Sorry to hear of your crummy situation. At least your family is out of CA.
You mentioned driving a truck. The gasoline bill must be eating you alive.
My F150 is used for hauling my motorcycle to San Diego from Idaho. It remains parked except for rainy days and big shopping trips. I ride the bike everywhere. In the period between Jan 2nd and Apr 20, I put 400 miles on the F150. The bike just returned to Idaho has gone 17,000 miles since July 29, 2009. The bike I carried back went from 7507 in June 2010 to 19450 in June 2011. It is back for more duty.