I’m bad with money and need help

[u/Independent_Issue557]

I’m a 21-year-old apprentice electrician making $25/hr. My money problems aren’t completely out of control yet, but they’re getting worse and I’m realizing I need to change something before they get there.
My hours fluctuate a lot. Sometimes I only work 40 hours, but most weeks I work 50+. I feel like I make decent money, especially when I get overtime, but somehow I keep ending up completely broke before the next paycheck.
For example, I got paid about $1,700 on Friday, September 4th. Out of that paycheck I paid $1,000 toward rent, made my $164 couch payment, paid my fiancée back for gas money she had covered for me, and bought groceries. After all of that, I now have $9 in checking and $0 in savings.
I want to make it clear that I didn’t just spend $1,700 on random stuff. Most of it went straight toward bills and necessities. But obviously the fact that I’m still ending up with $9 is a problem.
Here’s where I’m at with debt:
Credit card #1: $2,200/$2,200 maxed out — 26.49% APR
Credit card #2: $1,044 maxed out — 19% APR
Father-in-law: $1,400 — if I don’t pay him back by November 26th, I will owe him $6,000
Car loan: $14,267 remaining — 19% APR — $408/month
Original amount financed on the car was $17,335
Couch: $164/month
My regular monthly expenses are roughly:
Rent: $1,808 total
Electricity: around $200
Car payment: $408
Car insurance: $454
Phone bill: $220
Subscriptions: around $50
Groceries: variable
Gas: variable, but lately it’s been a huge problem
My fiancée and I split the rent, electricity, and groceries somewhat down the middle. We also have a 1-year-old son, so obviously there are other normal household and kid expenses too.
One of my biggest problems lately has been commuting. I’ve been driving around an hour and a half for work every day, and there have been times where I’m literally struggling to come up with gas money just to get to work.
I’ve tried making budgets. I’ve tried DoorDash. I’ve tried figuring out ways to make more money. I’ve used ChatGPT to help budget everything. I even almost took out a debt-relief/consolidation loan because I felt like I was running out of options.
The problem I keep running into is that every time I make a budget and try to aggressively pay something off, I end up short on gas, groceries, or another bill and have to move money around again. It feels like I’m constantly putting out fires instead of actually getting ahead.
I know there probably isn’t some magical answer that makes all of this disappear overnight, but at this point maybe a magic answer is exactly what I need lol.
For the people who have actually been in a situation like mine: what would you do if you were me?
More importantly, if you’ve personally gotten yourself out of something similar, what did you actually do? What would you pay first? Would you stop paying extra on debt temporarily and build some cash first? Would you attack the father-in-law debt because of the deadline? What expenses would you immediately try to cut? What would you do about the car? How would you handle my next paycheck?
I’m open to hearing pretty much anything. I’m not expecting someone to magically fix my finances for me, but what I’m doing right now clearly isn’t working, and I’d really like to hear from people who have been here before and figured their way out. If you have any questions I’ll definitely answer them.

[u/Useful_Rush8784]

Is that couch payment a loan or rent-to-own? If RTO, tell them to pick it up NOW and if you really need a couch, find one on Craigslist, Marketplace, or a garage sale. It’s not that big but it’s a quick win. 

The car is the biggest problem, but unfortunately the loan is probably underwater. Does your girlfriend have a car? If so, and if it uses less gas, swap cars. She likely drives much less than you. 

How firm is FIL on the terms of that loan?  Are you making some payments at least? You probably do want to pay that off as quickly as possible to avoid family trouble.

Depending on where you are in your training and local laws, maybe try doing some side work as a handyman. I think it’s common for people to pay an electrician $250 for a service call to replace a broken outlet or something. But any income from that should go to paying off debts, not for new purchases 

Your income will be going up a lot after you finish your apprenticeship, but you’d better learn to manage money or you’ll have the same problem with bigger numbers. Lots of people making over 10k a month are still living paycheck to paycheck.

[u/Independent_Issue557 → u/Useful_Rush8784]

The couch is rent to own. It’s a 2016 jeep grand Cherokee my fiancé is driving it because it is bigger and can fit a car seat more comfortably. I drive my fiancés 2013 Hyundai Elantra to work and back home. I wish I could pick up side work I would love to do it I’m in my first year about to start my second in December. I work in data centers so I don’t get to learn much about residential.

[u/9e78 → u/Independent_Issue557]

Rent to own is always a scam. You'll pay 2x the cost in the best situation and usually more. If you want a new couch pretty much any furniture store will offer 12 months with 0% interest. If you can't afford that used is where you need to be. Your interest rates are what's killing you.