it seems income is the root of the problem, maybe make up a nice resume, look for jobs that pay a few bucks more (which will probably mean you will be changing careers). this may take a few months but keep your direction focused!. there are jobs opening up lately, my GF started in "special needs" care 2 years ago with no experience and got free training and all of her certifications scheduled and paid for by the company (they all pretty much do that because they are starving for help everywhere). the job is not physically demanding and she started at a decent wage. she is now a supervisor and making great money for this area. definitely keep working hard at the gym because without your health, all of this is worthless. so i guess "it might be time to try and start making some decent cash" just an option, good luck 
If you can handle it get a 3rd shift job as a gas station clerk. Just work 3 shifts a week and you will significantly Improve your income. Once you have 3k in the bank or enough to cover your monthly expenses + at least 500 dollars, you can quit. Then you can start using auto pay for all your regular bills and set your cc's to pay the balance in full automatically. I'm currently working on a way to pay rent with my cc lol
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@Drsgwld wrote:
1-2% cash back means nothing, if cc is going to cost 22-24% or higher. The interest on a SL is far lower!
If i pay my credit card in full every month then there's no interest charged.
Running the student loan through my credit card instead of my checking means that i can get the cash back and then pay the balance in full every month.
In the short term it doesn't seem like much but those pennies would add up after thousands of dollars in payments.
@buildafico wrote:
If you can handle it get a 3rd shift job as a gas station clerk. Just work 3 shifts a week and you will significantly Improve your income. Once you have 3k in the bank or enough to cover your monthly expenses + at least 500 dollars, you can quit. Then you can start using auto pay for all your regular bills and set your cc's to pay the balance in full automatically. I'm currently working on a way to pay rent with my cc lol
I tried so hard to get my landlord to do that for me, even told him i would pay any extra fees involved for the convenience. It's a no go here. If you figure out a way, let me know. I write one check a month and buy one stamp every month... pita if you ask me.
Hmmmm. What about using bill pay? Will it mail a check to the address given and does it count towards points. That's off topic though we should start our own thread I feel there may be quite a few interesting opinions about that subject.
@Drsgwld wrote:
I see... Your making your monthly SL payment with your CC! Lol. I thought you were putting your balance on a credit card!
That's what i want to do. It's my BF's student loan and he just enrolled in the rehab program. Unfortunately, they will only let him do direct debit from his checking account. That's fine but we can't start until his account is all squared away.
Such is life in the "poor house." A lot of waiting and juggling money and jumping through hoops to save a penny or avoid a fee.
@elim wrote:it seems income is the root of the problem, maybe make up a nice resume, look for jobs that pay a few bucks more (which will probably mean you will be changing careers). this may take a few months but keep your direction focused!. there are jobs opening up lately, my GF started in "special needs" care 2 years ago with no experience and got free training and all of her certifications scheduled and paid for by the company (they all pretty much do that because they are starving for help everywhere). the job is not physically demanding and she started at a decent wage. she is now a supervisor and making great money for this area. definitely keep working hard at the gym because without your health, all of this is worthless. so i guess "it might be time to try and start making some decent cash" just an option, good luck
+1 on that. When I was in a similar situation 5 years ago, I read a book that really changed my perspective on debt ("You're Broke Because You Want to Be"). One of the key things that I took away from that book was that to get out of debt, you either have to increase your income or decrease your expenses. All the rest - credit, cards, cars - will follow but I honestly believe that it starts with your income. If you can't decrease your expense any further, increase your income. Work a 2nd job, or a 3rd job (as I did). You will be able to manage better once that is under control but like most things, it takes work.
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+1 to agree there. The second job really helped me stabilize things. Once your stable you can stay there easily. Debt is a wonderful servant but a terrible master.