I was in a similar situation that snowballed about 10 years ago while I working a low paying job just out of college.

I barely had enough money for my car payment on top of rent/utilities/food each month and at some point couldn't afford to renew my insurance. My general driving route was pretty short and low key so I drove without insurance for at least 6-8 months. The inevitable happened and I got pulled over for a minor traffic stop. They issued me a ticket for driving without insurance. I was able to pay it. But I couldn’t afford the upfront insurance cost to get started - so I kept driving without it.

What I didn’t realize at the time was insurance companies will alert state DMV agencies, and they in turn automatically suspend drivers licenses. By this time, my tag was out of date. I got pulled over for a expired tag, and was given a ticket for no insurance and driving with a suspended license. My car was also impounded.

I went to the impound lot and learned that I needed to have a current drivers license, insurance and tag to get my car. Great, so I called the DMV and found it's $750, plus other fees to renew a suspended DL. On top of that, I had to pay the tickets, which was another couple hundred. I called my Dad and he helped, but it still wasn’t over.

I had to pay additional fees to issue a new DL, buy tags plus the fees associated with it being out of date, and core issue - insurance. We went to the impound lot and had the towing and daily fees. At this point, we spent at least $1500-1600 in 2-3 days.

That was a low point in my life. I was afraid to go to my surrounding friends who had no idea of my financial situation. And going to my Dad for money, which wasn’t the first time, was frustrating.

I've had insurance since and have always kept current. Take it one step at a time, you'll get through it and learn from the experience - as hard as it may seem.