<prompt> Human: Hi Everyone,Was wondering if any of you could help me come up with a plan to solve my budget issues and get on a path to a financial stability. Im sorry this post is long. I will be on and off all day trying to respond to any comments but work is crazy so it might take me a few hours between batches of comments.TL;DR: Im 37k in debt, weighing options. 150 short on my budget but just making minimum payments. Proposed debt planning options in a bulleted list below, same for assets and current failing budgetBackground:Im 24yrs old, graduated college in 2015 and am employed as an engineer for the past 2.75yrs. I now live in NYC with my GF and we split expenses 5050. I make double her salary but I have to commute 2.5hrs to work everyday and have debt while she is debt free so a good chunk of my extra income is already accounted for.Ive historically had trouble budgeting, but had managed to get my CC debt down to 0 in 2016 courtesy of a large tax refund. I have not been debt free as a result of a 12k car lease and 35k in student loans. I have however, managed to pay those down a bit and now only owe 4k on the lease and 20k on the student loans. I have never had an emergency fund. I know, I know.I used to frequent rchurning quite often. I got numerous cards and racked up hundreds of thousands of miles. We went on trips around the country and to Europe. However, I was overspending along the way without realizing it. I participated in manufactured spending which helped mask it at first since I was always able to pay in full. The experiences I had churning were absolutely amazing but I racked up so much debt that I clearly didnt do my math right or act responsibly.Debt LoadIn April 2016 I had 0 of CC debt. By the end of 2016, I was up to 10,000. By the end of 2017 I had hit 36,000. Im now at 36,500. Trying to stop the bleeding and get on a path to pay this down ASAP. I should add that 22,500 of this is at 0 until a few dates ranging between August and December. 5,000 is on a CU line of credit at 10.24. The remaining 9,000 is on cards that are still under their grace periods. Originally it was 27,500 0 - 9,000 gracefloat, but Bank of America decided to slash my limits by over 50...to secure better rates on any possible loansprevent other issuers from freaking out I moved 5k from the Bank of America cards to my CU Line of CreditAssets 401k: 22,500 contributing 416mo pre-tax - 6, company matches first 5 HSA: 750 contributing 221mo because of ongoing medical expenses e-fund: 1450 newly minted from points Other Savings: 1 thats generousDebt RestructuringReorganization OptionsThe way Ive been running the numbers it seems I have a few options. I dont like any of them, but to be honest I dont like my situation either so I guess its good all things considered.To start, Ive just cashed out some of the points to start an emergency fund of 1450. Its not enough by any means but its a start. The goal is around 3500.To shore things up on the debt side of things, Im considering: Roll through more balance transfers. A few of my cards still have 0 balance transfer offers with a 3 fee. I could probably lock down the debt at an effective 3 APR and just keep shifting it until its gone - but if the economy turns south I have a huge issue as a creditor can just cut my limits at will Personal loan options around here are looking at about 8-11 but the upshot is one monthly payment and I can consolidate up to 30,000. I would pay more but I can put this monster in its own expensive closet and move on. 401k loan for 11,000 out of a 22,000. Normally I would never touch this, but at 6 APR of interest paid to myself and a stock market that is growing more and more volatile, it actually seems a little appealing. After the SP jumped 20 last year I imagine that were looking at a correction soon, and this would lock in half of my 401k at that incredibly high ROI. I know this is just me justifying timing the market...Budget:Category Amount Proposed Amount Notes------------ Income Proposed Income -Salary 4169 4169 Monthly after-taxPre-tax 401k contributions 416 416 6 of salary, employer matches 5Pre-tax HSA contributions 221 221 maxing yearly limit, employer contributes 800Pre-tax commuter benefits 303 303 260 for transit, 43 for parking- Expenses Proposed Expenses -Apartment 1609 1609 -Rent 1498 1498 -Renters Insurance 13 13 Billed annually in MarchUtilities 40 40 Unsure of exact amount, havent been here a whole year yetCableInternet 58 58 -Transportation 920 875 -Car Lease 313 313 Actively looking to trade in car for another low cost model - to get from car to workCar Insurance 125 125 Got first and only speeding ticket in January...renews in August, but I turn 25 in June - insurance goes up 50 if I garage car in Queens.Car Registration 6 6 Billed every 2 years, just paid last monthCar ServiceInspections 20 20 About 100 every 6 monthsGas 50 50 -Parking Permit 0 0 320yr paid pre-tax from commuter benefits account - to park car at train stationMetro North Monthly Ticket 215 215 475 but 260 is paid from pre-tax commuter benefits account - to get from Subway to CarMonthly Metrocard 121 121 To get from Home to SubwayUberLyftTaxi 70 25 The occasional uber ride happens - mainly when the subway isnt runningSubscriptions 58 58 -Cell Phone 35 35 -Amazon Prime 5 5 GF pays the other halfAmazon Music 7 7 Billed annually in JanuaryLastpass 3 3 Billed annually in FebruaryYNAB 5 5 Billed annually in AprilWebsite 3 3 Billed annually in SeptemberEveryday Stuff 412 312 -Groceries 350 250 Recently increased from Blue Apronwanting to eat out lessHousehold Stuff 50 50 -Haircut 12 12 -Food 520 