<prompt> Human: Hello Reddit,I am reaching out because every year me and my SO can not get on track with our finances, despite numerous attempts at different budgeting methods. We are looking for any advice before seriously considering bankruptcy options. Ill give a quick break down of our debt and situation. We have 2 children and currently rent -Rent is 1250 not including any utilities -We have one income since my SO is a Full Time student and will be graduating late next year and then hopefully working. -Annual income is about 66k -Total ammount of debt that we have totals near 52k: -Personal Loan 22,500-Car 1 5100-Car 2 10,200-Credit Card 1 8200 -Credit Card 2 1900-Credit Card 3 1100-Credit Card 4 1000-Credit Card 5 1600 -I do have a small IRA sitting around 5.5KThank you all in advance!EDIT:MY SO is going for Graphic Design career with and possible emphasis on UX design but not certain - Rent is 1250 not including any utilities - Live in Hooksett, NH - Electric is about 200-250 a month. We are currently behind - Gas is about 200 or so a month some months are then others - Groceries can be high about 500 a month. - Medical expenses are about 50-100 a month I try to pay more when possible - Annual income is about 66k - Total amount of debt that we have totals near 52k: -Personal Loan 22,500 is at 16.24 500m-Car 1 5100 2.24 apr 208m-Car 2 10,200 1.74 apr 201m-Credit Card 1 8200 8.99 apr 160m-Credit Card 2 1900 13.90 apr 60m-Credit Card 3 1100 23.90 35m-Credit Card 4 1000 0 at the moment 25m-Credit Card 5 1600 0 at the moment 32mAssistant: Given that you seem young, I do not recommend bankruptcy especially since your debt is manageable less than your income and because it would hurt your credit significantly. Not to mention, it seems you dug yourself in this hole due to spending habits, which are likely to continue despite the bankruptcy.So lets do some math: Take home is about 4,400month. Rent utilities is about 1,700month - try to save on electric. Debt payments medical: 1,300month.This leaves you 1,500 month for groceriesliving expenses - what is going wrong here?You should ditch the second car and deal with sharing a car or a commuter service bus, ride sharing? to get to work instead if possible.Next, pay off your credit cards by allocating 300-500month to them. I recommend avalanche - though, by focusing on credit card 3 followed by 2, youll effectively be doing both avalanche and snowball. You can then either mop up credit cards 4 and 5 if they are no longer on 0 APR period, or go for the personal loan next.Human: I feel like are making bad choices obviously but we have a hard time budgeting since I get paid bi-monthly on the 15th and 30th of each month. A lot of my bills I split between the 2 checks a month. I definitely feel like im forgetting to list some expenses. We definitely feel like we havent listed all thw expenses. I might be forgetting something here.  <response>: The dates you get paid should not matter for budgeting. Budgeting is about controlling expenses and knowing where you money is going, not the logistics of paying each bill. Build up a small cash cushion and stop living paycheck to paycheck, then it wont matter what day of month you get paid. 