Taking stock of the setbacks pt. 1

We've been quiet, because it's been hard to admit that things are going very slowly. It's been hard to take stock of all of the things that have pushed us backwards on our course towards freedom and the ultimate family experience. It's hard to even discover what are all of the things that have been thrown up in our way and are making forward progress painful, discouraging, and very far away.

The purpose of this blog wasn't just to boast about our plans, but to help others who were also trying to make their way out of debt.  It was a means of staying accountable to you, friends and readers, and for our own encouragement when we were feeling like the end would never come. Today is one of those days: the end looks very far away and what we need is to take a look at what has been accomplished and what still needs to be overcome in order to meet our goals.

Current setbacks:

1. Housing crisis: we have to move, but we don't know what Caleb's salary will be and that's frustrating
2. Car repairs: we've had to throw some major cash at our cars since this summer
3. Payment squeeze: we've dropped down as low as we can on Caleb's payments to That Horrible Woman, and the prospects of getting out of those debts is bleak
4. Life and its necessities: huge tax refund going towards a lot of basic life necessities we've put off--like clothes, shoes, etc.