<prompt> Human: I am currently about 252000 in debt. That includes mortgage car payment and various loans and credit cards. We are basically paycheck to paycheck right now. I am trying to figure out how to get out of the paycheck to paycheck cycle?  <response>: This is impossible to answer without an idea of your income and expenses. The short answer is to spend less or earn more. Earning more is doable but hard. Spending less is often the best focus. could you rent a room of your house to supplement the mortgage? could you move to a less desireable area with lower house prices? could you let your cars get older? could you avoid the car or 2 cars by walkingbiking places? could you lower your cable bill -- do you really need all those channels? could you get slower internet? do you need all those subscription services? could you lower your phone bill through Ting, Project Fi, or Republic Wireless? could you grow some of your own food in a garden? could you eat out less? could you cancel the gym membership?Mr Money Mustache writes a blog about cutting expenses, and trying to replace spending with more fulfilling things. Some times he can get preachy, but overall has good ideas. On top of all these, do you track every expense? Thats the first step to being able to target waste areas. The wiki has fancy pants tools, but it could be as simple as google sheets you punch info into every time youre at the till. 