<prompt> Human: I bring home after taxes 901.99 every two weeks. This is after deductions. Some of deductions include insurance health 189.00 a month. I take monthly medications and my insurance is low deductible but high premium. I do this to afford medications. One medication is about 850.00 a month so with my insurance plan I just pay the 10 copay for the medicine.I do contribute to 401k and another savings plan before take home pay. I pay about 35.00 a month so not too much. I figured something was better than nothing when it comes to retirement. My company matches it so you may as well say 70.00 a monthI have 50 grand in student loan. I qualify for the IBR plan repayment but havent been able to pay anything and I am stressed about this.I have horrible credit 586 credit score. I bought a car a couple years ago at one of those high interest buy here pay here place. I think this was a mistake. It is 520.00 a month and insurance is 115.00 per month. Rent is low I just moved in with family member so rent is only 215 a month and utilities are about 50 a month. I should have plenty of money to get ahead but a few months ago before I moved I ran into some financial trouble and my checking account is negative 600 dollars so it seems like every time I get paid I just stay negative on my balance because I have bills to pay. I have to buy groceries for myself and kid we eat a lot of ramen and peanut butter sandwiches I just dont know what to do. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions? I would appreciate any adviceAssistant: Youre in a tough spot, and you have my sympathy. That being said, you need to take a hard look at your decisions and understand what you did right and what you did wrong that keeps you from getting to where you want to be. Know that theres no quick fix, and the onus is on you to pull yourself up and fix your behavior.Before I get started, I need to say 520 per month for a car plus 115 for insurance when youre broke is insane. You spend more than 13 of what you take home every month on a car. The car needs to go, like, yesterday.The very first thing Id do in your situation is to write out in detail each dollar that Im spending. Write it here, share it with us. Where does all the money go? That will help you figure out what is a need cannot possibly live without and what is a want hey, thats nice to have. Focus on needs, and a chunk of your budget goes away in a flash.No doubt it is tough raising a child on 24K a year. Is there any way for you to get that income up? Im talking extra jobs, night school preparation for a better paying job, anything that can help you earn even 5K or 10K more a year. Heck, even a couple grand makes a big difference in your life because it helps ease the paycheck to paycheck cycle.Human: thanks. I know I should do something about car but I owe more on it than its worth so I dont know how I would go about selling it and then if I did . How would I get to work? The local bus system in my city is not very good and I there are no lines from where I live to where I work. I like the idea of writing down what I spend. Are there free online tools where I can put in my salary and expenses to help me keep track. I think if I were more focused on the little things like spending a dollar here or 5 dollars there that I could budget myself. I need to keep track of exactly every penny I spend. My job pays for my internet and provides a cell phone with data plan Android so if I had an application that I could access that helped keep track of every penny I spent it would be helpful.  <response>: Phone the finance company and ask them what a final settlement on the loan against the car is if you were to pay it back tomorrow. The number should be lower than you expect. Youre probably factoring in interest to be paid on the full term that will not be payable on an early repayment.If its still lower than you think you could get for the car as it is, tell them they can come pick it up whenever they like. Your credit score is terrible, so let them repossess it - a hit on the credit file today is not as big a problem as being out of pocket 635 every month for a car that isnt worth it.Yes, youre going to need to think about how you get to work, but youll figure it out. Change jobs, get a cheaper car, do whatever you need to - get that 635month cost down now.Writing down everything you spend is a great idea - there are loads of tools, but just start a spreadsheet on Google Docs. Gandhi said writing down everything he spent helped him greatly: if it can help a man who eschewed most physical possessions and had no real income have a happy life, it can help you... 