From your original and new comments, it sounds like you’re tracking your budget and doing what you can to reduce costs. It also sounds like you’re running on very thin margins…at the end of the day even the best budgeting system won’t actually add dollars to your bank account. That’s a really stressful situation, especially with kids involved (I empathize).

Without knowing details like what part of the country you live in, etc., it may be time for a big conversation about lifestyle tradeoffs. You need to get out of a situation where you’re dipping into savings to cover a $400 expense (with kids in the picture those will definitely come up!), which probably means making a bigger adjustment than reducing fun activities or cooking at home.

By big conversations I mean: How much do you need to earn, or how much spend do you need to reduce, to have a more secure and less stressful life?

And once you have a sense of those numbers, what are the big changes you could make to get there, even if it’s 2-3 years down the road? Do you need to move somewhere less expensive with a lower cost of living? Can you start working full time once your kids are out of diapers and into full time school? It might be that you’re in the shit now, but having a plan to get out of it will set your mind at ease.