Really broke or just paying more attention?

so we are really and truly broke. Like the only money we have is the cash in our pockets. We do not have enough money to pay the bills and I will be juggling the money until we get paid again. Which happens to be in another week. We are out of pills for the dogs. I'm running out of CBD oil. We are running out of dog food. Seriously!!! We have not been this broke in a long, long time. Or have we??? Is it just because I'm paying so much attention and that I have a goal in mind - getting out of debt - that makes me so hyperaware? I am trying to remember what has happened in the past. I'm sure that we have been in situations like this before, but because I wasn't paying this close of attention, I don't think I ever felt this way. The good point is that I'm going to make sure this never happens again. Ever. Ever.......

On another note, because we are so broke, I thought of looking for a personal loan. The thought being that I would pay off the credit cards and then just have one payment to make. Then I looked at the numbers. I would borrow $10,000 at 11.75% interest. Payments would be $346 and I would have it paid off in 36 months. Sounds good. Until I looked at my payment plan. In the plan I'm doing, I would be paying about $400 a month, the effective interest rate is 10.6% and they will all be paid off in 30 months - that's 6 months earlier. It is slightly more interest paid, $2000 vs $1100, but I will have done it all on my own. There is a whole lot to be said for doing it on your own. I think it will be a whole lot more effective in keeping me from using my credit cards if I struggle to pay them off. I want to get to the point where I put things on my credit card and go home and pay it off. Seriously. I want to carry no balance from month to month. So there are times when I think the struggle is so worth it and this might be one of those time.