Okay so sorry but this will be long just to give you a brief rundown of our history so you might understand what I am saying and thinking.

So I had 2 really bad pregnancies and deliveries for both I had really really really bad morning sickness to the point if I moved I threw up I was in hospital every other week to be rehydrated...this was for both pregnancies...had to have epidurals (2 for the 1st one) both labors were 14hrs and 5 mins...the 1st one I had a 3rd degree tear and the 2nd I died on the table and had to be brought back...I weighed 92lbs after my 1st one and 82lbs after my 2nd one....couldn't breastfeed as I had to weight back on....never felt like I ever recovered from having them...and was always tired. The girls would sleep 10-12hrs at a time from when they were born but were also on monitors as they were sids babies and could stop breathing up to 25 times a night all the way through till just over a year old....my youngest had a blood disorder that started when she was 5 months old but grew out od it by the time she was 11-12 years old...other than that we had 2 very well behaved, intelligent, healthy children.

I never felt like I recovered and was always exhausted and doc just said it was because I had to young kids...but it was more than that I could sleep 10 hours and wake up exhausted...they did tests and nothing showed up so I just learnt to live with it...eventually I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue...but not much was known about it (talking mid 90s) so we just struggled with it....then my hubby got real sick and they told us he had 6-12 months to live...so he couldnt work and I had to go to work....he eventually got better and they said his diagnosis was wrong....I then decided that I would go to university...and my hubby would go back to work...our kids are now 12 & 14...my daughter then got epstein barr virus and got real sick....to the point where you couldn't wake her up...you could touch her eyelids and there would be no response...so hubby gave up work to look after her as she needed 24/7 care...it took her months before she could eat and stay awake for more than an hour...she couldnt go to school which she hated because she loved school and was a straight A student and always wanted to be a teacher...she got depressed as she was just exhausted and couldn't go anywhere or do anything....she was finally diagnosed with chronic fatigue....by this time I had also had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia...so we decided to move to the other side of town to be closer to family so we had more help if we needed it...(family was no help, but that is another story)...then in 2007 hubby had a stroke...so I had to take care of him and our daughter, plus deal with my illnesses...it was a lot...I finished my studies...hubby was doing better so I went back to work....that work place was toxic and the stress of working there after it sold to new owners put my health so far down due to my illnesses and I never really recovered. 8 years ago I woke up dizzy and it never went away....I couldn't even walk by myself...I have done different therapies and I am doing better but I can't be left alone as I do fall, my body goes into meltdowns, I can't travel far and only in the back seat of a car...I have bad anxiety...I have adverse reactions to meds and with all the specialists and hospital visits they are saying its stress as nothing else shows up...so far my daughter still isn't recovered fully, my hubby has had 2 bouts of cancer, 17 tias and 7 hemaphylgic migraines...so my thoughts are..........

If the doctors back then would have listened to me I think the trauma would have been dealt with and I would have had a much better life...working and providing for my family better, being able to buy a house again much sooner, having savings and retirement funds etc....I am hoping that I can undo the trauma my body has been through and be much better in the future and provide for my family...I am so glad that now we have the internet so I can research as I think I have done more for my family than any doctor/specialist has done for us.....

Sorry so long but wanted to give a quick rundown of the main things, so has anyone on here been through medical trauma and finds it spills into the financial side of your life? let me know what you have done...or if you have any ideas or thoughts on this

Well my shoulder and knee pain has finally gotten to the point where it is affecting my life to much so I asked the doc for xrays or scans...she did both for shoulder and xrays for my knee...I do have oesteoarthritis in both knees and have tendonitis with floating calcium in the shoulder...it has been hard to do things but hubby and daughter have been helping a lot and my physio has been helping with massage...but god I am so bored not being able to do much and also my eyes have been bad and getting worse...I am thinking it may be my liver (who knows) so I also have to go see eye medics to get them assessed as when I wear my glasses my eyes really hurt...but they do get really dry...and I do tend to put eye drops in around 4 plus times a day...other than that things are just rolling along

While doing our budget this year I figured we pay over $29,000 a year in rent....that really sucks...but guess we are stuck doing it for now

Well I have decided to regularly put our debt updates on here to keep my self accountable..so the first 2 bills we are working on is our daughters hecs debt and the CC...obviously we need to pay the CC every month (don't have enough to pay off right now) and my daughters hecs I decided to pay that for her while she saves for her ivf....it's a choice I made so no remaqrks on that please.

hecs debt start $2040.88...owe $1500

CC debt start $5250....owe $4785.11....I did pay $500 but they did take the monthly interest out.

It's a small start but we are on the road to being debt free....and we have 1 more payday this month which we will add more money to these bills and reduce the numbers again.

Wish us luck!!

Well I have completed paying all but 3 of my bills for the month, tomorrow is payday so I will pay 2 of them and them the last one at the end of month on our next payday. 

I know many pay their bills differently and although the hecs debt get indexed in june of each year where the CC charges monthly (when you owe) I have chosen to pay off the smallest first as it will only take a couple months then the CC which should be done by april...so not a lot of difference. 

Also I like to pay things like insurance annually but last year that all got messed up so the first months of the year I am putting away extra so it can go back to annual payments...so that makes it a little tighter as well but afer that (around 6 months) payments go down to a more reasonable amount and we are back on track now.

Our freezers are pretty full so not really buying any meat this month so can hopefully save a couple dollars ready for next months menu. 

I have stayed away from stores as I don't need or want anything...I actually hate shopping so that makes it easy...and I can do click and collect for our groceries...so the only stores we go to is the butcher and the central market (like an indoor farmers market) as their food is much better quality and locally sourced. 

So far so good this year financially and yes I know its only a few days in but almost all the bills are paid for the month and we are staying on track so to me that is a big win!!