I've finally come crashing down, to the bottom, rock bottom!

PLEASE HELP ME...I am beyond embarrassed but I have to try for my children...My name is Makenzie and I am a single mother to 4 children. I chose the picture above because it's the first picture that was taken when my life changed forever and I became a single mother, 10 years ago. I had always wanted to move to Oviedo, Florida and over a decade ago I finally saved up enough and was able to. Oviedo is known for its outstanding sense of community, and its A+ schools but I would have never, NEVER, closed on my new home knowing what I know now.

The very same day we closed on our new home (signed our life and savings away) my husband was actively having an affair ( I later found out it that it was 1 out of 7)! Fast forward just a few months to when he took off, on my oldest sons birthday, leaving behind 12 years of marriage, forgetting about our mortgage and FORGETTING ABOUT our 4 children! I was in school full time working on my PhD (my dream) and had to drop out and get a full time job immediately. He chose not to help financially or physically. We were abandoned! My dreams for my entire family were shattered instantly.

As a family, we all have definitely had our ups and our downs but these past 2 years have been hell and on September 5th came another blow, I was laid off. This came just after my car had been held hostage my the dealership mechanic until I could pay for its obligatory maintenance (it was $1k and took some time to accumulate). Three long months my car stayed at the dealership until I was able to accumulate funds to pay for its release only to get laid off that very same week! My world has turned upside down and I have officially come crashing down, face first into the concrete...I have hit rock bottom.

Currently I have bills dating back from over 8 weeks ago that haven't been paid. I haven't made a grocery trip in over 5 weeks and I have been using gas from the lawn mower can to get to work, but that's empty now. Unfortunately, I cashed in my 401k ( I promised myself I never would) that I had opened just 1 year ago and after paying the fees and penalties had just enough left to pay for Septembers bills. Here we are, almost to November and I have $0.00 cash in my pocket and a negative balance in my checking account. My savings is depleted. I have no other sources of income, none! No family to resort to. I was so very fortunate to have re-gained employment so very fast, after-all I had no choice but to light a fire under my ass and get a job as soon as possible. I have babies to feed and massive bills to pay. Time is of every concern! My new job pays bi-monthly and I wont see my 1st paycheck until 11/15/2024! This is so new to me. So no money coming in at all from September 15th to November 15th!

Now, more than the entire first paycheck will be going to my overdraft fees alone ( I incur more each day as my balance has and still remains negative), further pushing me away from being able to break even and then pay my outstanding bills so I can get back on my feet! How do people do it? What do YOU do? I don't get it, why is it so hard to survive? Forget about "living", about having fun or being "happy", I am merely "existing" and it's too damn expensive just to do that! I KNOW SO MANY OF YOU HAVE BEEN THERE...

Thank you to those who have donated money and food!!! Each bit helps so very much! I will gladly repay anything that anyone donates.