Where'd the money go?

There are times when I wish I had a money tree growing on my patio. How that would make life so much easier. Both Payton and I are in need of dental work. We both have about $150 worth of dental work to do. Most of Payton's will be done next week, but it's cutting into our bill money. I'm dreading our electric bill this month since I had to turn the heater on a few times. I'm hoping that these last few days of the a/c unit being completely off will help offset the expense.
The other day I was in HEB and was picking up all of our WIC items for this month along with a few other items we needed. The total came out to a little of $200 and it made me feel nostalgic for the days when we spent that much on fresh foods and it was no biggie. I was happy to swipe my WIC card and our total drop down to $84. But even then, I was sweating over the $84. I kept thinking that I didn't get enough to last up more than a few days and I would be back here again worrying I couldn't afford milk. We barely scrape by, and if it wasn't for our families generosity, we would be homeless or living in a shelter, yet we make too much for SNAP (food stamps) and TANF (assistance for bills, etc.) Not that I ever want to be that person who lives off of government assistance, but isn't it cases like ours that it even exists? Payton and I are both prideful people and hate to ask for any kind of help, but we've been humbled by the birth of our son and this economy enough to stretch out a hand when we need to. It makes me angry to see all of those people abusing the system when there are legitimate claims for help.
Luckily, my husband has a good, stable job working for a bank and has room to grow and move up in the industry and I have recently been hired to teach part time at the university. But with these good fortunes come more problems. Now we've got to find a day care provider and basically half of my monthly income will go towards day care. I was excited when I got this job to think that I'll be making enough that we'll be able to put money back into savings and to pay off any debts, but now it looks as though we'll have enough to just pay the bills and once again, scrape by. At least I can sleep comfortably in the knowledge that if we're really tight with our money, we won't go negative in our bank account. I'm praying that more students sign up for the class i'll be teaching so that I can work full time instead of part time.
I know that harships build character, but I can honestly say that between Payton and I, we've got enough character. I'm ready for the harships to be over with.