Editor 's note : This story is part of an ongoing series of profiles CNN is doing about economic survival in this time of financial crisis . Married couple Lindsay De Vore and Eliot Kohan on their delayed honeymoon to Orlando , Florida . ( CNN ) -- At age 23 and fresh out of college , Eliot Kohan was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia . He was told he had four months to live . He survived . But the disease left him and his wife , Lindsay De Vore , who live in St. Paul , Minnesota , saddled with thousands of dollars of medical bills on top of their student loans and daily expenses . But their struggles taught them an important lesson in saving money . `` When you have medical issues , it 's easy to spiral into some sort of depression , '' the 26-year-old a technology analyst for a private contracting company in St. Paul said . `` My goal was to keep moving forward . I wanted to create some stability for our us . '' All of that hard work saving for the past few years has paid off . The couple is elated to be closing next month on their first home in St. Paul , thanks to the troubled economy . De Vore and Kohan first told their story on CNN 's iReport.com . Share your economic survivor story with CNN . The timing could n't have been better for the couple to purchase a modest three-bedroom , one-story stucco house . De Vore and Kohan locked into a historically low mortgage rate of 4.9 percent this month . The couple selected a foreclosed home , slashing nearly $ 20,000 off the final price . `` We would n't have been able to buy this house if the economy were n't the way it is , '' said De Vore , 25 , who works in the financial aid office at a private college in St. Paul . `` We were in the perfect position . '' There were more than 300,000 foreclosure filings reported nationwide in December , marking a 17 percent increase from the previous month and a 41 percent increase from December 2007 , according to RealtyTrac , a foreclosure listing service . Meanwhile , unemployment continues to climb to rates unseen in decades . Yet the rocky economy is having a positive effect on some Americans , who are finding it the ideal time to buy a home . Similar to many married couples , Kohan and De Vore envisioned owning a house perhaps two or three years down the road , they say . Soon the couple says they noticed interest rates and home prices dipping so low that they found themselves nabbing a home as soon as they could afford the down payment . But the couple 's ability to afford their first home is a story about fiscal responsibility , patience and determination . De Vore and Kohan , who met in their freshman year at St. Paul 's Hamline University in 2002 , moved into a two-bedroom apartment during their last year of college . For the past five years , they have remained in the same collegiate apartment , furnished with Craigslist finds and family hand-me-downs . `` Money was a reason we 've stayed here so long , '' Kohan said last week , bundled up with his wife because their apartment 's heater broke . `` But at a certain point , we felt like we were growing out of it in more ways than just physically . We wanted a change of pace . '' The couple says they 've always been tight with money , keeping credit card usage limited to emergencies and being picky about what they spend their money on . But they became more `` money-conscious '' in June 2006 , when Kohan was diagnosed with leukemia . He needed a costly stem cell transplant , and the couple did not have enough money . The sickness was evident in his frail face and bruised body . Luckily , when he went on leave from his job , his employers offered to hold his position until he recovered . Back in his hometown of Fergus Falls , a small city in western Minnesota , Kohan 's family and friends threw a benefit , raising $ 12,000 toward the costly medical bills . He soon recovered , but the experience forced him to refocus his goals in life , including buying a house.. The couple began saving in small ways . They bring their lunch to work and eat out only once or twice a month . They cut extra expenses that many couples in their 20s enjoy , such as nights at bars with friends and date nights to the movie theater . To save on gas money , Kohan takes public transportation , a 45-minute bus ride each way , to downtown Minneapolis for work . `` The house was a big motivation , '' says De Vore , who tracks their expenses meticulously each month . When the couple married a year after his leukemia diagnosis , she opted for a small , intimate wedding . That helped cut costs too , she said . They waited nearly nine months before heading on their honeymoon trip . Instead of a grand trip abroad , they settled for a smaller trip to Orlando , Florida . Knowing that higher education would help her earn more , De Vore is taking night classes to earn her master 's degree in student affairs . Her tuition is free because she chose to attend the university where she works . By December , the couple began to realize all the saving had amounted to a down payment on a home . They wanted to invest in a home for at least 10 years , they say , so they can try to build equity . De Vore found the home through a real estate agent on her lunch break one afternoon in early January . It was `` nothing fancy , '' she says , but the 1960s ranch-style house had a spacious kitchen and a small yard with enough space for a dog that they want . She knew instantly that it would be their new home , she says . `` We worked hard . We did n't cut corners , '' she said . `` We did everything we did to get here , and it 's worth it , to our opinion . ''
The couple will close on their first home next month in St. Paul , Minnesota . They benefited from low mortgage ##s and prices on foreclosed homes . ' Greg 's leukemia diagnosis helped him realize they had to start work early . ` ` We worked hard . We did n't cut corners , '' Lindsay De Vore says .