Some of us traveled 5 hours to my cousin's wedding this past weekend. My uncle rode with us and filled our gas tank on the way. This may not seem significant to some, but the gas tank is large in our 15-passenger van. The total cost for the fill-up was over $88.

This was a huge blessing and I thought that we'd be able to apply more $$ to debt. However, there were car issues with the ones that didn't go to the wedding and we ended up needing a new car battery for $70.

Gain a little, lose a little. Do the best you can and hope and pray that you don't go backwards!

That's how we're viewing our current finances: Be responsible with spending, budgeting, paying debt and saving, but recognize that there is only so much that we can control.