[terry1156]

Hang in there. You're making progress and taking the right steps to get things under control. Like I mentioned before, you have done a great job on a couple of very important points...especially keeping your payments up to date. It is not hopeless by any means. It will take some rearranging and some tightening of the belt for a bit, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Check with your car insurance and make sure that you don't have a deductible on your husband's truck. The insurance company will only pay what it is worth. If you haven't done that already, that should lower your car payment a bit. Another thing to consider would be finding a quality used car with low maintenance costs and selling the truck (I don't know if he needs a truck for his work or not) If you are paying $120 a month for auto repairs, you can probably find a good used car 3 - 5 years old with the same payment and it will probably get better gas mileage to cut expenses in that area.

Also make an appointment to talk with your sister-in-law about expenses you can make for your home businesses. She will be able to tell you the records you'll need to keep and what you'll need to recreate to get the best tax deduction possible. If you do it now and see how much you can save each month, then you can have your husband go to his work and adjust the amount that is withheld from the paycheck. It will mean you won't get a big refund at tax time, but it will give you more money on a month to month basis.