SOO glad to hear you are taking the Dave Ramsey course!
How is it that Gabe is only making enough to pay the electric bill? If that is the case, he needs to get out there and take a second job at night. Right now he isn't even paying enough for his OWN food and expenses, much less contributing to the raising of your kids. ALL of his pay should go directly to you, since he has already admitted he cannot manage money.
Buy large bags of rice and dried beans. The cheapest way to stretch your food dollar by far. Red beans and rice are still my favorite (daddy was from Louisiana).
Check out the Tightwad Gazette books - she has lots of creative ideas in there that you don't have to be a craft genius to make work.
Teach everybody in the house to use half of all toiletries. Half as much toothpaste, half as much shampoo, half as much laundry detergent, half as much dishwasher soap - we all use too much, half works just as well and is an easy way to cut your expenditures on those things.
Encourage your teenager to get a job. I know jobs are hard for teens to find these days, but if they could find something, they could at least contribute to their own expenses. I worked all through high school - babysitting and later in a drycleaners.
Reconsider your housing options - do you own your home? If so, could you rent it out and move to a cheaper apartment or temporarily in with family? Or could you take in a room mate, or rent storage space in your garage?
I know some of these options are not appealing, but you need to be PROactive, not REactive. For instance, what if you had been PROactive a year ago with your budget and figured out THEN that you couldn't afford cable? You would have saved enough to cover your $400 shortfall by now. Sooo - if you are still short every month, you need to increase your income or lower your expenses - that might mean moving even if you don't want to.
Don't be afraid to lay out to Gabe exactly what you need him to do. I know he's had trouble finding work. What skills does he have? What skills do YOU have? CAn either of you fix things, sew, dog walk, and yes, babysit??? (I know you hate it, but it can't be worse than this stress, right? And nurses and waitresses have a lot of trouble finding evening babysitters.)
