Grazyna Chochol is a single woman who works in the computer training business and usually makes ends meet on her steady salary. But when it comes to big-ticket items beyond her ordinary monthly expenses - investing in an RRSP for example - she finds that a line of credit can be a handy piggy bank.

Chochol figures her RRSP investments will earn more than the interest on her line of credit even in the first year, and will keep on enjoying tax-deferred compound growth in future years. Chochol knows time can make a big difference to investment returns and her future lifestyle in retirement, and that's why she doesn't want to leave her RRSP contribution until she has the money in hand.

Chochol, knowing that the interest on money borrowed for an RRSP is not tax-deductible, is conscious of paying down her balance quickly. And the Davises are also careful not to plunge too deeply into debt. They had two of their lines of credit capped at $5,000 each to impose a discipline. The other two are never fully used.