Usually it concerns Help! My Husband is a Handyman about a job problem, but in the latest episode it is about something bigger. Problems are piling up very quickly for the young couple Marc and Fenneke. Due to a sky-high debt of 150,000 euros, they are completely in a bind. And yet there is now time pressure due to the arrival of a second child. Oh no! Fortunately, John Williams’ handyman team is there to help.
Marc and Fenneke in ‘Help! My husband is a handyman’
In the latest episode of Help! My Man is Klusser we get to know the young couple Marc and Fenneke. Three years ago they bought a house together in the hope that they would both have a brighter future. It was never the intention to become handymen. Only at a certain point they were forced to grab the hammer and saw. “Due to circumstances we had to do that,” Fenneke tells presenter John Williams. Unfortunately, however, they face a lot of setbacks. As a result, they have been renovating the top floor for three years now. “So many things went wrong. It seemed staged,” says Fenneke. “Every step of the way there was something going on.”
However, they can no longer solve it on their own due to, among other things, the sky-high debt. They borrowed a total of 150,000 euros from both their parents, Marc’s brother and a friend. Wow! And paying back will not be possible for a while, because they need every little bit. Especially now that a second child is on the way.
150,000 euros debt
The 150,000 euro debt to family and friends is not their only debt. Of course, they also have to pay off the mortgage. Yet they did need that borrowed money. At one point the foundation of the house turned out to be defective. They then had to solve this themselves, because they previously had an architectural report drawn up themselves. And the new piles under the house logically cost Marc and Fenneke a lot of money. For that renovation, the entire ground floor also had to be removed, even though they had just finished it. Shit! But luckily they had the money from their parents.
Marc and Fenneke do their best to make ends meet. They both work hard. Only they both also have physical ailments. For example, they both underwent surgery in the past year. “It’s quite tough to even run the house, let alone do odd jobs,” says Fenneke. “And if you both have something physically wrong with you… Over the past year we have been able to do almost nothing.”
So Marc has back problems, which he has now been helped with. Yet he still has to be careful not to make it too difficult for himself. Fenneke, in turn, had a cyst in her abdomen. This had to be removed, which was a tough operation. “That also took some recovery time,” she says. Actually, Fenneke doesn’t know how exactly it went wrong. It is probably the accumulation of problems that has subsequently taken its toll mentally. “We’ve just been so unlucky,” she says.
Viewers in amazement
On social media channel completely out of touch with Marc and Fenneke’s situation. Most viewers react quite bewildered. They don’t understand the choices the couple has made. So Fenneke is pregnant with a second child, but why are they actually thinking about expanding the family? “What are your priorities?” someone wonders. They also think the situation is actually a shame for the handyman program. “So if you run out of budget for renovations, you call John? Aren’t we missing the essence of this program a bit?” said Monica on X.
💥
So if you run out of budget for renovations, you call John?Aren’t we ignoring the essence of this program a bit?#hmmm #help my husband is a handyman pic.twitter.com/Wz4JY8ckYp
— @Monica ♡ 𝑀𝒾𝓁❀𝓇𝒹 🍷🏎️🏁 (@MvanMonica) February 19, 2024
You are going to renovate, have some setbacks, run out of money and get deeply into debt and then you call John to finish everything #hmmm pic.twitter.com/jTcIfae09Y
— M@rianne (@Mrianne5) February 19, 2024
What a great house and then borrow 1.500 euros in addition to your mortgage. I think these people have put on a coat that is a bit too big. Naive or stupid? #hmmm #help my husband is a handyman
— Betty_Boop (@BettyBo41002130) February 19, 2024
“We are having a second child.”#hmmm
Family: pic.twitter.com/FOfES57JCK
— Kwit77 (@kwit77) February 19, 2024
‘Surprise, a second child!’ Debtor family:#hmmm pic.twitter.com/Al1XnDuR9S
— J. Brus (@Jebru91) February 19, 2024
Isn’t this just we have no money, help us? Has nothing to do with this program….. and have two children in these circumstances? #hmmm
— KarinMarianne (@karinmarianne84) February 19, 2024
A sad situation.
But…. 1.500,000 euros in debt, a house that is largely uninhabitable (yet) & then still getting pregnant…
Where are your priorities…Shoot me! #hmmm pic.twitter.com/WSOHaQh6IP
— Marie 🌻 (@kijkmarie04) February 19, 2024
Do odd jobs in every spare hour
Meanwhile, Fenneke in particular is emotional about the situation and afraid that she will never be able to do anything in return. For example, they have now created a special guest room for their parents, who come all the way from Limburg for help. However, it is a rather small room with a ‘Hobbit’ door. Fortunately, they now receive help from John and his handyman team from Help, Mijn Man is Klusser!: they turn out to be lifesavers in need. So they want at least a bedroom for the couple and a children’s room on the top floor. In addition, there must eventually be an office for Fenneke, but this is not the highest priority.
Although the pregnant Fenneke is less able to do the work herself – she certainly thinks that’s a shame – the project is almost completed. Or well, the master bedroom and children’s room. Only the office and hallway are not ready yet, but according to Marc he needs at least another two weekends. He is busy doing odd jobs in his spare time! In addition, thanks to a budget coach, they have also received some tools for their financial problems. This is how they have to work with piggy banks. “So in a few weeks, a few months, that hallway will be finished. Then the upstairs will be finished,” John concludes, to which Fenneke responds: “I have every confidence in that.”
