<prompt> Human: For a Tl;dr please scroll to the bottom.Here is my overall info:Income: 3,106 take-home pay combined income, 2 adults 480 child supportTotal income: 3,586monthMonthly Expenses: Rent: 1234 Water: 55 consolidated water bill through apartment complex, so changes to water usage will not affect my bill in a significant way Electricity: 130 3-bedroom apartment with two adults who work from home InternetCable: 120 cable is required because one of us writes multiple tv recap articles for a living Cell: 270 two separate cell phone accounts, one is 150 and one is 120 - both under contract until 2015 Storage Unit: 80 contains items I cannot sell yet Car Insurance: 116 new car, my parents are making payments right now Netflix: 10 Spotify: 10 Legal Shield: 15 prepaid legal, comes in handy often enough to keep it around Therapy for me and kids: 160 absolutely necessaryTotal Monthly Expenses: 2,200Debt: Chase Credit Card: 480 Min. due 25 Capital One Credit Card: 350 Min. due 15 Credit One Credit Card: 560 Min. due 35 Conns: 683X Min. due 117.64 GEConns: 340X Min. due 75 GEAmazon: 900X Min. due 35Total Debt: 3,313Total Debt PaymentsMonth if I pay minimum: 302.64Total Debt PaymentsMonth based on what I actually payXX: 417.64X - These three were accounts created by my ex-husband. Because he is unemployed he was not made to be responsible for any part of these payments.XX - I cannot bring myself to make minimum due payments. It actually digs me further into the hole because of interest and monthly fees associated with these credit cards.Variable Expenses: Groceries: 500month family of four, one is a vegetarian and requires additional special dietary needs Gas: 150month despite working from home, I do a lot of driving around running errands - therapist offices are far away, and I have an obligation to visit my parents 300 miles away once a month at least Car Maintenance: 45month average Eating Out: 150month I know this is high, but honest to god sometimes I need to not cook for my own sanity E-Cigarette Supplies: 50month I know, I know, but its better than smoking real cigarettesTotal Variable Expenses: 895Total ExpensesMonth: 3,512.64Tl;Dr: Total IncomeMonth: 3,586 Total ExpensesMonth: 3,512.64Obviously my expenses can be variable and sometimes more than is fair, really there are emergencies. I cannot STAND making minimum payments on my credit cards because often that ends up costing me more money in the long run - I might make a minimum payment on a maxed out card and a month later Ill be over limit because of interest and other fees.BUT, when I pay an amount on my credit card that I am comfortable with usually 2-4 times as much as the minimum payment, I end up not having enough cash to get me through the month and I have to...you guessed it...USE my credit cards to buy groceries, gas, etc.I think about money all. The. Time. I am constantly scouring my bills trying to find ways to make them lower. I cant move to a cheaper place because in my town the only way I can send my kids to a school that doesnt have regular instances of horrific violence is to spend an absurd amount of money on rent.I feel like Im spinning my wheels. I just started using Mint.com but I dont know how much good its going to do. I know exactly where my money is going, I just dont know how to make LESS money go out the door. Im tired of being reliant on my credit cards and Im tired of making my parents pay for my car once I get my debt taken care of Ill be taking that on too - that cost will pretty much replace the credit card payments Im making now.I know I dont have a LOT of debt, but I really, really dont know how I can make it go away.If it helps to know, I also suffer from depression and PTSD from a highly abusive marriage. Im about to go on antidepressants but I dont know how much thats going to add to my monthly expenses.Assistant: I just realized you have 45month average for car maintenance... Dont you have a brand new car? What kind of maintenance do you really need to do on it? Is this stuff that might be covered under a warranty or something?Human: Sadly no. I have to take the car to the dealership for oil changes, etc. Oil changes at the dealership are around 50. Every few visits they have to change a filter, or a tire, or run a full diagnostic, or whatever else...there are also milestone maintenance visits which can cost as much as 200. If I try to do things myself or go elsewhere, I get lectured by the dealership as they have to do something at each visit check something off in the computer or something or else I violate my warranty. It averages out to around 45month across the year.  <response>: Why do you have to take your car to the dealership for maintenance? Thats such a giant money grab. You arent violating your warranty, unless you bought an extended warranty from the dealership, which was a huge financial mistake, a waste, and dont bother continuing that warranty. Take it to a jiffy lube for oil changes and rotations; change your own filters you can buy them at autozone and they are so easy to change its highway robbery to pay for it; any other repairs can be taken to a non-dealership mechanic. Of course theyre lecturing you for taking it elsewhere - THEY want your money! 