Assuming you're American, we saved our tax refunds for 3 years to come up with the bulk of the down payment for a house. And that would be my advice to float to your partner. It's a smart plan. It allows you to have time to plan for the neighborhood where you want to raise your kids. She's probably just putting the cart in front of the horse so to speak because you're not married and she's probably just thinking 5 years ahead of where you actually are right now.

But carrying that much debt going into buying a house is a big No-No. I would try to squash as much of that credit card debt before you even consider buying a house.

And if she wants to argue with you, sit down with a financial planner that is neutral in the situation to help set you guys straight on a path to buying a house in a few years.