<prompt> Human: People think Im one of those annoyingly positive people but every night my brain just goes absolutely nuts with anxiety about my financial situation. It makes me nauseated. Ive read so many awesome posts about Redditors turning their lives around...I really want to be one of those posts.I grew up in a poor household and was never taught about finances by anyone in my family. Surprisingly, I went most of my life without creating debt...but I was never good at saving and have spending issues. Im 26 now and I cant live like this anymore. Im tired of stressing, crying and feeling guilty over every penny I spend. Im at a point where I have no idea what the fuck to do. As we speak I have 3 credit cards with 400 balances each maxed out, 1.58 in my checking, 1200 loan debt at my credit union...and 3500 owed to a friends loan shark friend. Yeah I fucked up bad.I take full responsibility for my stupid decisions and did things the wrong way. I got in a bad relationship with a guy and that put me in a bind. I didnt even get a credit card until I was 23 and it was because he needed money. Than he needed more and more. The better my salary got the more he needed but I was in a situation where I was controlled and didnt even realize it. And I had to pay some things off because I cosigned for him on some stuff. Anyways...things got bad and I left the relationship. Despite the fact that I have a restraining order dont want to give a sob story. he was an ass blah blah blah...I didnt feel safe and was surrounded by bad influences and mutual friends. I needed to leave town and start fresh. I was offered the job of my dreams so I had to take it -even though they couldnt offer paying for my moving fees. Back home I worked 2 jobs and paid off a good chunk of old debt but needed more to actually move. Thats when my family friend introduced me to his loan shark friend...and loaned me some money, with interest of course. Now I feel safe, happier and I have a job I love in a new city. But I feel like a toddler trying to pretend to be a grown-up. I have no idea how to deal with my debt and save. Being broke sucks. So any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. I will try anything at this point and keep everyone regularly updated. Also, Im a regular redditor but I made this account because Im embarrased my reddit friends will find out of my fucked up past. Below is the rundown of my financial shit hole - This is more specific to what I own in the next month:Salary: 57,7503 Credit Card Balances: 1,200 minimum for 2 cards are 25, 1 is 50Personal Loan at credit union: 1200 - monthly payment is 112Rent: 1365 - Included watersewer, trash, parking, gasElectric: 115 this months bill has my deposit added -Should be about 50 on averagePhone Bill: 200 I have a shit ton of overage fees -like an idiot I used my GPS too much in my new town. Its usually 80Car Payment: 318 Just refinanced and this was the best price I could getCar Insurance: 90Rental Insurance: 20Netflix, Hulu Spotify: 25Medical Prescriptions: 250 Vyvanse; 94 Wellbutrin My jobs insurance doesnt start til July 1st. I cant skip these meds but have some coupons. Not sure if theyll work.AND the really shitty one: 3500 to be paid off before August. Or else pretty much. I just moved to a new town but would be willing to find another job on the weekend if I need to. The job I have now is a M-F 8-6 type of gig but Ill do whatever it takes to get me out of this hole. Just not sure if I can get one in time for this months bills.My goal is to just survive right now, then emergency savings, pay off my cards and loan and then another savings account. Is this even possible? Sorry this is so long.TL;DR: I have a lot of debt, due to bad life decisions, and not enough education or resources to figure this out. Help me Reddit family. EDIT I forgot some helpful items...Monthly Take Home: 2400 about 1770 per paycheck with my new job. I had no clue my taxes would be so bad in this city!Food Monthly: 250 - 300 thats about how much I spend in groceriesEating out: 200 including booze, coffee, slurpees etc...this has already been greatly reduced to almost nothing in the past 2 weeksGas:80 a monthInternet: 80 this month because of installation fee but will be about 40 in the futureAssistant: Yes its absolutely possible. Start by seeing if you can get a 0 balance transfer credit card to stop paying interest on those cards and keep paying just the minimum.Cancel your phone and get one of the cheapo services.Then pay every extra to that 3500 loan shark debt.Do not under any circumstances take a payday loan.Are there generics versions of those medicines? And finally, see if you can make extra income with a side gig?Honestly the amount of debt youre in isnt awful. The worst part about it is the loan shark.Human: Yeah Im glad I dont have a lot of debt. I just want to deal with the shark guy and learn some things to prevent this from ever happening. I agree with the phone and will definitely look into a cheapo service. I did try to get a payday loan and was turned down...looking back at it now it was a blessing.  <response>: Short term, claim exempt on your w4 to pay off the loan shark and as soon as you do, go back to what you were claimed originally. Thats a short term loan to yourself that you will need to balance out by tax time next year but the APR is better than what youve got now. 