Can"t Get Ahead

I received a 1000 dollar bonus on my last paycheck. It was going to be great. We would use that extra money to fix the windshield for our van and then use the rest of the bonus money to pay off the hospital bill for our baby. From then on, we would be able to pay off our credit card and then a student loan.

To get things started, we came up to visit my parents in Idaho to get the windshield fixed. That task took a few hours. Then, from then on, it's been problematic for our van. First, we would put in in reverse and it would quit. Then, we were able to get it in reverse, but couldn't get it to go past 40 mph without it sputtering and then dying. The van is now at the dealership, hopefully getting fixed. I know it will cost more for them to do it, but I don't have many options when we need to go home to Salt Lake today and we need the van to run.

It seems we can never get ahead of our bills. We get a lucky break and plan to get out of debt, but then something unexpected always seems to come up. The van, for instance, never had problems before replacing the windshield and replacing a windshield should have nothing to do with how the engine runs. It seems as if I am destined to be just out of reach of getting out of debt for the rest of my life.