Vernonia, (Disclaimer here, this is based on my personal observations only!) Believe it or not, I would have to break it down by married vs. single for the most debt. Married women (or recently separated women) carry more revolving debt than single women. Single men carry more revolving debt than married men. Overall, if I had to break it down, sorry to say, the ladies have the worse track record for having credit card debt. That said, the ones I am really worried about are the folks that are cashing out the equity in their homes to payoff credit card debt, then do not destroy their credit cards....and rack them back up again. Bankruptcy laws are being changed, and it won't be long before these folks won't be able to walk away from their debt and will be forced into a restructure of debt. In this case, rightfully so. It's the families with the medical catastrophe that will never be able to recover, which is sad. (sorry, leaving soapbox now). Suz

Have you had the water in the well tested? If it is 2 feet or so across, with a cover that is even slightly insecure, the water in there at present might have been contaminated from the top. You might need to pump it for some time in order to get newly arrived water in order to get a valid test. That might be true for a drilled well, with a 5" or so case, if the top of the case has not been sealed. You need to ensure that the water from the well is safe for drinking before you shut off city water. Nearly three years ago when my old farmer (step-)uncle's wife died, I spent most of a couple of months with him from early Feb. till mid-April when his beef cattle went on grass. He'd had three hip replacements and suffered severe pain in back, hip and leg. When he had someone in the house to check if he were gone to the barn for over an hour, that was one thing - but no one in the house meant no checking and we who cared about him didn't like the thought of him falling in a snowbank and freezing. He had a well feeding the house that was 50' or so from the bottom of a small watercourse, under which runs a municipal drain. A hundred feet or so on the other side of the watercourse is his barnyard. He had another well that feeds the barn, on the same side of the watercourse but about two hundred feet below the barnyard. He drank the water from the well that fed the house when I was there, and I did, as well. Late last winter Stuart died, the executors wanted the place to look lived-in, so I've travelled 25 mi. round trip for over 8 mos. now to spend time and sleep there, daily. His brother-in-law from his first marriage and the Bro-in-law's son work the farm and have cattle there. The son told me last winter that he doesn't let his children drink water at that house. The water smells, especially when one runs hot water. I have carried bottled water from the city for drinking and cooking. I wash hands and face in it and wash clothes in it - they come out smelling O.K. (but my smelling system leaves a bit to be desired). I use water from the barn well to water the dog and cats. The executors of the estate checked the water in both wells recently - the one feeding the house failed the e-coli and coliforms badly and the barn well was O.K. for e-coli but failed coliforms. Just an idea on how to get teen-agers out of a shower in a hurry - threaten to shower with them. Good luck with your plans. I think that you may operate more frugally with well water, but it isn't only the cost of rewiring that you need to consider - pumps and pressure tanks, especially the kind with bladders inside, fail from time to time. Replacements are costly, as is hooking them up. By the way - if you have an independent pressurized system, there may be a setting on the pump that allows you to pump some air into the tank from time to time for a while, but if one doesn't do that, the air in the tank slowly dissolves into the water, resulting in the tank becoming waterlogged (indicated by the pump coming on every time that one draws even a small amount of water, as the little bit of air in the top of the tank loses pressure really quickly). Good wishes as you pursue your plan. joyful guy

