<prompt> Human: Looking for hard truths or comfort:My wife and I are 31 years old. We have an 8 month old daughter. I make 100k a year. My wife is in school and we took out loans for her education. We also have about 13k in credit card debt at a high interest rate, and 9k in car debt. We have 157 dollars until I get paid on the 30th. We have no savings. We live paycheck to paycheck, and money is the root of ALL of our anxiety. It makes me sick. I was never in debt before our wedding and we havent been able to shed it in 3 years, and whats more we now shell out 550.00 additionally every month to deal with the student loans. I have a few 401ks from previous jobs of around 20k and I want to cash them in to rid ourselves of the credit card debt so we can have some revenue to put towards savings and not have to live paycheck to paycheck any more. This would afford me a great deal of sanity. How bad of an idea is it? Budget is below. I pay more than mins on car payments and CCs, not student debt. BUDGETMONTHLY INCOME: 5,534.64 Rent 1,800.00 Verizon 187.00Car and Renters Ins 140.00Spotify 10.00Netflix 8.00Comcast 81.00Car Payment 200.00Electric 80.00Citi CC 200.00Amex CC 200.00Student Loans 714.86TOTAL: 3,620.86DIFFERENCE: 1,833.78Assistant: Keep receipts for EVERYTHING you buy.Put them into a spreadsheet after a month or 2, categorize them Gas, Groceries, restaurants, etc.Youll soon find out how many times a month you hit up Starbucks or McDonalds, etc... You need to find out where that 1833 is going and... My most hated piece of advice... Learn how to say NO to people asking to go out, be in wedding parties, etc. Its tough, because you feel an obligation, but in the end, your ability to provide for your kid means more that buying a new suit for a cousins wedding. just an exampleHuman: your most hated piece of advise is really the biggest problem we have. Friends visiting from out of town, coffee. friends buy a new condo, house warming gift. In a wedding, bachelor party, bachelorette party, wedding shower, wedding gifts. Child carebabysitting, straight cash homie. friends have a baby, gift. We cant not reciprocate when people did these things for us when we asked or maybe never asked but they still give! graduation party for someone who has been generous to us, gift. It just seems to keep adding up.  <response>: You dont necessarily need to say no to all activities with friends, you just restrict your spending at them. Friend visiting from out of town? Host them for a meal at your house! Baby shower? Box of diapers or a promise to babysit for free. House warming gift? Bottle of wine. If you are asked to be in a wedding party, inform them that youd love to stand up for them but you are on a strict budget. If you cant afford to meet the couples expectations tux dress cost, bachelor party expense then you will just attend as guests. 