How can we get ahead? How can we get rid of this debt and make it??

BellasmamaTiff, I have travelled where you are treading right now; I raised three children alone on less than your income, and there is no easy way to get your head above financial water but it is possible. Set up a budget and stick to it (easier said than done). A good rule of thumb is to tithe 10%, save 20%, live on 70% of what you earn. Pay your bills first in order of priority: housing, transportation, utilities, other (i.e. personal loans, etc.), food, clothing, entertainment, etc. Seek out free food distribution sites where you live; some of the offer free clothing closets too-use them. Find someone you can swap clothing with who has kids around the age of your kids. Look for quality in everything, it is less expensive to use a product like Amway laundry and clean products than some bargain brands; spend your money on products that perform consistantly as expected nearly everytime in as small a quanity as possible. Recycle everything possible, especially items you can turn in for cash like aluminum cans and other metals, paper, plastic and glass, etc. Work online for extra money: inboxdollars, mypoints, clixsense, and mysurveys are excellent sites that require little time and yield quick payouts. You might want to signup for mycokerewards (great for gift giving at the end of the year but can be points can be redeemed anytime), swagbucks (pays you to search and other benefits), and upromise (great for college savings for the whole family). You can get almost anything you need by leveraging your time and efforts online and local networking. Use coupons on things you use. Cook and bake at home, limit eating out to once a month. Create a monthly menu to help control spending. Plan all meals to include snacks. Look around town for free entertainment, like concerts, movies, free days at museums, botantical gardens, parks, etc, and use them. Apply for help from agencies like Works of Life to help get you back into a vehicle. There are tons of ways to make ends meet of which are too many for me to list here; the most important thing to remember is that this too shall pass. Don't give up, no matter what, don't give up.

Pick the loan with the highest interest, and if you can find any extra money, put it there. When it is paid off move to the next note, and use the money you no longer pay on the highest interest loan, as well as what you are already paying. When that one is gone, pay whatever you were paying on the other two loans are finished, put all those resources on the last bill. Look for a program called Habitat for Humanity,. you might be a good match to actually be able to earn a home of your own. You have made some hard steps already. Now, when you get into income based housing, watch what you are spending on. It is true that sometimes you get your best deal on phone and internet, if you bundle it with a television package, but look twice. I have not had anything but local television for years. For your kids, borrow movies for free from the library. Find inexpensive ways to entertain them and learn things. You can get a grant or scholarship to the Y if you ask. Do things online that pay you, like MyLot. Gather is another place to earn points and turn them into Pay Pal. Recycle aluminum for cash.If you have food stamps, budget them, if not, apply for them. See if you can get free or reduced school lunches, see if you can put the 4 year old into HeadStart. Do not let yourself feel impoverished, remember you are choosing a frugal life style and it is a choice.

First let me say that it is wonderful that you are at home with your children, giving them a good family life and foundation. That is priceless :-) Second let me say that I sincerely hope things start looking up for you. In the meantime, although you are probably already doing this, you can save quite a bit by making some of your own household supplies and meals. For example, instead of buying a lot of different household cleaners some people make their own or use baking soda and vinegar for a lot of the general purpose tasks. Dishes made with pasta, beans, and rice are inexpensive and go a long way and can be made from "scratch." Next, it makes a lot of difference where you shop. Where I live there are several dollar stores that sell food and other basic items for half to 1/3 of what the regular stores cost and we also have a store called Grocery Outlet that sells distressed merchandise and closeouts. In addition to food they sell laundry supplies and paper products and even furniture. Since your children are small, you can make clothes for them by resizing the bigger ones garments to fit the smaller ones and buying items from a thrift shop and resizing as necessary. The most important thing, though is to have a goal and everything you do, ask yourself, is the way I am doing this in line with my goal? Is there a more cost-effective way I could be doing this instead? Hang in there!

I know it's really hard to raise a family these days. You have to really cut back on things and only buy what you really need. Try to look at the every day things that you eat, drink and use and see what you can cut out. Also maybe your husband can work more hours. Since you are now living with family then maybe you could also get a job even if it's just part time.

I relate to your situation. The only way is to set a strict budget which will help but having said that it is not easy. I added up all our bills over the year and divided the amount by the number of pays so that I can always take that out of our pay each fortnight and that will ensure the main bills will always be paid. As far as groceries go I’ve had to go as far as adding up my list before I go shopping to ensure I don’t go over the allotted amount. If you have a credit card be very careful not to use it unless it’s an emergency. It is not easy at all and I do get fed up with counting pennies but we are luckier than most, at least our bellies are always full and we have a roof over our heads although nights out and holidays are out of the question at present. Good luck!

The first thing you can do is to remove from your budget list the things which are not that important to you. What I mean are the things which you can live without. Because, sometimes we spend too much money and forget that what we are spending are useless or not that important things. I watched a TV program and it said there that anyone can save money no matter how small it is. There is one way or another to do that. In your case, maybe you can settle for a simple way of living. Do not buy things which you don't need yet. Save some of your money no matter how little it is. Make it a habit to save money. Also, be frugal and practical in your way of living. That may sound negative to others but its a way of life in the slum areas and they are able to survive the everyday slaughter of poverty.

I can relate with you, as due to my Health problems at this time there are many times that my husband and I are feeling the pinch and wonder the same thing as well. It just continues to feel like there is no easy way out, and the problem is we try and try and try and sometimes never feel like there is an end. All I can say is Pray, Trust God and hold on. Things have to improve sometime.

Never buy a new car. That's such a big rip off. My dad is so good at buying good used cars (he's never been a car salesman) that people come to him to find them a car. He does such a good job at auctions and looking at craiglist that person after person has told them to come to my dad and people started paying him 200 dollars just for finding them a good used car. (Which has come in handy considering he doesn't make much being a pastor.) So it is very possible to find a nice used car that will last a long time. Find nice thrift stores for your clothing shopping, shop at Aldis for groceries if there is one near you, and scour the newspaper for coupons. Most of the time the coupons I find in the paper end up paying for the cost of the paper itself. If you go out to eat use only the dollar menu. I wish you the best. Being a young couple with kids is a trying time in life. I know my parents struggled around that age. My dad didn't have health insurance (he still doesn't because he's a pastor and they can't afford it, but back then he needed it for his family) and he was laid off. So my mom went to work until my dad found another job. It's tough stuff. I feel for you.

Making a budget certainly can help you guys get back on track. Making a budget for what you can afford to spend on what. My husband and I try to budget as much as we can, and I have to say that it does help. It does make things a little easier for us. Perhaps not extremely easy, but it does make it a little easier. Sometimes, it can be difficult to stick to a particular budget, but if you make a budget that is reasonable and you stick to it, it can certainly make things that much easier.

You need to budget, budget, budget. $2,300 a month seems a lot of money so I'd suggest you see what you can cut back on and then do a budget and stick to it. Can your husband not work more then 30 hours a week, surely this would be a great help or could you not get a job for a few hours a week around the hours that your husband works

YOu had already drowned ,when the feet are into the water you should take steps not to let ur knees go into the water,when ur knees are in the water u and ur husband should try to not let the water reach ur neck,However now at this position its already late for any help.You can not work as u have children which are to be looked after.Already five are on one income.Its hard.I feel sorry. Those who take loans or money borrowed from others in such situations either ask for time or either they put IP which says the court .Its very hard when some one puts IP not paying back ,to the lenders who give their hard earned money for helping others who are in prblems.