<prompt> Human: Theres a lot going on here so Im just going to try to drop the facts of our situation. Myself wife:-full time college junior -1 child, full custody, receive no child support. -part-time job, I bring home about 500 permonth --own a 97 Chevy 1500 truck. gas guzzler. we try not to drive it.My husband:-union journeyman makes 29 phour; work has been slow. on and off unemployment-3 children; child 1 280 per month in child support he doesnt see this child as mother moved out of state, doesnt allow relationship; child 2, joint physicallegal 150 per month in child support this child stays with us 7 days out of every two weeks; every TTh and every other weekend pretty awesome arrangement that we get to see this child so much; child 3; 700 per month in child support joint physical, no legal, child is with us every other weekendchild support ordered is not paid every month in full. We havent been able to afford it since his work began laying him off periodically. we allowed the garnishment of my husbands paychecks by 50, we send other small payments as we can. -owns 2 vehicles; a 2000 Chevy s10 not running - engine problems body damage and a 98 saturn 2-door something that runs and is decent on gas, but we cannot get to pass inspection to get it registered to save our lives.-financed a Mazda 3 that got repoed with 6000 left. - 450 in registration violation tickets a warrant out for his arrest for failure to pay-15,000 in unpaid child supportHousehold:-1145 in rent we are ordered to have a 3 bedroom as it is in the child custody order that he maintain a separate bedroom for his son; we took what we could find - we know theres cheaper.-100 - a month for electricity-50 a month for internet we are canceling after this month - I will be utitlizing wifi on campusbread co for school work-150 per month for both of our cell phones both our jobs require a smart phone; we have 1 year left on our contract-food; 120 per week when we can afford it-gas; 400 per monthauto insurance: 80 per monthWe dont pay for any other entertainment or extras. Clothing needs for the kids have been met with donations from friends and CL strangers. Food is scarce; sometimes we get help from his brother having left over food stamp benefits. I use public transportation and a bike to get to college. usually I have enough money left over from my student loans to afford books. Ive gotten away with having no books for some classes. We make too much money to qualify for food stamps; we have been rejected 4 times. We figured its a lost cause to keep wasting working hours to try to obtain public assistance. Plus, if we can help it wed prefer not to be on them anyway. My husband is actively looking for other full-time work with comparable pay but is afraid to step away from the unions health benefits which he is legally required to maintain for his kids and hourly rate... Him getting a full time job at minimum wage we also figured wont help us much.I have considered dropping out of college to obtain full time work; which sounds like a great option at least until my student loans become due. Ive also heard that I can sign up for an income-based repayment program? My earning potential in this area in my line of work is about 25-28k per year before taxes full time.I am also worried that my husbands child support being in default will land him in jail. We cannot afford an attorney to lower his child support payments; representing himself pro se has backfired on him in the case of child 3 in that the judge refused to hear him for child support payment adjustments based on his income and increased his payments from 500 to 700. Now he and I fear him going back to court pro se. We dont want to make anything worse. He just keeps his head down, and somehow figures out ways to get to continue to see his kids. Ideally, we want to be able to afford to work and support our children while having a roof over our heads. We have reduced our expenses as much as possible but are still in over our heads. The car registration cycle of getting registration tickets and defaulting on court fees resulting in a warrant is something Id like to also get out of but dont quite know how to leverage the vehicles we do have to get into a vehicle that we can afford and will be economical and fit 3 children safely. Our mental health is also beginning to become a factor as well... Ill save that for another thread.Our plan right now is to be homeless for a while, save the money weve been paying for rent for a deposit and first months rent on a smaller place and begin catching up on child support. We dont have family to move in with, so please dont recommend that. We also dont have family to lend us money, so please avoid that advice as well. We are completely unsure about the vehicle situation as we dont want to get into a financing situation we cant afford. Any help, guidance, clarity or words of encouragement are appreciated. Please be gentle, this is a very difficult situation for us. Also, I ask, please refrain from putting down my husband. He had a crazy past and got involved with women he should not have. And no, I wont leave him, he is an amazing husband and father to his children, is the only father my child knows and busts his ass to keep us all alive. We have discussed me leaving college but he has been adamant I finish my bachelors degree; Im definitely thinking this may not be best for us.edit: new to posting on reddit; formatting sucked and still probably doesedit 2: Thanks for all the suggestions. It is definitely clear I need to quit school... as far as us needing to work all day every day we also have kids to raise and barely have any quality of life to begin with... Is there any hope to get out of this while being supportive of our children?? My child especially... she feels this stress through us as much as we try to hide it every day. Summer while schools out has also been rough for us; I cant just go out and get a full time job without considering child care... and Childcare is expensive. There is so much we are having to juggle on top of our finances; keeping our children healthy and happy, keeping the mothers of his childrens wrath in check, the stress of having to worry about my husband going to jail, the stress of how an eviction, another bad mark on our credit, the breaking of contracts and so on will impact our future. While so many fixes may seem obvious, and even easy, they are not... Thanks for all the great suggestions so far. I appreciate you all taking the time