Just want to crawl up into a ball.

This. Sure, if you get an advance on his pay you'll be fine NOW... what happens when his next pay comes and is short that money? What happens when you need to buy stuff for the baby, pay for doctors appointments, etc? Take whatever you can for the iPad, sell the camera, cut to one car. You may not pay the insurance, but surely you pay for gas for both cars? MANY families get by with 1 car, saying you *must* have two is silly.

selling jewelry will make you emergency cash fast. I had to move out of my parents with no job at age 19 - blew my minimal savings on moving out, and then sold a few small pieces of gold jewelry I had gathered throughout my life (cross for religious ceremonies, a locket my parents got me before high school, a couple random bracelets aunts had given me) and had enough money to pay 3 months rent (granted it was a small room in a strange peruvian family's apartment in Washington Heights, but whatever).

It may be broken but she's being offered $75 on it. That's a pretty good deal for a broken electronic.

This. NEVER get a payday loan. EVER. This will make your already difficult time longer.

This isn't just something I can just do by myself. Josh won't let me sell the camera, that is out of the question... And he definitely won't allow me to sell an iPad he paid $500 for, for $75. (Which the man withdrew his offer when he saw photos of it.) We currently have his TV, some furniture, my laptop, and my point and shoot camera on Craigslist with no hits... So things won't just sell like lightning.

Selling a car is also out of the question. He uses his truck for work. Like, he pulls trailers with it because he is a mover. He has it from 6 in the morning to usually 11 at night or later. We can't carpool because if we sell his truck and keep my car, he won't be able to work and if we sell my car and keep his truck, neither will I.

He gets a check every week, so if we get next weeks forwarded and are good with the next two, we will be in the clear after next months rent is paid and then we can start saving.

This isn't a simple fix and if it was, I would do it. I'm not sitting here in the lap of luxury griping about money, I'm doing a lot, but this isn't just my decision, I'm in a relationship and have to consider the decisions of my partner as well.

We have gotten them before, but that's not what I'm referring to. Lol. I'm talking about his boss just giving him next weeks check this week.

I wish I had jewelry to sell. ): the only jewelry I own is my grandmothers ring and that's a family heirloom.

Honestly it doesn't sound like you want to do anything.

These are THINGS. You can buy them again. You need to keep fr getting in a hole because its a whole lot harder to get out of one once you are there.

That's why I have everything valuable I own except for like, two things , on Craigslist? Because I don't want to do anything? /:

Honestly? Sit your boyfriend down and tell him too effing bad about the camera. He has a kid on the way. Too **** bad if he wants to keep the camera. He can't afford it. You being stressed about money isn't good for the baby.

Why couldn't Josh drop you off at work with his truck?

When would he pick me up? /:

And I'll see how far I get with that.

What? She can't sell the ipad, she can't sell the camera, and she's trying to sell other stuff.

Some families NEED two cars. Matt and I have overlapping schedules and work on opposite ends of town. It would be insanely inconvenient and a huge waste of time and money for us to have one car. What's up with the hate in this thread?

I don't get why he won't let you sell your camera and lenses. That right there would pay for at least the rent (you said it was $500, right?). Sure the bill for it per month might not be that much, but you could easily sell it + the lenses for at least $500 (I don't know which lenses you have, could be more).

Does he have some magic plan that's going to *poof* give you the $1000+ you need.. I'm basing that on you saying you needed $500 by Saturday (for rent I assume), owed $400 for internet (which btw, WTF did you do to spend that much on internet?! We pay $130/month and that includes our internet and our TV through Verizon), plus the other bills.

I guess if you can't sell the stuff that is valuable, you may have to consider making some hard decisions in regards to your dogs. 4 dogs, 3 being decently large dogs (aka they eat more) is a lot to pay for, especially with you being pregnant. Sure you can try to liquidate stuff now to get over the hump with bills, but what about next month? Then what? I'm not trying to be mean, just realistic.

She just said that they're not hers, they're her boyfriend's, and he's unwilling to sell them.

ALL THIS! I've never had my own internet, always relied on hotspots and nice neighbors that left their wireless unlocked (or even gave me the password). Haven't had cable in years, and last time I had it I didn't choose to have it, it was just there. I do have a laptop, but it's a $300 laptop that I really only need for school. If it weren't for needing to take it to classes I'd have stuck with my old laptop that now makes a perfectly good desktop. There have been times - most of my childhood, actually - where we didn't have couches or beds or any furniture to speak of, except a dining room table and chairs that was many years old (and incredibly well made...it's still in the basement, just needs refinishing). My phone in virtually free (even though it is a smartphone), I just need to put $20 on it every 3 months to keep it active - I get free minutes from shopping for groceries and gas and medications. I got my for a couple months with NO car at all, and when I was a kid we got by with NO car even though my dad had a full time job and three kids had to get to school. Surely you can get by with one car for two people somehow. Our city has a very shitty bus system, but it's still a bus system.

I donated plasma for months and months in order to pay for Logan. I have been close to going back. It's not awful...I actually really enjoyed having the 2 hours twice a week to relax and read, and you're helping people out. I got paid about $50-$60 a week for it. You might not be able to because you're pregnant, but what about your SD?

I also worked odd jobs for my neighbor, everything from vacuuming to faux finishing. Ask around. Dogsit. Walk dogs. Bathe dogs. Whatever someone will give you $10 to do.

I'll be the first to admit it's HARD to get out of the cycles of broke-ness, and I'm still not out of it. But there are things you can do to make ends meet until something comes along.

This. Ok so... you get an advance on his pay. So that will pay off the rent. Then what? Apparently previously you have been having issues with paying the bills, or else you wouldn't owe the internet company $400? (Or, at least, I'm hoping that's it and that you're not paying $400 a month for internet). So essentially, sure, you'll get rent paid, but then you still have to pay internet off... pay for food, (assumingly) pay for doctor's appointments, pay for the camera payment (couldn't you just have gotten a cheaper camera, and not had to pay as much in total?) pay for this, that and the other.

No she didn't...?

Can you move back home?

Talk to the people you owe money to and see that you can pay them off little by little. Find a job, any job, and save your money.

Public transit? Most cities have pretty good bus systems that can get you to work if your job is within the city. I took the bus for years - it's not glamorous and not always convenient, but it works.

This.

Barbara, it sounds like you're stuck in a cycle and this isn't just a "one month" thing.

We spend about $50 a month on internet... when we had cable, it was $120 total. If you owe $400 on the internet, it sounds like the bill hasn't been paid in at least 3 months.

Although you said your boyfriend is getting an advance of pay from his boss, this is exactly how people get stuck constantly in the negatives each month. You'll borrow money from next paycheck, but how will you have enough extra for the next set of bills?

If you own the camera, I strongly recommend selling it along with both the lenses. You owe money on the camera, and paying off the loan will free up that money each month. If you really need a camera, B&H and Adorama have awesome deals on used bodies/lenses- you can get a Nikon D50 for under $100 the last time I checked.

You have 7 months until you're essentially going to be FORCED into being on one income for at least 6 weeks (maternity leave). Sell the camera, lenses, and the iPad, and get yourselves caught up. Try to build a cushion rather than go into the negatives each month.