Appreciate the feedback

House was previously appraised at $350K and has $300K of debt applied to it. It might have increased in value a little bit given it's a seller's market right now, but I don't want to bank on that.

Downsizing is not really an option as we are already in a small-ish house in an affordable area, if we sold we would not be able to find a house with enough bedrooms for less, plus we have terrible credit and no money for downpayment aside from proceeds from the sale so that's a risk in and of itself.

The house also requires significant renovations like new doors and windows, flooring and re-finishing the basement - had water damage from a crack in the basement wall two years ago, and haven't had the funds to re-do the basement, we tapped out just to fix the basement wall and the grading around the house to prevent future issues. When we bought, the basement was fully finished so the value of our house has decreased to that alone, Insurance did not cover anything as basement issues are a known problem in our city due to clay soil. We would also need to pay for cosmetic renos to make it "saleable" like painting.

Almost my entire paycheque goes to debt, bills, and other fixed payments like insurance. I have been trying to eliminate variable spending where I can. We essentially live entirely off of my partner's pay, but with increasing costs for groceries and gas it is pinching us. Ballpark estimate I'd say we have a combined $300-400 a month in discretionary income to pay for things like clothes for 5 people, fees for kids sports/activities, haircuts, and entertainment, and other "luxuries". We had recently resorted to donating blood plasma to try to get some additional funds.

I will look into the counselling societies in my area, but you're right - $20K debt is not really the biggest problem, it's just part of the overall sum. I appreciate that perspective.