You are right if you are making $40k and spending $50K you will never get out of debt.
Please note when I use the term “YOU” I am not referring to anyone in particular.
You need to look at what you are spending your money on and cut expenses so that it is less than your income. If you can’t do this the only other solution is to find another job so that you earn more than your expenses.
When I had a car, insurance cost about $200 per month, gas for the car was another $100(which is what I was referring to) and maintenance and repairs was another $100 per month that comes out to about $5,000.00 per year for the car. Putting that into a Mutual Fund over 5 years with a little luck yielded $65K.
If you need your car, you have to look at your other expenses and try to find some where else you can cut expenses.
The first thing you must do is convince yourself that you can reduce your expenses. Look yourself in the mirror and say out loud (when no one is around) I will reduce my monthly expenses and then review your expenses. It may take months of reviewing expenses before you find the ideal way to reduce them. Please check with your spouse before implementing the cuts otherwise it create shalom bias problems and not solve the problem.
You wouldn’t be able to look at you expenses and puff find the solution. It takes time and sometimes trial and error until you find the best solution just don’t get discouraged.
Wishing you the best. This is no difference then losing weight just not going to the weight watcher meeting.