It's been a while since I posted an update on this project. Sadly, there is little progress to report.

We are still committed to sticking to our plan. The waiting is the hardest part, but patience is a virtue and learning to delay pleasure is one sign of maturity. In the meantime, prices are continuing to fall, and technology is continuing to improve. No worries here. When the time is right, it will all come together.

We are a few dollars closer than we were in January, though nothing significant. The secondary market moves like molasses here during the winter months. We have been toying with the idea of 'Basement Sale' as it is far to cold for a garage sale. We'll let you know if that materializes, and how we come out. It's definitely one of my wife's better ideas, we just have to find the time to put it together and sort out enough stuff to justify it.

The biggest news is really the fact that we are waiting, despite two separate influxes of cash that would have easily put us over the top.

• First was Christmas. We had told our parents about our grand plan and one of them decided to help us out a bit. They had hinted at it a bit before hand, so we knew they were up to something. When my wife opened the Christmas card and saw the check, she indicated how helpful that would be with all of our upcoming doctor bills. She was 8-1/2 months pregnant at the time, and knew that based on our insurance, we would have a few thousand in medical bills in the coming months. The parents were a bit let down, but that's looking to be a better and better decision all the time. And you just don't argue with a woman when she's that pregnant.
• Second was our tax refund. With the crazy year we had in 2007 - moving, new job, one income instead of two - we ended up with a sizable refund. On the way home from the CPA, it was easy to contemplate how to divvy the spoils. Later, reality hit. With baby in hand, we are still looking down the barrel of some sizable medical bills on the horizon. It may come out to be much less than expected, but we'd rather have the money in the bank, than hanging on the wall in the living room. In the meantime, we're adjusting my W4 so that we don't have this dilemma next year.
• Last is the potential income of the 'economic stimulus' package. We should be seeing ~$1500 from Uncle Sam come this May. I say potential and should because, well, I don't exactly have the check in hand yet. And we really don't want to count on money we don't have. We've filed our taxes, which is the only thing eligible families and individuals need to do to get in line for their government hand out. More waiting in store for us.

Who knows? Maybe, come May, our outlook will be more positive. All of this money we haven't spent on consumer electronic goodness could total over $3,000. Will we finally spend it on a TV? Nah. More than likely it will go to a new well and other slightly more necessary home improvement projects. Come May, I would hope to have several more items sold and have gained the TV money the old fashioned way - patiently earning it.