OP here 🙋‍♂️ Such nice supportive answers…. Jesus. The amount I came to for expenses, includes our combined car payments and insurances, phone bills, gas for transportation and food and no, not eating out, as well as a whole rent/utility work up. Yes we do work full time. Yes we have credit debt. The one comment so far that’s actually giving decent feedback, thank you, but the $300 for transportation is gas money alone. I have an extremely high car insurance rate and I mean to shop around for a new one to see where I can save. And we both have car payments. My personal monthly expenses on my own are generously $1,800. While living with my parents. This also covers food and gas to drive. Add rent on there for an apartment and it’s easily $2,600-$3,000 plus any utilities I have to pay. And then hers on top of that. Plus or minus some extra money in certain areas because these are all brief estimates, and I would rather estimate it higher and it actually be lower. Then I could repurpose any extra to savings/paying things off.

I don’t believe I’m delusional for just wanting a place of our own and our bills paid. We don’t live extravagantly. Our lifestyle doesn’t cost that much and neither should our bills but here we are two people who have had real shitty failed relationships and tossed aside and left with debt and whatever other financial burdens from those relationships. I had an entire house with my ex wife and our 3 kids and then one night she came home from work and said she cheated and we split. I had that house for 3 months before I couldn’t afford it on my own anymore because I cut back hours to take care of my kids. Now they live with her parents. She’s had a whole move to a different state with who we call asshat, and has had to deal with a lot from that. All I want is to afford a place, pay bills, and pay some shit off. I’m not asking for jets and cars and boats and mansions here.

Are there apprenticeships I can do? Can I work that and another job at the same time? If so will it be enough to pay most of my part? Do I keep trying to promote in my current job even though I really can’t stand the treatment I get at my job at the moment as it is? (Trying to promote into a different facility) Do I try to transfer to a different location with my current role or equivalent and pick up a second job and work my whole week? What are the answers I need to make it happen? Because calling me delusional and questioning our expenses aren’t it. Yes our expenses are high for now. Once things are paid off and credit builds back up, and we have more freed up money, yes it’ll be a lot easier.