<prompt> Human: Ugh. Throw away because I am pretty sure my ex knows my reddit username. I have been letting myself fall deeper into debt and recently decided enough was enough. The last few years have been extremely difficult for me and I made a lot of VERY poor financial and personal choices that put me in a really bad position. Hopefully it will all make sense. I am 26. I live at home no rent, and have an almost 2 year old daughter. Her biological father is not in her life, though we do speak occasionally. He does not pay child support, I will NOT be seeking child support so pleeease do not bring it up, it wont be happening, or considered, he doesnt even have a job. I have a boyfriend, he is who my daughter sees as Daddy, and my ex will likely agree to a step parent adoption down the road which is why child support is not pursued. I recently graduated with my Bachelors degree in Psychology, and have just under 24,000 in student loans, through some company called Great Lakes. They just sent a bill saying its time to start paying and want 285month.I have a job however it is a contract job. It ends in June at the latest but could potentially end at any time. I make 581week after taxes. I am currently job hunting. I want a job where I will be happy but those jobs just dont seem to pay enough. I make 18hour and even though I claim 1 on my taxes, SO much gets taken out.I bought a car in Oct 2012 and the 5 year payment plan has me paying 185month. I always pay 200month to make it even. I have a cell phone bill with an iPad on the plan and it costs 160month. I cant lower it at this time as I am paying off the full purchase price of my exs phone and am under contract with my phone and my iPad until October of this year. I like the company VZW, used to work for them, and get a pretty good discount 22month and 20 unlimited data, I am not able to change companies at this time. I got back 5,600 in taxes and I put nearly all of it towards my Bank of America credit card. I have two cards through Boa, one has an 11k limit and the other a 2k limit. I have a 0 balance on the 2k limit one, and currently 4900.00 balance on the 11k one. It was over 10k prior to my putting my taxes towards it. My minimum payment is 132.00 now it used to be 300.00 a month or two ago, so I am very pleased.I have a Paypal credit card and an Amazon credit card. I owe about 2300.00 to PayPal and 500.00 to Amazon. I have 1k in savings in case my contract at work abruptly ends. I owe 50.00month to pay my dentist for a prior bill. My living situation is changing and I am really hoping to be able to move out in a few months obviously after I get a new PERMANENT job. I just dont know how people manage... My debt adds up to almost 1kmonth. How do people get by and afford to live when they are in debt?My boyfriend works freelance as a programmer. So money for him isnt a guarantee until he gets a full time job. It is a really competitive market here for what he does. He also lives with family. I want to be able to afford to live on my own, by myself. If he is able to help that would be considered a bonus. Once he has a full time job, things will be a lot easier.I feel like I do not know what my options are. I dont know what to do with my paychecks so I just pay what I can towards my BOA credit card since it is the highest, and the minimum for the others. I bought my car used in 2012, its a newer car- 2011 Toyota Yaris. The only problem with it is the passenger doors on the right side have some cosmetic damage where my ex kicked the door. It caused the metal to crack theres like a line where its cut basically and the paint around there bubbled up a bit. The door itself is fine it is just the metal but I know it will be costly to fix. I dont like the car and would be happy to trade it in but I am worried I would be screwed. Not sure if its better to 1. keep the car, 2. trade it in as is for something with no payments, or 3. fix the doors, sell it, then buy a car for less or trade it in.I have food stamps and WIC. I just feel lost. I mean I make 2300month but about 1k goes to billsgas. 1.3k I have been using for every day things and paying extra on my credit card bills. I dont know if I can put off the student loans because I cant afford them. I went to the website and logged in and put my income in and it seemed like it said I would have a 0.00 balance, but itdidnt say there was a drawback. I just dont know what to do anymore. I feel really overwhelmed and with my living situation changing my daughter, my cat, and I will all be in 1 very small room... including the cats litter box. He cant leave the room I want to be in a position to move out as soon as possible. Even if I made 2kmonth, I wouldnt find an apartment forless than 1k after utilities etc unless I lived in an unsafe area or 30-45 min away from my job and childcare. I just feel like it is hopeless and I truly do not understand how anyone does it. How does anyone make it? I dont want to live paycheck to paycheck anymore. Any advice? Please be nice : I am really in a low spot. Some days I dont have the energy for anything, even my daughter, because I am so worried about my finances. I avoid my bank account at all costs. I feel like I am failing as a parent even though my child wants for nothing and is happy and well adjusted. I should be grateful for that. But I need my own place with her. My living situation adds to my stress and I feel incapable of even doing laundry at the end of my work day because I am so mentally exhausted and stressed. I need to set a good example for her so she is smart with her money when she gets older. To Recap:160month cell phone50month dentist200month car payment 5.5 or something left on loan, was originally 13k50month Amazon cc bill130month Boa cc bill70month PayPal cc bill280month student loan bill 4900 debt left on BOA credit card I have not used it since January 2nd2300PayPal no longer use this much, maybe 10 bucks here or there500Amazon23,000student loans 1ksavings581week after taxesIs there any hope?Assistant: Personally I would say that there is a lot of hope! I remember getting married and with both incomes combined being so happy the first time we had 300 at the end of the month to put into savings!What helped me was to make a list of all my expenses, groceries, utilities, eating out, everything. And then I put everything into what was due the first half of the month and what was due the second half to make sure I never missed payments.Also, some articles I read suggested paying off the small loanscredit cards first as it helps give you that feeling of accomplishment and is a positive thing that can be done quickly. With that I would pay off Amazon first, and then PayPal. That now gives you an extra 120mo. Student loans are not fun, Im not sure on the best way to handle those, I always just did the payments.Get rid of the cell phone. Look at other options, bring your phone to Straight Talk. They have unlimited plans around 45. That would be another extra 120 month. Minimum payments on cc are usually set up that it would be paid off in 5 years. Advice here is tricky. You can use the extra 240 from paying off bills to pay this down or balance transfer it and dedicate 400 to have it gone in a year. These are all options that dont mess with what you have left every week. The plan that I used to get started with budgets is similar to this Good Luck with the job hunt, dont be afraid to move if you have to!Human: I cant switch my phone yet, because I am under contract and it would cost me 700 to cancel 350 ETF for each item under contract. Once I am able to, I will likely do that. I thought about the smaller bill thing, getting the extra monthly payments off would make me feel a lot better. Thank you for the budget plan! I am going to look at that when I get to work.And thanks! I just want to make sure when I move out that I am not making another decision that could be a gamble, especially with my little one. But I am a little more hopeful now!  <response>: I cant switch my phone yet, because I am under contract and it would cost me 700 to cancel 350 ETF for each item under contract. Once I am able to, I will likely do that.Thats simply not true. You said you were in contract until October. Verizon has had prorated ETFs for nearly a decade now.If your contract results from your purchase of an advanced device prior to November 14, 2014, your early termination fee will be 350 minus 10 for each full month of your contract term that you complete. Source: 