Nowhere to go

My wife received word that garnishment was in process at her work for her student loans. We both knew that it was coming, but there was really nothing we could do about it, although we did try. With a senior, freshman, and 4th grader in the house, monies have been tight.
We bought our house 5 years ago, when my job in the auto biz was really doing good. Her job at a very nice place was flourishing, and she was starting to move up. Then her company sold to a Texas firm and the auto biz went south. She found another job, but at a decrease in pay. My dealership lost one of it's money making franchises and my bonus checks droppped by nearly 25 percent. Then I was let go in a cut back, managed to get a better job from that(so, it wasn't a bad thing at the time). Then the owners of my new employment just stopped showing up and finally stopped writing checks(still owing me $2200.00). I was asked to come back to the original job that I was let go from, and I went back. But things are sooo different now in the pay scale. During all of this, the heater in the house, built new in 1977, decided to quit. We had an extended warranty on the house, but the warranty company determined that no maintenance was performed for sometime, and consequently said they would not honor anything on the heating. So no heat in the house for the last 2 years, only space heaters in most of the rooms, and the fireplace downstairs. Then the plumbing that the previous owners messed up, that we never knew about until this last hard, wet winter. now constant problems.
Now my mind is reeling, trying to not have to file bankruptcy and still keep what we have.