<prompt> Human: I am a 28 year old male, married. We have been struggling financially for a year or two, and its getting worse. Im looking for your advice on a couple of specific subjects, but Ill list all of the pertinent details so that anyone can chime in on any other subjects.Total net monthly income: 2425.00We have 2 checking accounts, no savings. We live hand-to-mouth, there is never any money left over to consider putting into a savings account or investing.Monthly expenses:My car - 300Wifes car - 225Mortgage - 350Utilities water, electric, internet - 200Gas expense from long commute to work - 340Oil changes, other car expenses estimated to include tires, rotations, alignments, etc. etc. 100Estimated Monthly Medical expenses incl. doctors visits and prescription meds- 120Pet suppliespet care - 50Foodgrocerieshousehold items - 275Credit card debt - 100My wife also has student loans, but to be honest, weve defaulted on them, and arent making any payments on them. Things like house, car, and utilities had to take a priority.The remaining balance get trickled away on food, convenience store stops, health beauty items, etc. Theres never actually any extra money at the end of the month.My wife I have both quit smoking in an effort to save money, and that has helped.I know that one of my biggest problems is my commute. I am the part owner of a restaurant that my father and I opened up together, and Im reluctant to give it up, but its not doing well enough for me to pay myself any better. I have been examining other options, but I really do not wish to work in another restaurant, and I have no other marketable skills other than a 12 year history of managing and owning restaurants.One of my biggest problems is my car. It is currently parked, and needs about 1500.00 worth of work to get it road-ready again has a cracked cylinder, needs a full engine replacement. I still owe over 7000 on this car. I have no idea how I could get out from under this debt. No dealership is going to take it as a trade in for anything remotely close to what I owe on it, even if it didnt need so much work. Should I just stop making payments on it and let it get repoed? It has been repossessed once before, a few years ago, but I managed to get it back. Wish now I had just let it go.I havent checked my credit score in a couple of years, but I imagine its hideous, between my wifes defaulted student loans, and my previous repo of the car, and because of the way Im constantly running late on pretty much everything.What should I do? Specifically about my junk PoS car, but generally in a broad sense. Would one of those debt consolidation companies be able to help me? Should I file bankruptcy?This is a bit of a wildcard, but I have been considering joining the military, mainly for the education benefits, so that I can get out of this rut of being stuck in the restaurant industry. However, as dumb as this sounds, the military actually looks at your credit history when considering if you are eligible to join or not. My credit is BAD as it is, Im afraid of ruining it further with something like a repo or a bankruptcy. Im not 100 dead set on going military, but Id like for it to remain an option.Edited for formatting clarityEdit2: Wow, lots of great responses. I thank you all very much for taking the time to respond. I will attempt to respond with more details individually ASAP, but dont have a lot of time at the moment.  <response>: What youve listed is only 1500 or so. Wheres the other 900ish going? You need to find that money before trying anything drastic with your car. once you find that 900, save it to buy a good gas mileage car in cash and sell your car and wifes car to reduce the outbound monthly cash flow.Also, is the wife working? If not get her to get a job that you can share one car with doing a shared commute. See if you can find side work to get an extra 200-500month working the weekends or evenings to save up to pay off school debts.Need a bit more info on the rest of the budget to give better advice. 