<prompt> Human: My mother is divorced and then widowed - she burned through all of her divorce money and retirement a few years ago when she had complications from a knee surgery. She also built up a lot of debt and no savings by paying for all of her 2nd husbands problems, until he later died of a heart attack.Recently she got a promotion to salaried, and now with a steady check we need to figure something out. She has an appointment with a bankruptcy lawyer later this week, but maybe we can save the situation.Shes in her late 50s. Myself and my girlfriend live with her, both in our 20s with bad credit. Girlfriends unemployed, I make 150-300 a week, depending on hours in my crappy retail job.Her situation:Credit scores: TransUnion 590, Vantage 625, Auto Insurance 795, Home Insurance, 630 pulled from creditkarmaMortgage: 108,000House Value: 80kJudgement against her: 20 of her checks go to garnishment for a 6k debtCredit Card Debt: roughly 3k.Other debts unpaid bills: roughly 2kMonthly bills:63 - internet20 - trash343 - cell phones tablets300 - electric estimate200 - Gas for cars. estimate.86 - Insurance31 - Water22 - Gas35 - Drugs1000 - Mortgage___2100 - TotalIncome2.2k - After taxes garnishmentThis leaves 100 for food for 3 people for a month... as well as misc house supplies, dog food, etc. Obviously unworkable. My income pays for my car insurance and some food. Were currently not paying on any of our past due bills, debts, we have no savings, etc.We both outright own our cars. Mines worth 2k, hers is worth 4k.So uhh... what do. Also let me know any other information that can help!Assistant: You have plenty of options without resorting to bankruptcy.Your girlfriend should get a job. You should get a better or second job. 343 is ridiculous for cell phonestablets for 3 people. You cant afford to prioritize that over food and debt. Sell anything beyond a single phone for each of you and cut your bill. There is no reason you should be paying more than 50 a person max for cell phones.Electric also looks pretty high, though that may be normal for your area. Can you adjust the thermostat by a few degrees to help with that?How much is your car insurance? Why is 150-300 a week only going towards your insurance and some food? Thats over 600 a month that youre not accounting for, unless its built in to the 2.2k and if it is, than that line makes no sense.Human: 343 is ridiculous for cell phonestablets for 3 people.How the hell can people justify spending so much on phones, I have friends who do this, very very poor friends, yet they have multiple devices costing hundreds per month. THAT IS WHY YOURE POOR!Assistant: Seriously, what the crap? I have a republic wireless 25mo plan unlimited... Three people is 75 worth... They have a youre broke stop spending money plan with 10 - no data coverage option - which you need because stop spending money! couse its on sprint mvno and coverage is no greatAlso your electric bill is too high. Get less comfortable. Your internet is probably too high, you can do better than that for slower speeds...1000 mortgage is very high for a 100,000 debt. You probably could push for a loan modification and badger them for a 1 or 2 rate and pay like 500... Theyre afraid as much as you, but a modification is easier than bankruptcy and if you can get an extra 500 cashflow, plus 250 by reworking the cellphones, plus maybe 150 from reworking your electric bill either get 4 degreed less cool or try a GREE Terra 1 ton mini split - 1000 each plus maybe 500 for install and kitting, but 3x as efficient as window unitsThen youre cooking with 800 of cashflow to pay off debts... 4 months to pay off debts, then live on 300 for food and bills and such and keep 500 in cashflow to pay off the judgment ungodly interest, then keep the 400 to now 900 surplus to pay off the home loan in 8 years.Basically sound advice. Bankruptcy isnt great... But hammering your home loan company is great - they lose so much when they force sales... 15k-80k hit for them. 60k homes here sell 500-10,000 at forclosure auctions, theyre not trying to have that happen... you get to feel good for making things work if they work with you...im a financial counselor at a community orginizaion...Check out the online budget here...Human: 343 - cell phones tabletsInstead of buying food, how about we buy tablets? I wonder if they are on a payment plan for the tablets?Assistant: Tablets were free, and should have been 5 a month on the employee line, but there was a snafu and they are now 40 a month.  <response>: So why not get rid of them? Its a luxury you dont need, even at 5. As soon as the first bill for 40 came in you should have been on the phone canceling the service. It seems like there is an excuse for everything... I think your household needs a reality check. 