<prompt> Human: Background: my wife and I have an annual income of 25kOur annual expenses are close to 24-25k. This allows for almost zero savings.We are 100 debt free. We intend to keep it that way. College, vehicles, medical bills, phones, etc are all paid off. We both hold a 2 year general credits associates degree. The problem is that we seem to be stuck in the following areas: - We both have jobs we dont like and dont pay enough. I work full time and my wife works part time. She is hunting for a full time job and took the part time job until a full time job became available. The job market is terrible, so this has been a lengthy process. How can my wife and i both break into the next income level 30-40k annually with out a 4 year degree? - We have 2 vehicles over 19 years old. Both need repairs which total the vehicle. But we dont have enough savings due to low annual income to get better used cars. Without the vehicles we cant get to work. Without work, no money and we have ourselves a vicious cycle.- We live in a sketch-as-crap part of town, but again we dont make enough to move into a better area. Bottom line: We need to earn more. What would you do in my situation?What advice do you have for me? What am I missing? Edit 1: Thanks everybody for sharing your storys and advice. It has been very encouraging and got me thinking in a new direction! We can will definitely do this. The top advice has been to improve my skills and become a higher value employee. Either through a 4 year degree or working hard on the side.  <response>: apply for jobs that interest you, even ones you may not completely qualify for. when you do get an interview you have to kill it, be prepared. Work extra jobs apply for everything, get rid of TV and dont do much else that doesnt improve your income. Or you can try starting a side hustle to earn some extra money, this could even be mowing lawns. It comes down to working hard andor looking for a new job that interests you. Good luck and work hard. it doesnt take a degree to work hard or start your own business. You can attempt to learn a specialized skill on the side to boost your skills that you can demonstrate to companies, this can be self study. You have to prove your worth to employers if that is the route you choose. You could even offer to work a short time for free and show them your worth. 