Light at the end of the tunnel!

cord123

How happy am I?
I have just done a quick calculation and have worked out that my Hubby and I will be totally debt free by the end of next year at the latest!
This doesnt count any bonuses I may get (between 10 - 25% annually and £500 at christmas!) Also his nan and grandad tend to give us a £1k cheque every few months so hopfully it will be before then!
It has been such a stressful time, he got diagnosed with cancer in 2008 so we lost a lot of money from when he was off sick (through loss of overtime) then when my son was born in 2009 he had problems with his sight and so we were frequently up at Great Ormonds Street for ops and check ups etc... our families did hugely help us out but the combination of being on maternity leave and hubby off sick lead to debt.....
But now, things are looking up and its amazing how good it feels to know that all that money we are currently paying our debt off with will soon be going into a savings account instead! How lovely!

Just wanted to say to all of those that have had a tough few years, the only way is up!!!:j

Hovel_lady

That's excellant news and gives me hope.
It's always great when someone posts something like this - I love "I'm debt free/nearly debt free" posts.
Thank you
How are your hubby & son now?

cord123

So do I! We often said that we found the debt more stressful at points than dealing with the health issues which is awful!!

Hubby got the all clear :-) which is great... still has regular check ups and they have told us that more than likely it could return but we know that we are strong enough to deal with it...
My son is doing well now, almost two :-( so not a baby anymore. He is blind in one eye and partially sighted in the other but apart from his 'googly eyes' (as named by his cousins!) and his glasses he is no different from any other energetic toddler and I make sure he is treated no different!

Just keep positive, there is always a way out and you are welcome to email me if you need gee'ing up!! There have been times when I have felt like just giving up but where do quitters get?
Debt is so easy to find but so terribly difficult to loose but be strict with yourself and keep a spreadsheet... there is no better feeling than seeing that the end is in sight and knowing that next year I can spoil my hubby at christmas!

Also, we can now live comfortably on a budget (I do the household shopping for less than £150 a month! including nappies!) so this is something that will stay with us for the rest of our lives so we can only benefit from the lessons that we have learnt.

At the end of the day, I may only be 25 and been through a bit but there is always someone worse off than me and thats what i need to remember!

xxxxxx

Hovel_lady

Good news about your hubby & son, really pleased for you.
Yes, debt is really easy to get. Too easy. I remember once adding up the limits on our credit cards (we didn't get to them I might add) and it was over £40k which was really daft considering how much we earned at the time.
Yes, there's always someone worse off. Some of the people who post on this forum are really really struggling and it has made me very thankful for what I have.
£150 a month for the household shopping is very impressive - you get todays gold star :j

elzie

Hi Cord

can you give me any tips on how you set up your spreadsheet as this is what im struggling to do, thanks

GeorgieFTB

elzie

I found starting with a template helped, there are many but you will need to refine the template to fit your life, the template is a starting point if you're not really good with spreadsheets... there are several kicking around, you can find a few on the smallsoft (micro) website. It really is just trial and error, once you have a spending diary then you will have a better idea of what categories you should split your money into.

Gx

Learning2Budget

Excellent news, well done. Love reading these posts, makes me realise that there will be an end to our debt.x