I also notice that the vast majority of the posts are from UK residents

Peter - that's because we've only just woken up on the East Coast. The USA has mostly been snoring its head off since this thread was started!

BBS - don't know what part of the States you are in and I don't know enough about the way Medicaid and unemployment work over here to really comment, but I would agree that it might be an idea to put your kids in school, maybe just for a year or two, if that might help improve your overall situation. You can always give them extra tuition at home, in the evenings, if you don't feel that they are getting all you desire from school.

I agree that selling your instruments would be a bad move.