<prompt> Human: So I recently made my first real budget, and I am freaking out. Some background. I am 32 I am obviously late to the party, parents never taught us how to manage our finances, and bought a home 18 months ago. When I bought the house I was with my long term girlfriend at the time, and we had bought the house to begin our serious future together. Not even six months later we split up, and I was left carrying the load by myself. After two months alone I brought on a roommate and this brought quite a bit of relief, but I still found myself paying bills a paycheck late. I am currently debating doing a heavy renovation in part of my home. My house was built in 1950, and the den, dining room, and kitchen look it. I do not like a third of my house, and it just kind of depresses me because I chose this place as a compromise with my ex. So I looked into it, made an extensive budget for the renovation, and looked into rental prices as they would be with the renovations. I live in Houston and rent is going up quickly, and I could get another 200 a month after the renovation for a roommate. Now, with all that said. My personal budget. After taxes, 401K, insurance, etc I bring home 3,090. My monthly budget is 3,012. This purely covers my bills, with zero room to maneuver for going out, dating, taking care of my dog, etc. My roommate currently pays 550 a month, which is all of my spending money, which obviously I am overspending. I have examined my bills, and I have nothing to refinance. I have a car note and personal loan that will be paid off in April 2015, so about 19 months for both of those to be paid off. I have a credit card that I had to get when I moved into this house for emergency repairs that were required, and I plan on paying it off when I receive my tax return. I will have an extra 160 a month with that card paid off, and in April 2015 I will have an incredible 700 a month additional with my car and personal loan paid off. That leaves me with cutting cable, which is 100. Not much relief, but a tad bit. Ive already changed my grocery habits, and cut it in half. My 401K is at the bare minimum to get the full 100 match from my company, and Ive refused to go below that and basically lose free money. I considered taking a 401K loan no penalties, very low interest rate to pay off my car and get that payment to a lower monthly rate but I just dont know if that would help. My roommate may move out next month, and if I go through with the renovations the additional rent I would bring in would cover the cost of the renovations plus give me some relief. I plan on keeping a roommate, but I fear not finding one quickly, or finding an awful roommate. Im not sure what I am looking for here. Any advice on how to last until April 2015? Words of encouragement? TL;DR - Im at the absolute maximum budget for my income, save for roommate income. I want to crawl into a hole. Help?EDIT More details - My mortgageescrow is 1,100, and I have an incredibly low interest rate. This is a few hundred less than I was renting for two years ago, and was part of why we decided to buy a house. Rental rates in Houston are skyrocketing. The days of 600-700 nice rentals are long gone. My car note is a whopping 536 a month. My two pieces of debt are a personal loan for about 90 a month, and the other is the credit card which minimum payment is 155 a month with 8 interest, an annual balloon interest payment of 30. I plan on paying this off with my income tax to not be hit with that balloon payment. I am using the You Need A Budget software to help me track where my money goes. EDIT 2Looks like a solution has been found. My dad has a ranch that needs a ton of work. Hes going to pay me 150 per weekend to go out there and do work such as mowing, tree care, fixing fences, etc. This covers my car and then some. Now to just keep a roommate for the next 18 months and get out of debt!  <response>: Dont go through with the renovations; youve proven to yourself, through your budget, that you cannot afford it. You didnt say how much of that 3k in expenses per month is your house or housing-related, or carcar-related but you seem to be making steps in the right direction. But theyre small steps, so they will take some time to see any results out of. If you want to see drastic results, you will have to make drastic changes! 