Re: being mortgage free. To be honest, I have been mortgage free three times. The first time was in our first small town home which we had paid off by saving every penny and before children( our interest rate was 18% - ouch). Then family came along and we needed a bigger home so basically what we got for our first mortgage free home when we sold it was our down payment for the second home. Then we paid off that but then we decided that our home was falling apart around us (literally and physically) so we borrowed against the value of our home for a gut-renovation. That mortgage we just paid off 2 weeks ago. In hindsight, given the real estate values we should have kept the townhome and rented it out. But, who knew? Our goal was to be mortgage free by the time we were 60 and we just made it.The latest Canadian stats I can find are from 2008 and it says that the average age of those with a mortgage is 45 and those now mortgage-free is 62. I suspect the 62 has risen a little bit. But it really is about personal choice on how we spend our money.

My poor Max.... Max is a Doberman I found running down the road with a hurt foot; the vet thinks he was a stud dog at a puppy mill, since Max originally was comfortable with other dogs & not with people (& since he tried to mount every female in the clinic!). Max has come a long way in the past few years, but he's still scared of everything. The other day he ran out the front door & wouldn't come back. "Fine", I thought. "Somebody will yell at him to get off their grass, or the Rottweiler down the road will be out again, & Max will come running back in a lather." Sure enough, about 5 minutes later, Max came galloping home & skidded into the driveway in a panic, followed by the pursuing beast...a Scottie. (& here's a link to the other thread about our crazy pets.) Here is a link that might be useful: eccentric pets

What lovely homes you all have! I'm almost embarrassed to show pics of mine. I took these in the spring, mainly for the landscaping. We're in the process of painting the siding pewter gray. Last Christmas. I can't believe I don't have a pic with more snow!

I can empathize with your frustration. Having to deal with the well water is a lot harder than it sounds. Also having a spouse that is completely opposed to moving does not help. Sounds like he is attached to the house because of everything he has done to it. He may like the rural space also, but he needs to realize there are conviences of living in or nearer to town. A house is a financial investment and also where you live affects quality of life. I wonder if there is anything that annoys your husband about your current location. If it affects his quality of life and if you can find a house that is a good financial decision, maybe he will swoon. Maybe you can find common ground and get closer to the city without being all the way inside the city. I bought my house in a small rural town 30 minutes outside of the city. That is what I could afford, and I got a large garage and decent yard with it. I bought it with the idea it was a starter home. Unfortunately it was a sellers market when I bought because there was a large flood and a lot of people were looking to move. So I probably paid more than it was worth, just the way it worked out. I was SO done renting and dealing with a landlord, watching my money disappear into rent and not keeping any equity. Wife and I both commute for work. The commute is on a 4 way highway so it is fast and safe most of the time. We also have bad roads in the winter from time to time and its annoying but doable. I could not imagine living more rural than what I am because there is no way I would live farther than 30 mins commute OR live on a country road with no way to plow myself out to get to work on a bad snow day. I have done and continue to do a bunch to the house with the hope to sell in the future. It will be about 2200 sqft when I am done with the basement. I dont have plans on living here forever because this small town doesnt have much, we get everything in the city when we go to work. I think that people doing renovations always need to think of resale so they dont get too attached to their labor of love. I will definitely enjoy the house more as I get more projects done, but I wont be afraid to move. I have to do a lot of planning to do my renovations so I have everything I need ahead of time. It is hard for me doing renovations if I discover I need another part to justify driving all the way into town to get that, so I usually stop that job and do something else. It is also annoying for my wife to run errands on days off because she has to drive into town. My wife also feels isolated from the city, she grew up in the city and is used to just going to do something whenever. I grew up on a farm so I am used to waiting to commute although I can see living in town would be nice. We both like the house after the things I have done to it but there is always more that can be done to improve it of course. We have a good sized yard and a large garden. Wife likes to have bird feeders and we get plenty of birdies to watch. Yes the commute makes the house affordable and the taxes a heck of a lot less but it is a big time sink and an inconvience. It's all about balance, commute time or money. Some day we will get in the city, but we are both young and starting to get debt paid down first.