: You don't need to buy.

Again, case in point, I'm single, child-less, and ready to drop my job for a six-month stint in Vegas once my coffee waitress gets her wealthy father to fund it. If you, like me, don't have a lot of money, don't need a lot of space, don't want to be tied down, and you spend way less on rent than you would on a mortgage, then why thrust yourself into financial ruin to do so? Let me tell you, there's a worse way to throw your money away than renting - assume a mortgage that took four stiff drinks to get the courage to sign, then fall short on your payments after the boss cuts out your overtime, then get kicked out on your butt by your creditor, and then swill another four stiff drinks to find the courage to ask your parents to take you in for a few weeks while you straighten things out. (Don't worry; they'll know the word "weeks" means "months".)

And even if things go swimmingly, they might not be so great. Let's say you miraculously make all your payments, you're up-trading your IKEA furniture like happy-hour tequila, then suddenly your coffee waitress snaps the home-buying fog to say, "Vegas?" and you choke and plead, "After my house sells?" and she says, "See ya," 'cause she's smart and knows it'll take at least 6 months to find a buyer, if everything goes well.

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