<prompt> Human: Hello. A friend of mine is married with one child, toddler aged. Her husband works full time, but its a big box store with low pay. She works half time, but its low pay as well. She also runs a small business doing commissions. She use to work full time, but it was at night, so her husband was able to watch the child. There are ZERO options for childcare for her beyond her or her husband. Her husband will most likely be stuck at his current position for many years as he will not pursue further education which is a requirement for promotion. They could afford rent, bills, and eating out once a week on top of normal groceries, but they have 11? maxed out credit cards, student loan debt her only, he didnt go to college, and other loans they need to pay back. If they keep at their current pay back plan they should be debt free in about a decade. The husband is trying to get a second job, shes trying with her commissions, but to be frank theyre not going to hit it rich anytime soon. They applied for WIC and EBT as they have been on both before, but were denied this time. I gave her a lot of listings for food banks et al, but is there anything else that can be done?Should they file bankruptcy at this point? Should they stop paying the credit cards, so they can feed their baby? Numbers wise, they make about 40k per year. Their rent is 1200, I think. That leaves about 2,000 per month left over before-taxes to work with which goes to debt, utilities, car stuff, phones, and thats about it since food is now too expensive for them. They cantwont cancel subscriptions, or their smartphones since they need both. They cant go down to one car either. I have recommended those options to them over the years. So, what else is there? Any advice would be super appreciated. While I have been poor and on foodstamps, I was able to get roommates, and then FAFSA-related aid which meant I was fine, just without new clothes or fresh fruit et al for a few years. I grew up very poor, so the state was always there to help out. Where do you go when the state cant help? Thats where I feel I have no idea how to advise on.  <response>: They absolutely can afford food. They just choose not to. This is not something that you can resolve. Trying to fix other peoples problems rarely works. 