<prompt> Human: When I paid my student loan, I checked the balance on my checking account to ensure I had enough funds to cover the payment. I paid it and I still should have had 100 left in my account to get through the month. I bought 30 worth of gas, and some groceries. Then I get a notification that my account balance is zero. Fine, I have enough gasfood to get through the remainder of the month. Today, I received a notification that my student loan payment bounced like a basketball. I go online to check my account and now I have 117 in my account. What the hell happened, and what can I do to keep my credit score from going to the shithole? My loan payments are 600, but I cant make that so Ive been making partial payments as Im able to afford to and I have applied for income driven repayment plans but I havent heard back from them yet. I know Im going to have to get a second job at this point, but in the meantime, payday isnt until the 28th and Im afraid to spend any of the 117 currently in my account in case theres been an error. For now my game plan is to pay my rent on the 1st when I get paid, pay 400 to the student loan to make up for not being able to pay the February payment, then make other payments as Im able to. I was hoping to get my finances on track this month, but it doesnt look like its going to happen. After the necessities are paid, I will have zero money to spend. Other factors: Im a single parent of a 14 year old and no I do not receive child support. Im also just above the poverty level in terms of income, so I do not qualify for public assistance which is nice considering Ive been poor all of my life until I landed my first professional job out of grad school. I also live in Colorado, so everything is expensive here. When I first moved here, my employer provided housing for me, but it was six weeks until I received my first paycheck, so Im behind on that rent. I knew I was never going to be able to get caught up as long as I lived there , so I moved out as soon as something affordable came open. Ive been paying 200mo to get it paid off. I still owe roughly 1,000 on that rental. My second bank account is currently in the negative because I thought I still had money in it to cover my car insurance, nope. My bank covered it, but also charged a fee. Im thinking about closing it out and just having the one checking account to keep up with. The reason for this second account is because I moved across country for my job and my parents wanted me to keep the account active with their local bank so they can easily deposit money. In hindsight, its probably better to just have them write a check and mail it to me and I can deposit it myself so I can have an accurate record of what funds I actually do have. Im also 90 sure that after the bounced payment, my request for an income driven repayment plan will be denied and my credit is going to the crapper anyway. Aside from getting a second full-time job to somewhat balance everything out, what else can I do?Assistant: You need a budget. How much money are you making a month? What are your regular expenses? Keep records of your balance starting on a payday and subtract your expenses and purchases from that balance.Human: Thats the hard part. My yearly salary is 32,600, but my monthly paychecks are not evenly divided. Each monthly paycheck is based on how many working days there are in each month. One month, Im close to 3,000, and the next month I could be closer to 2,000. Its not fun and its hard to budget with a fluctuation like that. Which is another reason why a second full time job is going to have to happen, at least from my point of view anyway. Forgot to add:Rent: 1,000Utilities: 160 in the winter, 100 in the summer. I dont have AC where I live and I dont need it with the mild summers. University housing bill I work for a public university: 200mo until paid off. Student loan: 150-250 depending on what I can afford even though my standard payments are 600. Im currently 1,000 behind and Im trying to pay at least something every month. Ive applied for income based repayment and waiting to hear back from PHEAA.Groceries: I try to spend no more than 75 per trip and will go without to make sure my kid has enough. Lots of tea and ramen noodles. This past month I had unexpected expenses:200 so the kid could go to ski day with her school and not feel left out. I bought her Walmart brand ski clothes and even then, those were expensive. My brother, SIL, and nephew visited for six days, so I had to buy extra groceries to support them for the six days. I did not join them on any adventures because I couldnt afford it. I had to buy my daughter insulated coveralls for when she works on the goat farm to make sure she stays warm and that she doesnt ruin her school clothes. I figured the 35 investment was cheaper in the long run over having to buy new pants every month due to rips and stains and other stuff that comes with farm work.  <response>: Use an average then. It would be better than nothing 