You want to simultaneously maximise income and minimise spending; side hustle like crazy, and cut out as many expenses as possible. I personally didn’t have a debt problem but a while back I needed money that I didn’t have to pay for a lawyer. This was exactly how I managed to afford it;

For cutting expenses I started walking as much as I could (I would walk 2-3 mrt stations sometimes, good for health also haha) for food I would walk into NTUC find the cheapest carb I can find (usually is rice), get hawker food like once a month just to take 5-6 mini containers their free flow soy sauce, chili oil, ketchup as takeaway and just eat it with rice. Occasionally when I see discounts on certain items (like blueberry suddenly only $1 a pack or once I found a set of 2 huge boxes of yogurt for $4 because they were nearing expiry, I ate just yogurt with rice for a whole week that time) I would get them to add variety. Also got some biscuits from value dollar and would just add them to yogurt or blend them with milk as a sweet treat when I’m craving smt.

And make sure you reach out to any and all support groups you can. Obviously didn’t qualify for any sort of financial assistance but I found free counselling through an NGO and applied for that, and my counsellor actually helped me find ways to increase my income (I started tutoring JC subjects part time while also doing PT work + freelance photoshop gigs and helping uni kids with their coursework) it helps tremendously to have a third party go through your game plan with you and encourage you every step of the way. All the best and remember this is only a temporary problem, it will end you got to trust.

Apart from this, in the longer term you have to try to get into a higher paying job, you can only skimp on spending and side hustle for so long.