The light is well and truly on!'

Hi everyone, I've hesitated to start a diary but after reading quite a few diaries, I'm taking the plunge! I thought I'd start by telling you a little about myself and am planning to post a SOA later when we've had a chance to sit down and work it out
:eek:

So, I am Married with 4 daughter's aged 20, 17, 13 and 11. The eldest is in her 3rd year of university and the second is planning to start uni in September. We also have a cat and a dog!

I didn't work for approximately 10 years when the children were smaller, my husband has a fairly well paid job, but even so, we lived beyond our means. My mother lives in USA and we certainly took too many holidays across the pond in the children's earlier years. We've not been for 7 years now, although we have booked flights (which my mother kindly paid for) this summer as my eldest daughter's turn 21 & 18 in July.

I went back to work in 2014, initially working a few hours a week as a teaching assistant in my daughters' primary school. My hours have increased over time, however, in 2016 I was diagnosed with breast cancer which certainly had an effect in finances that were still feeling.

In February 2015 we took out a £15,000 loan to buy a used car and touring caravan. We had a fantastic summer in France in the can, but we soon realised that the van we bought didn't suit our needs, and in September of that year we part exchanged the van for one more suitable - taking out another loan for £11,000. In February 2016 I was diagnosed with breast cancer and was off work for 6 months, my sick pay was reduced after 12 weeks and again credit cards filled the gap. I had 5 operations in 5 months, the last being in July. I went back to work 6 weeks after my last op, mainly for financial reasons. In July 2016, the timing belt snapped on our car and we had little choice but to buy a car on finance. Husband needs a car to get to work, as a family of 6, a small car is not an option. We had another holiday to France booked, which we all really needed after the stress of my diagnosis. The upshot was that in the space of 16 months we'd taken out 3 loans.

I'm back in work and recently had my 2 year mammogram which was thankfully clear :j:j:j

In January this year, I came back to this site with a determination to sort our finances. I've joined a few challenges, and am starting to see the benefits. My Next account alone has gone from £2000 owed to £1370, just by PADding £2 a day in addition to the usual payments.

So, I think that's where we're at. Credit card debt is around £20,000 which is what I want to focus on. The loans are ticking downwards and for now we're happy for them to do that. If and when the cards are paid off then we'd look into making extra payments to the loans.

We've obviously got this holiday to consider too and we need to start getting a pot of spending money together. Hopefully, my soa and advice from everyone here will help with that.

I don't think I've ever written such a long forum post, so well doneif you've got this far!!