Mortgage vs Fuel

Many homeowners are selling their homes in an effort to afford rising fuel prices.

By Lucy Stanton

Pay your mortgage or put fuel in your vehicle? If you are like most American's doing both will probably make you strapped for cash, in fact few people can actually make their mortgage payments on time and fill up with gas. As fuel prices continue to increase those who commute long distances are allowing their homes to go into foreclosure. Some are even selling homes they have lived in for decades to move into cramped apartments closer to their jobs.

According to MSNBC and data collected from the 2000 census most travel at least 25 minutes each way to get to their jobs. More than 3.44 million commute more than 90 minutes to work each day. For some it's just getting to be too much. People who entered into sub-prime mortgages a few years ago have been feeling the crunch for a while. As interest rates and fuel prices increase it comes down to which one they need more.

After much discussion homeowners are deciding that their homes just aren't worth the amount of money they are pouring into them. For those on the brink of foreclosure the decision to let go of the home is a huge stress reducer. The no longer have to worry about how they will come up with the money to do both. Many say that once the decision has been made they immediately feel better about their financial situation. Money that was going for fuel can then be used toward renting an apartment or home within a few miles of their place of employment, and since they aren't paying a high mortgage on top of the increased fuel cost it's almost as if they are making money just by moving.