<prompt> Human: Hello! I am using a throwaway account for this because many friendscoworkers know my reddit account and i would rather not make this public.Im 24 years old with a large amount of debt ranging from credit cards to vehicle loans to student loans.I live with my GF of four years and we share income and expenses, our combined take home comes out to just about 3200 a month.Our expenses are as followsRent600Truck315Car435Insurance210Phones160Electric150Gas130Credit Cards155Pet supplies80Groceries400Gas240Fun money160Internet50Cable45nonfood expenses deodorant, laundry soap etc50As you can see two of our biggest payments are our cars. My car is a newer car that i bought last year because it was much more fuel efficient than what i was driving and i needed a newer dependable vehicle as i commute back and forth to work every day about an hour drive. The second vehicle is about halfway to being paid off and is a jeep that we bought because of the harsh winter driving conditions. Please let me know if you guys have any input for best places to look at cutting cost, I know there are some drastic measurements i could take although i am so overwhelmed by the situation we have dug ourselves into i am not sure where to start.bottom line is we can make all of our payments on time but we are not budgeting some things that we should and any unexpected expense completely screws up the budget  <response>: A lot of people are commenting on your transportation expenses, and its true they are disproportionate to your income and whats recommended. But if you and your girlfriend live in a small town with minimal public transportation offerings, cant carpool together, and cant afford to sell vehicles youre underwater on owe more than you can sell them for, recommendations to carpool, bus, and sell a vehicle do nothing for you.Instead, I propose this solution for your consideration: give yourself a 500-1,000 pay raise each month. How? Move closer to work.Moving locations may seem untenable at first, particularly if youre comfortable where you live and the lifestyle youve built there. However, the savings in gas fees as well as your ability to take advantage of public transportation and even to sell a vehicle which also cuts insurance costs poses the chance for you to essentially promote yourself by increasing your monthly take home income significantly.If you move to a location with 1-5 miles of your or your partners employer, you open up the possibility of walkingbiking to work particularly as the weather gets nicer cutting your gas bill by half. Even if one of you cant get to work in that fashion, living near work for one of you means you could carpool together with the farthest commuter dropping the near commuter off in the morning and picking up in the evening.In the short term you knock down your gas bill from 400ish to 200ish. Selling either vehicle saves you at least 300month sell whichever vehicle youre not underwater on on a vehicle payment, and cuts approximately 100 from your insurance bill. Those changes essentially raise your monthly income by 600month. Would you move for a promotion that would raise your pay by that much? If the answer is yes, time to start looking for a new home nearer to work!One of my favorite PF gurus has a great piece on this, and I encourage you to check it out: Moving does have some costs: actually moving your stuff, and paying a deposit up front for a new place. Moving to a more urban city may also mean higher rent, but if getting rid of one car saves 600month, your rent would need to more than DOUBLE to not be cost effective.In the meanwhile, to save up for a move following a lot of tips here are helpful. Minimize your expenses through things like cutting Cable TV, signing up with a cheaper cell carrier, cutting back on fun money but dont go to 0; if you cant enjoy life, whats the point? Try starting with 10week for each of you instead of 20, and getting by on cheaper meals for a time to save up for a move. Good luck! 