<prompt> Human: Good Day Every one,I have been a long time lurker of reddit. This is my first post so please bare with me. I am a 29 year old male that lives just outside of Chicago. I lived with my grandmother growing up. Unfortunately, I never learned how to budget my money and it has lead me to some pretty tight situations. I never finished Collage but managed to get a good job in IT. I bring somewhere between 1200-1500 home every two weeks. I believe I make more than enough money to support myself but for some reason I am in a lot of debt. If you asked me how I get here I would have to say its my own fault. I have tried endlessly to learn to manage my money but for some reason its just no clicking. If anyone is willing to help me create some type of budget what kind of information would be required? I have a small one bedroom apt. Its 1050 a month. Car is 330 a month. I have to pay for all my utilities. my credit is shot. Unfortunately, I dont have the option to move any where because of this. I received a letter a few weeks ago stating that check for my rent for October of last year was never cashed so I owe another 1000 on top of my normal rent. My car is near preposition. I am currently -600 in my checking with 30 dollars in my pocket. I smoke a little cannabis once in a while Used to have a medical card due to injuries while fighting. Ive been involved with the martial arts most of my life. I dont really drink. Its very difficult for me looking from the inside out. I feel very odd reaching out the reddit community for help but I really dont know what else to do. I have contacted several services that have claimed to help with budgeting and debt but was always told that I wasnt far enough in debt to qualify for assistance. The money issue thing is nothing new. I have struggled my whole life with it. Im sorry for this information being as disorganized as it is. Perhaps organization is one of my problems. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Its a awful feeling not having control over ones life. Thank you everyone.  <response>: Step 1: Bring your bank account back up to zero and make a payment on your car so it isnt repossessed. - Try not to spend any money between now and when you get paid. The only things you should spend money on Im assuming you have a credit card or some cash are groceries and gas for your car. - Cancel any non-critical services. If you are paying for cable, Hulu, Spotify, cell phone insurance, or anything else like that, cancel those services immediately. If you have an expensive cell phone plan, downgrade to something cheaper. - Sell anything you own of value that you dont really need. If you have an old guitar, a video game system, collectibles, smartphone, whatever, sell those over the next week or so. - If you have bills that are due within the next week or two, call the companies and ask to move your due date back a week or two. Step 2: Build up an emergency fund of 1000. - Keep your spending to a minimum while you save some cash. You cant afford to be eating out or spending money on entertainment or clothes while you are this broke. Save as much as you can over the next two to three months, and seek out free sources of entertainment.Step 3: Create and stick to a budget that will allow you to save every month- Start by tracking all of your normal expenses so you know where your money goes. You listed what you pay for rent and your car payment, but how much do you spend on groceries? Utilities? Gas? Car insurance? Cell phone? These are the core expenses in your budget. If you earn enough money to cover your core expenses housing, food, transportation, phone and a few hundred dollars for savings, then you can use some of the money leftover for discretionary spending on entertainment, alcohol, eating out at restaurants, etc. You probably shouldnt give yourself more than 100 per month to spend on those discretionary expenses until you are fully out of debt and more financially secure. - Do you have any credit card debt or items in collections? Put together a list of everything you owe, and at what interest rate. You will want to pay extra on the debt with the highest interest rate. ---A few other suggestions:- You cant really afford your apartment. Ideally youd be spending no more than 30 of your income on housing, but your rent and utilities make up close to 50. When your lease is up, can you move into a shared living situation to save money?- You also cant really afford your car payment and the associated insurance and gas costs, not while youre spending so much on housing. Is the car worth more than you owe on the auto loan? Can you get to work via public transportation? You should seriously consider selling your car if its worth more than you owe and you can make it to work via public transportation. 