You are not alone cicy33. While we have a pretty good EF going (6 months of expenses), I still think we should be further ahead on paying down the mortgage and contributing more to our 401Ks and 529s. However, I've been married almost 8 years and now have 2 kids and I look retrospectivatly at what we've done and it seems impressive. We paid off the CC debt and our student loans (all total about $40K). We are in a much better position now then 8 years ago, and hopefully will be much better shape in another 8 years.
In order to accomplish this we rented for awhile, then bought a little house in the Midwest (cheap COL area). My husband and I both have went back to school (paid for by our employeers) so our free time is spent in class, studying, and doing homework. Between school, normal household chores, and now kids there isn't much time for us to go out and leisurely shop or blow money which helps us tremendously.
However, trying to balance saving, paying off debt, and having fun along the way is still a struggle for us too.
Slow and steady wins the race.
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