Here’s something to think about: if you were strapped for cash, what would you pay of first, your mortgage or credit card bills? If you pick the credit card, then a recent study says that you’re not alone. Reuters gives the lowdown on a report by Translink that cobbled together the percentages of consumers who were delinquent on their mortgage payments, yet current on credit card bills.

The percentage of people choosing that formula rose to 6.6 percent in the third quarter of 2009, compared to 6.3 percent in the previous quarter, and 4.9 percent in the same quarter last year. The states with the two biggest jumps were Florida and California. In California, those who paid their credit card before mortgage increased dramatically: 3.5 percent in the third quarter of 2007 to 10.2 percent in the third quarter of 2009. In Florida, the percentage increased from 5.1 percent to a whopping 12.4 percent.

The new study also found that the flipside was true: consumers who were delinquent on their credit cards yet current on their mortgages decreased to 3.6 percent in the third quarter of 2009, from 4.1 percent in the first quarter of 2008.

What does this mean? According to Sean Reardon, the study’s author and a consultant in TransUnion’s analytics service, this trend indicates consumers are going “against conventional wisdom.” Usually, when consumers are faced with a financial crisis, they’ll “pay their secured obligations first, specifically their mortgages.” But, he makes the point that you can’t buy groceries with your house.

For those with little liquidity available due to job loss or the recession, it’s smarter to make that minimum payment on a credit card before a full mortgage payment, in order to still be able to go about their daily activities. But where does that leave you? If you didn’t set up an emergency fund for the leaner months, then you don’t want to get behind on mortgage payments. Paying off the credit card instead of the mortgage alleviates some of the anxiety for the present, no doubt, but it’s not a long-term solution.

You may want to consider transferring your credit card debt to one that offers 0% APR on balance transfers for 6-12 months, with a low balance transfer fee. Take the time to compare the best balance transfer credit cards out there at the moment. It’s best to use these cards JUST for balance transfers – don’t make purchases on the cards. They are listed to make sure your payments go towards your principal debt. Now you can go back to paying down the mortgage!