Canadian banks, pretty solid, but recently having suffered share price reductions in sympathy with their U.S. counterparts, are paying 6 - 7% dividend rates. That have low probability of being reduced. But, in tandem with increases in share price, a greater possibility than their U.S.counterparts of being increased in the foreseeable future. For Canadians, those dividends come at a much lower tax rate than we pay on interest income ... and the tax rate on those dividends was cut even further, a couple of years ago. Another gift from Mr. Harper to his rich friends. At present the bank wants me to pay 5% interest (rate recently increased from 4.25%) on a fully secured loan and when I use the borrowed money to invest, the interest is deductible, meaning that the after-tax cost is about 3.75%. The 6% dividend is taxed at a low rate, leaving me with about 5% after-tax return ... so I have some money in pocket, on the current business. When I borrow $10,000. to invest, agreeing to pay interest only, and after a few years when I repay the loan ... I am required to repay exactly $10,000. Each of those dollars will buy less than when I borrowed it, so I gained from inflation. The guy/gal who put that dollar into the bank (or bought a CD, GIC or bond) lost money due to inflation (as the number of invested dollars doesn't grow, apart from the rent on the money). While quite a few U.S. banks are rather iffy, these days, Canadian banks are going to be around for a while. And I fully expect them to regain a substantial part of their recent losses, and that before long. Which I fully expect will give me some capital gain. That'll be taxed at one-half regular rate - and not payable till I choose to sell them. But if I'd sold the equity assets and bought GICs, money market funds, etc. a while ago ... they'd pay interest ... that'll be taxed as current income ... and taxed at top rate. I'd rather earn a higher rate of dividend, taxed at a lower rate than interest. And expecting to grow some capital gain, quite likely before too long ...that won't be taxed until I choose to sell them (or die) ... ...and then be taxed at half regular rate. Actually ... I just signed up for a "credit" card ... that'll charge me 1.97% for nine months on transferred debt. So I plan to use my original card to buy some stocks, then transfer the debt ... and make sure to pay the 1.97% annual rate of interest, monthly ... and be sure to pay the loan off in full just prior to nine months after the transfer. Plus - be sure not to charge anything on that card in the meantime (as not a cent can be paid on that later bill till the full amount of the transfer is paid off). A second agency are making a similar offer - and I get reduced cost on gas and groceries, with them. But - be careful not to buy any of that stuff on that card till the full amount of the transfer gets paid off, as well. My auto club is making a similar offer - so that's three such offers. And I've received an offer from the bank in which I've owned shares for 42 years ... at 2.9%. But that came in November ... and it's only good till July. In the meantime, I'm adding more collateral to my L o C, to add more security and be sure to pay off those credit card loans, if the stocks haven't gained enough that I'm willing to sell them for a profit when the low interest rate dies. There's a big difference between the possible credit card loans at low interest cost and the L o C loan, though - for there's a heavy deadline on the credit card debt, and if the new stocks bought haven't increased nicely within a few months ... ... or I can't access the L o C ... ... I'd be in a real bind! I don't like being beholden to outside agencies, subject to variations in their rules ... especially in volatile financial times as we are experiencing these days. I have a back-up - I can ask my broker for cheque, as long as it doesn't exceed the margin limits on my assets with them, at any time, and get it, immediately. So far, that is. Who knows about the future? I've played this game for years (though mostly for cash - not much borrowing) - and, even given the volatility of the markets and the uncertainty in the banking business these days, I think that I'm willing to put some chips on the line. And, if the markets are recovering half decently, I'll most likely try to avoid selling any of the newly acquired stocks. Some Canadian pipelines are solid and paying well, and some Canadian oil and gas stocks, whose prices have slid due to recent reduction in crude prices, have been paying over 10% ... some up to 15% and even 20% (but likely liable to reduction in future), and some are subject to change in corporate rules soon. Have a great weekend, everyone. ole joyful

Alright, this last visit I followed some of your suggestions (and we saved up $$to have for spending on this trip). I packed a bag of groceries to bring along and bought more while there with the other woman. I made dinner once while she was at work. We got chicken and potatoes to toss on the grill another night. She asked her husband to grill the chicken and I found him googling "how to grill chicken." I didn't say anything then but my husband and I giggled about it in bed that night. I also offered to make scalloped potatoes and ham another night and the husband said he would rather get pizza (again) because he "had to eat that nasty stuff when he was growing up." More giggles from DH and I. DH loves my scalloped potatoes and ham! So it worked out ok. Some meals out, some meals in.