<prompt> Human: Hello everyone! Out of respect for the people here who are literally losing everything, I dont want to say that my situation is dire... Im so thankful to be able to make ends meet every month, but thats literally all I can do. I pay over the minimum on everything, but it feels like Im bailing water out of a sinking ship. Im losing hope of ever having a shot at having a sense of financial security. I feel so dejected and I cant sleep at night, and Im extremely unhappy. Can anyone talk with me? Here are the details- My salary is 51,500, my partner is a freelance photographer who honestly isnt doing well at all in our city. He makes less than 15k a year right now and its pretty much impossible to count on when he gets jobs. Maybe things will get better this spring and summer. We also make 300 a month untaxed walking a dog. My pay checks are 1370. I contribute 3 matched to a 401k. Every paycheck, I contribute 100-150 to my Acorns account. I had to withdraw from it recently, but its at 800 right now. Our shared car is 380m. I own it and round up the payments to an extra 8 per month. Its financed at 10. I realize this was a mistake, but I cant sell it without taking a loss and my credit score is 610 so I cant get anyone to refinance lower than that. A car is a must- his gigs are all over town and my office just moved from 10 minutes away to 40 : Our rent is 1132m including utilities. We get free internet using an xfinity hotspot. I have one student loan in deferment, another thats 63 per month. I have 3000 in credit card debt from college and I always pay 120 of the minimum every month. I fucked up my taxes as an independent contractor a few years ago and just found out I owe the IRS 12k.With other household expenses, his student loans, phone, insurance, gas, groceries, dog food, rec center membership, we run out of money every week and seriously rely on the weekly 75 we get paid to walk that dog. We dont do anything frivolous or fun. We dont go out for drinks and seriously never eat outside of our home. We literally only eat vegetables and bulk bin beans and rice. We use cloth napkins and bar soap. We dont get haircuts, we dont buy clothes, we dont drink coffee. Our phone plans are as cheap as they possibly can be and I used a broker to significantly lower our insurance costs. Basically, I cannot cut costs any more than I am already and Im still barely able to get by from week to week. Im lucky that Im able to save 250m, but we have to move to a new place in August, so Ill need that for a deposit and fees. The housing market in my city has gotten out of hand and I expect our rent to increase significantly. I cant afford to get new glasses, take my dog in for shots, or get scheduled maintenance on my car. I have no idea what Im going to do when I cant defer my loans anymore or whats going to happen with this IRS thing. We dont have health insurance and I worry every day that a twisted ankle will send us spiraling out of control. I do have permanent birth control, so no worries about that right now.I cant find any financial advice that doesnt assume Im a millennial with a starbucks habit. I realize that a significant part of the issue is that I have a partner who isnt pulling his weight right now. He works so hard to get new clients, and hes really talented, but his gear is outdated so no agencies or groups will hire him and it takes him ages to edit photos on his ancient computer. He cant get ad work or weddings, so hes stuck constantly fishing for family shoots in the park and corporate headshots. Before moving to our current city, he worked for one photography company that provided all of his gear for 8 years, so he never invested in his own set up. He cant even get a job waiting tables and weve both decided itll be more worthwhile for him to keep plugging away at photo than to take a minimum wage job at a grocery store. I dont want to make excuses for him, but thats who he is and where were at. I am super tired of carrying our financial burden all on my own, but hes a truly great person, and hanging out with him is pretty much the only good thing I have going on in my life. Breaking up with him would save me maybe 400 per month. The truth is, Im not in great shape either way, might as well have someone I care about in my life.I feel a little better after venting all that its 5am here and Ive been awake for hours, but I still just dont know what to do. I feel like Im doing all the right things, and Im making a higher salary than any of my peers, but Im just so stuck. We both have no family to rely on and no safety net. We dont qualify for any assistance and I cant get anyone to give me a debt consolidation loan. Should take out more loans and go back to school? Is there some option Im not considering? Im thinking about picking up a serving job a few nights a week, just to build up my savings, but my day job is enormously stressful and Im not sure I could handle the additional workload. Any advice would be so appreciated. Edit- I did just learn that I could make weekly or bi-weekly payments on my car to pay it off faster! Can I do that with credit cards as well?  <response>: It sounds like you know the answers. Your rent is high, your car payment is not sustainable, and you have a partner who isnt earning anything. One of those things has to change. To me it would be your partner - he has to contribute more. If he cant make it as a photographer, then its time to look for something else. Really, anyone with the ability to show up on time every day can earn more than 15kyear. Its not the gear that is preventing him from getting work so dont go down that rabbit hole of investing in new gear by using credit. I know plenty of professionals who make do with outdated gear. Why cant he get a job waiting tables? Something? You are hanging on by a thread where 75week is make or break for you. He could bring in double that easily by working any number of entry-level jobs 20 hours a week. That is how you make it when your primary line of work isnt developed or you are underemployed. You take whatever work you can find to make ends meet. You dont sit on the sidelines and throw your hands up and wait for something to fall in your lap. 