<prompt> Human: Hello, This is my first post ever. That being said, I apologize if this post is not up to Reddits standards. I also apologize for the length, as Im not sure what kind of information would be useful and I really need advice.Facts: Salary is approx 50k per year and I get payed via direct deposit bi-weekly. I have an adorably meager 401k taking advantage of my employers matching program auto transfer of 5 percent of my salary.I recently ended an over 4 year relationship that devolved into financially supporting another adult. I turned to alcohol to block out my problems, but things got really bad and cliche during the 6 months before I decided to end the relationship or face eventual accidental death by whiskey Im not good at decisions, otherwise I wouldnt be here. Since then, I dont black out every single night anymore, but I still occasionally fall off the wagon. Rent is literally the entirety of one paycheck lease through October for a one bedroom that is 15 minutes from my office rush hour never gets me down and I save on gas as well! and is the same one I had while in the relationship lease was always solely in my name. I never miss paying my rent!I have never had a credit card ever everyone warned me not to when I was young, and there are a million options now so Im scared!. Like many of you, I have a cat. I live in the DC Metropolitan area, so the cost of anything makes my Mid-West heart cringe even after over 3 years here. Despite this, I know how to live extremely cheaply. I know this because I grew up in the exact middle of a family of 9 children mom w4 kids re-married to a guy w5. Please do not advise me to pinch pennies on food and things of that nature. My food budget is close 100 dollars or less a month. And for the most part I dont go out to eat because I know I cant afford it. I currently have really expensive cableinternet read: Comcast. I am having a hard time getting rid of it because my ex was the one who signed up for and had been paying for it not because I am sentimental, but because of the hoops I must jump since its in his name. Other Utilities and such add up to around 150-250 a month depending on the weather. Combined student loans I owe a little less than 60k. I am repaying some of my student loans approx: 200 autopay to Sallie Mae monthly, but the govt. ones are in forbearance because if i payed the minimum amount for them it would an additional 400-500 a month that I couldnt possibly come up with in my wildest dreams. My savings has become my emergencyend of month bucket that I toss money into at the beginning of the month and end up taking most of the money out in desperation 4-6 weeks later. If you have not figured it out yet, I am female which involves a bunch of little bs health and society related gender specific expenses.Apologies again for the very long post. I am sincere in my desire to get out of this paycheck to paycheck cycle. Please be gentle. . .itsmyfirsttime edit: In response to the fact that I left some big chunks out of my budget. Regarding strange utility numbers: I pay water and gas automatically added to my base rent every month, as well as electricity separate. Something about my apartment huge window maybe? that makes me bleed money in the summer and winter but not in the fall or spring even when I keep my thermostat on the mathematically cheapest setting. Automotive expenses: Auto pay 60 a month for insurance safe car no accidents. If im driving a lot gas is more like 60 -70. Im not sure how to quantify things like oil changes and random other upkeep because its a lot of one-off purchases some antifreeze here, an oil change there etc. I do not have a car payment because I didnt want that hanging over my head current vehicle purchased in full with most of last years tax return proceeds of sale of previous car. I dont know if this was a good decision but my previous car was deemed unsafe by the state and I had to send it back westward were rust is allowed.Veterinary expenses werent part of my monthly budget but when they happen its in a ball park of 60 - 200 dollars for various things the cat had a few health problems when I got him that I didnt know about, but he is doing 1000 times better now and none of them were chronic or incurable so I should be out of the expensive veterinary problems very soon.Embarrassing: alcohol budget is the same as food budget. The number gets smaller every month, so Im making progress in this area hopefully. Cell phone: 60 bucks locked in a contract for the next year-ish because I dont make good decisions.Edit 2: Comcast is killing me with 120 a month Edit 3:I have very recently started making 50k fought for a raise and was rewarded with 10 increase effective end of July. The Math, sense now does it make?  <response>: 1. As your lease comes to a close, consider looking for a new place that is in a similar location to your job, but where you can have a room mate or room mates, so your rent cost would go down. Paying 50 of your income in rent is really high, so its going to be hard to save much money unless you can bring that cost down. 2. If the cable is not in your name, get a hold of your ex and tell him to cancel it or youll stop paying it, plain and simple. You wont suffer at all from not paying the cable, as its not in your name. 3. Get a second job to increase your income. 4. Post the rest of your all of your expenses as line items on your post as an edit, and also include the exact amount of your take home pay. Its hard to give you specific ways to get out of the paycheck to paycheck cycle when we dont actually know where most of your money is going - you may not even know where most of your money is going, so sitting down and writing it all out tends to help with this. 