<prompt> Human: I ran away from an abusive home 4 years ago, and for my own mental health cut all ties with my mother. My older brother who lives quite far away called me 8 weeks ago in a panic because shed sent him a suicide note that indicated that she was offing herself and blamed my 14 year old brother for her mental state. Once he got a hold of her, she tells him that shes decided not to off herself after all, and has instead told my young brother to leave her house and never return. I searched for him for hours, finally finding him at a mall in the area wandering around, so I took him home and hes been with me since. Steps are being taken to terminate parental rights and give me full custody.I work a hard manual labor job, making 17.50hr 50hrswk. When I was responsible for only myself, this was plenty for me to live on and save some up, but my savings were recently decimated by a shady roommate who broke our lease contract, left significant damage to the property, made my dog very sick, and refused to pay the bills. All told, between the vet bills and angry ex-landlord, about 5,000...poofSo of course life throws me the craziest curveball of all - a teenager.To be clear, I love this kid and I will fight for him til the day I die. Hes seen some shit, and Im dedicated to giving him the start I never got. But Jesus Christ he eats like a horse with 3 empty stomachs! And apparently, family law lawyers have bills to pay too.The financial side of having a teenager has blindsided me in a big way, and Id love some solid advice right now. I hadnt been stuck in a paycheck-to-paycheck situation in 2 years and now Im barely making it to Friday every week.So, basics first, HOW DOES ANYONE AFFORD TO FEED A TEENAGER?!Is it even possible to climb out of this horrible gutwrenching waiting on payday cycle without somehow finding a shiny new, miraculously better-paying job?Im so sorry if this isnt the right subreddit, but I thought Id ask here since this is the Hugest stressor in my life right now and I dont know of any other place to get financial advice without ironically paying through the nose.EDIT:Thanks everybody who has been awesome and actually read my whole post! The outpouring of support and information has just been incredible and overwhelming. Ive received a ton of really helpful tips for getting my food spending other bills under control, and Im so optimistic that that will help me get my feet back under me. Thanks redditors, youre amazing. I wish I could hug you all.EDIT2: For those of you who are experiencing a similar situation, theres a wonderful lady who blogs about her experience and started a FB community page as well. Her blog is called sibs raising sibs. For me, it was great to see that Im not walking this path alone.Assistant: What does your budget look like? Wed be happy to help if you post some numbers we can play with.Dont have a budget? Read up here There are tools like Mint rmintuit, YNAB rynab, and spreadsheets in the Wiki to get you started.Un-tracked amounts will tend to disappear like socks in the laundry.Human: -Unavoidable monthly bills-Rent: 725Car payment: 275Insurance: 150Phone: 75Car Gas: 120GasElectric: 175 Little bros school cafeteria lunches: 40Food outside of his lunches: 800 last month Ill be checking out reatcheapandhealthy per whiteraven4s suggestion to try to bring this the Fuck down.And then I somehow need to come up with 1000 to put towards my lawyer fees by Nov 5.Looking at this makes me want to cry.Assistant: I estimate your montly take-home pay is about 2300 according to your post: is this correct?2300 - 725 Rent - 275 Car Payment- 150 Insurance - 75 Phone - 120 Car Gas - 175 GasElectric - 40 Caf. Lunch - 800 Food 0 remainingYoure about even with income and expenses. Things Id look into:1. Your car is destroying your budget. Monthly spending on your vehicle is about 25 of your income. Have you considered selling your current vehicle, downgrading andor buying cash?2. Rent is about 30 of your income. Could you consider a new roommate? Is moving to a cheaper location a possibility?3. Yeah, definitely get that food bill down. Notable suggestions: Food stamps and public assistance reatcheapandhealthy and rmealprepsunday Make sure youre making home cooked meals and not dining out, even if its fast food. FF is still more expensive than home-cooked.Hope this helps.Human: I got the damn car when my life was looking approximately a zillion times more comfortable... Youre right, that I should look for a cheaper option...that just really hurts. My first brand new car :The location isnt really negotiable, for now. Its the only top-rated school district within 50mi of my job, and part of going to a nice school means my brother is seeing a therapist for free...he really needs it and I could never afford it right now.The last couple weeks Ive been trying to cook at home, other users have recommended some stuff to cut that cost down even further, too.Thank you for doing this, it really means a lot to me.  <response>: definitely look into rmealprepsunday The crockpot will become your friend. if you dont have one get one 