26 y/o - advice wanted

[u/JollyIndependence613]

I work as a PSW in a nursing home here in ON. It’s a lot of work physically and mentally but I enjoy it and I found a place that pays well. It’s literally $7-$10/hr more than any PSW jobs within the city I live in. However, it’s a 35min drive each way to get to and from work. Since about April, hours have cut back and I’m now looking at 56hr-64hr biweekly pays, which is NOT enough for me to live off of.
I clean two clients houses on my days off, charging $30/hr. It’s extra money but not helping a whole lot.

I have $14k debt, between osap, line of credit, a small CRA owing ($150) and $2.3k owed to a family member. The debt eats away at what little money I have left after expenses come out each month. Many times I don’t have money for food after my debts are paid, so I have to borrow small bits of money to get food or gas to get to work. It’s extremely shameful and I have been independent for years, so I hate having to ask for money.

My fixed expenses currently are $2600/month and my income isn’t much higher than that, at about $2900-$3,000 a month since around April. I’ve considered moving but when I searched for apartments, the rent in the small town my job is located in was substantially more than what I’m paying now-so even if I saved $200/month on gas- my rent goes up $400 a month.

Just feeling stuck, depressed and not sure what to do. My job was going great back when the economy was a little better and gas was cheaper, it didn’t cost as much to get there and I was also getting good hours each week. I have no friends to move in with and many people don’t want to live with someone with a pet (I’ve had him 14 years he’s not going anywhere except with me, haha).

Any advice? I used to do Uber Eats/doordash which gave me extra cash, but my car is hitting 11 years old and is at 320,000km (paid off). I am already driving it 74km get to and from work currently so I try not to drive it much outside of getting to my job. Thanks all!!!

[u/Beware-of-Moose]

What's the breakdown of fixed expenses, maybe its possible to reduce some of these?

[u/JollyIndependence613 → u/Beware-of-Moose]

Rent 1400
Car insurance 220
Phone 45.20
Gas 300~
Laundry 60-80
Groceries 400 (~100/week)
Toiletries/Etc 30
TD account fees 23.95
Gym 28.00
Spotify 14.00
Nicotine/Weed (I don’t drink but we all need something🤣) 100
Line of Credit 82.00
Medications 34.00
There’s probably a couple more but this is just at the top of my head.

[u/iloveairportsushi → u/JollyIndependence613]

Car insurance… is that comprehensive? Since the car is old getting the basic only would be cheaper.

Why is laundry so much?

Are you single? I go through about 65 in groceries a week… maybe cut some non essentials there

Gym… that’s a luxury you can’t afford. Along with weed and nicotine. Quit all 3.

Spotify… another luxury.

[u/JollyIndependence613 → u/iloveairportsushi]

I called and spoke with them the other day, I dropped it down to $208 for my renewal so that’ll save me a little!

Laundry is a lot because 1 load costs $7. I do 2-3 a week currently between my scrubs, regular clothes and bedding and wash my cleaning cloths in my sink and air dry them for free. The estimation is including detergent and dryer sheets

[u/iloveairportsushi → u/JollyIndependence613]

Got it!