It is painful, but I agree with others that you are living way beyond what you
can afford and it seems you know it but are understandably reluctant to take some painful cuts.
A car carrying that much debt isn't smart.
I paid cash for the car I drive now--a very nice "vintage" Caddy
which was well-maintained and garage kept.
The classic "old lady" car which sold for over 40,000 and still drives like that.
I paid $1850 and it is a dream. Thank you Craigslist.
In Florida, without salty roads and with all the retired folks,
you should be able to find something like that in a heartbeat on Craigslist,
take it to a mechanic and have it checked out first for peace of mind,
and you'll have an excellent, reliable, luxury vehicle which will run forever
for less around 3-5 thousand.
It won't be new, but who cares?
You may need to move someplace cheaper and deal with barking dogs
and messy lawns.
I also use my crock pot and cook on the weekends to take to work as leftovers.
I buy in bulk and repackage from my local Sam's club--good food like wild-caught seafood,
hormone free chicken, organic baby lettuce and because of the value
it is much less expensive than the local markets.
I get some nice spices and staple pantry items on Amazon Subscribe-n-save.
take my lunch and keep staples like pouches of salmon etc. in my desk.
I also haven't taken a vacation in a very long time.
I did this to get out of debt, and it's working really really well.
Next month, I will, for the first time, be paying no credit card interest whatsoever.
I am building a savings again, and have had about a grand at the end of each month
to put towards paying off debt and making higher payments on my home loan
to get that knocked out much quicker than the minimum payment.
I have a personal loan to pay back, and that is high priority and then I'm
going to take a nice vacation and save up to buy a newer car with cash.
Yes, sometimes I splurge and get lunch out (never dinner) or order some groovy
workout clothes on Amazon, but mostly I think about financial freedom and peace
and resist.
It was hard to buckle-down at first Liz, and because you've done it before,
you know the drill, but the options are so much better for things like food shopping
and used car purchase owner-to-owner, you will be amazed
at how much better your quality of life will be than when you had to economize
before.
Seriously--with bulk buying I can eat scallops for not much more than ground beef.
Saving your savings while you retool your career should be the prioity, as Red says.
Take the plunge and you won't regret it.