What happens if your income decreases? The amount of money you have has dwindled, but the amount of debt you owe remains the same. What’s the best way to prioritize payments? If you have credit cards chances are you might also have personal loans and a mortgage.

Over the past few years, more consumers in a bind due to dwindling income have decided that credit cards should be higher than their mortgage payments on the prioritization list. As 2009 ended it was determined that twice as many consumers were delinquent with their mortgage payments while paying credit card payments than the other way around.

Despite the fact that some of this might be due to the credit crunch and lower balances on cards in general, this may be due to the typical tendency for people to lose faith in the value of their homes as they see the real estate market dwindle. A lot of homeowners are giving up and simply walking away from their homes with mortgages that they cannot afford. They figure that if the only punishment is a bad credit score, there isn’t much incentive for them to keep paying money if they are not building equity.

For families struggling with issues of financial trouble, the bare necessities are still neccessary: food, water and shelter. Credit cards are the typical financing strategy in times of need. There is an understandable set of reasoning for prioritizing these bills. If a credit card is revoked, someone will lose the chance to pay for the bare necessities.

Nevertheless, a mortgage should be a higher priority than credit cards because the mortgage is secured debt. The bank that holds your mortgage can take your house away if you don’t pay because your house is collateral. While some people have no problem abandoning a house whose value has gone down, it’s not considered a very smart choice. There is a real chance real estate value eventually will come around, so sitting tight might pay off.

Mallory McGuinness is employed by a debt collection company. Also, she writes stories on consumer spending, business and finance, and debt collection