OK, presume I eliminate the 1200/year for satellite. On top of that, f**k it, for the sake of this discussion, I'll just completely turn off my phones and internet. That will save me another 170*12 = 2040/year, so that's 3240/year. I chunk that to the credit cards, and I pay off that debt in about 8 years. Now I'm 55. Now I save and invest that for the next 10 years, parlaying it through decent investing into...what? $70K if I'm lucky? About a year's income. Maybe I got lucky with my 401K and built up another $70K. So I can live until I'm 67. Working until I'm 70 will maybe allow me to save another year's income. Let's say I DOUBLE this performance. Still not a very good picture.
Ok - so that's the pessimistic view. let's take the optimistic view, shall we? (Based on you retiring 17 years from now at age 65).
You save the above-mentioned $3k a year and pay off the credit cards in 8 years.
Wife finds other part-time work which will pay her better. (Thoughts - in-home daycare of, say, 3 extra kids at $133/wk each allows her to be there for your kids and earns her $400/wk or about $19,000 a year if she takes 4 weeks off/yr. That doubles her income right there, AND still allows her to be at home to prep meals etc. Not for everybody, I know, but this is how my sister has afforded to be home for her daughters.) (Or - a job as a secretary at an elementary school, would coincide with the kids' school schedules and would surely pay more than $10k per year in most places?) (Or - wife starts a side business she can run from home?) Whatever the choice, let's conservatively say wife could make an additional $6k/yr takehome while still being available for kids. Since your youngest is 7, let's say that's $6k/yr for the next 7 years = $42k. Then when youngest is 14, let's say wife gets a job that pays $30k/yr, and let's estimate that this increases her additional takehome pay by another $8k/yr. Now you have $14k/yr you can save for the remaining 10 years to retirement = 140k. 140k + 42k +maybe $50k in investment returns on that money = $232k.
Also - you have a large house, right? So let's say you rent one bedroom to a college student for $500 a month. That's another $6k/yr. $6k x 17 years = $102k, plus investment interest, say maybe (conservatively) $130k.
Now, let's say your pay gradually rises more than inflation, resulting in a real after-tax increase of $500 per year. (That's 500 dollars the first year, 1,000 dollars the next year, 1500 dollars the third year etc - real after-tax increase above inflation - which should be easy since some of your costs - the house for instance - will not be inflating). By the 17th year, your take-home pay after-tax in today's dollars is (17 x $500 = $8500/yr) higher, and your total increase over that 17 years is, say,(somebody else can do the math here, I'm just WAG-ing it) $60k more income over that time.
So far - I've got $232k + 130k + $60k = $422k in savings by the time you're 65. Add in social security for you and wife, maybe some home equity by liquidating the large house and downsizing in retirement - you guys should be fine. But this involves watching those nickels and dimes, figuring out how to raise wife's income by a relatively small amount, and controlling those spending impulses.
If you wanted to retire earlier, I'm sure you could, but it would require more radical changes in expenses and/or earnings. Starting a profitable side gig, or retiring to a low-cost third world country, are approaches that come to mind.
As to the house remodeling - take your time and learn to be handy. If you learn to paint, lay laminate flooring, and do tile work, you can probably do most of the cosmetic stuff quite inexpensively, especially if you look for sales and bargains. You can build sweat equity in your property in the process. In the garden, get free cuttings from friends and neighbors.
And bear in mind, most of my estimates above are EXTREMELY conservative. You might easily find you can do twice as well, with just a few tweaks. But it definitely won't be the bleak picture you painted, if you focus with intensity right now.