180 -Dining Out 100 100 -Ordering In 50 0 - Food at Work 220 50 The occasions I forget to make lunch or coworkers want to go out for lunchCoffeeBreakfast 100 20 when I have to grab coffee on the goSnacks 50 10 -Fun 231 91 -Dates 70 0 -Movies 16 16 -Video Games 0 0 -Going out for dinnerdrinks with friends 120 75 Originally called drinking. Would really like to keep this as its one of the few times I get to see my friends nowadays.Other Fun 25 0 :Debt 472 472 -Credit Card Minimum Payments 0 cards 324 324 -Student Loans 148 148 -Miscellaneous 85 25 -GF 60 0 Saving for anniversary, bday, random giftsflowers, just wanting to be niceBirthday Gifts 25 25 - - - -Total 138 547 Does not include impacts of 401k but does include transit benefits reducing cost of ticketsProposed Budget ChangesTheres a lot of fat in this budget and Im still bleeding. Options include: Ive already started cutting the dining out budget, and weve upped our grocery spend. I think that should correct a bunch of the overage and help me lose weight. Need to cut most of the dining budget and start bringing lunch to work - impractical because of commute but achievable with sunday planning The transportation is a necessary evil because of the 2.5hr commute, but Im trying to lose the car paymentdiminish it Drinking, dates and coffee are easy targets and I will likely cut them next I have debated cutting my 401k contribution to increase after-tax income.So...thats it...Im in way over my head here, trying to figure this out and solve this once and for all. There are a number of options but just not sure how to approach this. Just got a bonus at work so thats 300 that will go to some of the debte-fund but just not sure how to proceed from there.Edit: Thanks for all the feedback - food has to go and I understand that. Im at work so trying to respond to this as the day goes on. Thank you again. This is not a fun place to be in and Im ashamed to have gotten here but hope I can fix this.Edit 2: Well shit looks like I touched a nerve - wasnt expecting this many responses. Thank you all for your advice - Im going through every comment and responding as I can. Work has been crazy today. Thanks againEdit 3: It doesnt go far enough, but attached a proposed budget...based on the discussion I imagine that this will not be the final iteration of this, but felt it was necessary to post something that shows some steps in the right direction while we discuss this.Edit 4: Revised the revised budget. Im going to try my best to stick to this and cut further but I want to see how this works in practice if its punishing then Im less likely to keep to itEdit 5: Revised the budget to be easier to read in one table instead of 2Assistant: Everyone already covered the food, so I will go insane on your transportation.You have a car, AND you have a metronorth pass, AND you take UberLyft. Why??? A lot of people probably missed this expense because you put some of it pre-tax. It doesnt matter if that is pre-tax, its still insane to spend 1K on transportation in one of the MOST FRIENDLY PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION CITIES IN THE WORLD!! Either get rid of your car, which saves parking, lease, insurance, and the whole 9 yards, or get rid of your metro north pass. There is no way in hell you need both. A car is usually a luxury if youre living in NYC, and you arent in a financial position to have the luxury. I also dont see why, if you do have a car, you pay 475 a month for a monthly Metronorth pass when you can just TAKE YOUR CAR. I have the feeling you keep the pass because you ARE able to get to work using just the Metro North, in which case GET RID OF YOUR CAR!No offense OP, but you are living way beyond your means. You are trying to keep all options open for convenience, but you arent rich. Like, why not add a helicopter to your transportation kit as well, while youre at it? Im exaggerating to make a point. You can live with the NYC metro card and one other method, you dont need 4.Forget about your emergency fund, its not that important right now. You were fine without it for a couple years, and since youre living with your gf, I presume she loves you enough to cover you in case of emergency.Pay off the 5k immediately, using your emergency fund and borrowing the rest from your gf. Using your new budget, you should be able to save at LEAST 1k more a month 12kyr by cutting transport in half, and food in half, MINIMUM. All of it goes to the CCs, based on the order of their 0 timelines. I think if you really do commit to budgeting, you can get rid of half the CC debt by end of this year before the APRs kick in. Otherwise, if you cant, use your 401k fund, but IMO that should be last resort. I wouldnt touch it because you should be able to handle this without borrowing your 401k IF you commit to budgeting asap.You also mention you converted some points to an emergency fund. Convert all of them to pay your CC. Usually there is an option for that, so your cc balance should be getting offset by your points usage.No more vacation on the points until you have half the CC debt gone; otherwise youre really going to regret your life style in about 4 years. Human: If he is metronorth, he is not in NYC, probably Westchester, and likely needs a car to get to the train.Assistant: actually reverse - subway to metro north to car to work..its loads of funHuman: get a nyc job dudeAssistant: Bit of a niche field. I could switch disciplines but doing what I do requires either upstate, Austin, TX, or Silicon Valley  <response>: Then move to Westchester. You cant afford a 3k Manhattan apartment with 35k in cc debt. 