to do so. edit 3: The salary range I quoted above is my CURRENT earning potential, working full time in my field, with no degree. I anticipate 60-80k post graduation. also added insurance costs.edit 4: I want to stress its not necessarily our goal to lower his support obligations; we would prefer be able to one day afford our support obligations, catch up on his arrears, and live somewhat comfortably.That said we definitely disagree with the support amount issued for child 3 and hope one day we have the means to correct it. the circumstances surrounding how it got that high as well as the way he was treated in court had has my husband in tears by the mere discussion of it; he has yet to be heard or even have his financials reviewed by the judge presiding over the case. I will also note, my husband initiated ALL of his child custody and support cases - sadly hes not a very good lawyer, child 1s mother fled the state, and he allowed himself to be intimidated by threats of jail time - by the third case child 2 he understood the system much better and we got an awesome parenting arrangement. Also, the mother of child 2 is much more prone to upholding the idea of co-parenting and is great at compromise and being flexible. Her and I have a good relationship as well. Final Edit: Well, Im going to get off of reddit and get to fixing this. Hopefully Ill be updating you all on how we dug ourselves out of this in the future. Assistant: I have a few comments.part-time job, I bring home about 500 permonth -and-150 per month for both of our cell phones both our jobs require a smart phone; we have 1 year left on our contractThat just doesnt jive with me. Youre spending 15 of the money you make at this part time job, just to keep a smart phone for this job. Have you talked to them about providing a phone for you? Or at least covering part of the bill?My husband: -union journeyman makes 29 phour; work has been slow. on and off unemploymentSo what does your husband do when hes not working full time? Does he have a second job? Can he find anything to bring in more income?Him getting a full time job at minimum wage we also figured wont help us much.What about a part time job at minimum wage? You both need more income.Plus, if we can help it wed prefer not to be on them anyway.Can I ask why? Youre the exact type of people that would benefit the most from social programs such as food stamps and TANF.I have considered dropping out of college to obtain full time work; which sounds like a great option at least until my student loans become due. Ive also heard that I can sign up for an income-based repayment program? My earning potential in this area in my line of work is about 25-28k per year before taxes full time.Yes, you can sign up for an income based repayment program. That will help you a good bit in repaying those loans.I am also worried that my husbands child support being in default will land him in jail.This is a very real concern. He can go to jail over this. Take a look at this article discussing how he can fight that, if it came to it however.Our plan right now is to be homeless for a whileBeing homeless should not be a part of your plan. How do you think a court is going to react when they find out that these children are now homeless?Please be gentle, this is a very difficult situation for us.This would be a difficult situation for anyone. My thoughts go out to you to get through all of this.If I was in your position, I would consider doing the following.You need to stop school. You need to find a job that pays more than 500month and doesnt require a smart phone. If that means you have to sling pizzas, then so be it. Its not beneath you.Your husband needs to continue with his work, but he needs to ask anyone and everyone he can to work any side work, odd jobs, or part time work they may have. He needs to find a second job to get his income up, or to at least make it consistent.You both need to sit down and come up with an actual budget based off of what you know youll need just to survive each month. From what youve listed above, your basic housing costs, food, and utilities are 2275. Two working adults should be able to bring that home on minimum wage. I understand you need to cover the child support obligations as well, which is going to require more money. Unfortunately there is not an easy fix to this mess. You have to be patient and realize it will take time to get out of it.Regarding your child support. He needs to try to pay something towards that each month. Have you reached out to any local attorneys or advocacy groups that represent people in divorce court? The sheer fact of the matter here is that your family cannot afford the amounts that have been awarded.I know you dont want to put your college degree on hold, but at the same time, until his work picks back up or he finds better employment, I dont think you have much choice.Human: Smart phone situation: Asking the boss to pay for my phone is something Ive thought about. However, Im locked into the contract with the cell phone company and dont want to damage my credit - the early cancellation fees we cant afford. We have considered him getting part-time work but worry how that will affect his time with his children. Yes, I agree we need more income.As far as food stamps, we havent qualified 4 times in a row and its been an absolute headache to navigate the system; as far as not wanting to be on them, who wants to be on food stamps?As for child support - he does pay something every paycheck. This amount garnished goes directly to FSD who then divide it up between the children. I believe this is the only thing keeping him out of jail. as for fathers rights Advocacy groups in the area we have yet to have any luck; thus why hes represented himself pro se in all his cases thus far. We try to explore all the options given to us. Quitting college seems to be our only option. I also suppose there are worse things than a hit to my credit regarding the smart phone. No, no job is beneath me... youre absolutely right I can certainly look into a minimum wage job.  <response>: However, Im locked into the contract with the cell phone company and dont want to damage my credit Think about what youre saying there. You have plan that includes you being HOMELESS, but youre worried about damaging your credit? When youre in a crisis situation like this credit cards and great credit needs to be very low on your list. Its okay. Youll get through it and you can build your credit later. 