Julia Bedford (Linda Hamilton) is a dedicated homemaker living in a modestly affluent neighborhood with her successful husband and sixteen-year-old daughter. When Julia discovers that her husband is cheating on her, her world is rocked. In their pending divorce, with most of her husband's assets carefully hidden, Julia is left with nothing except her car and her barely realistic child support checks. After moving into a small apartment, Julia tries to make do while working a minimum wage job. Her daughter hates their new scaled-down life and convinces her father and his new girlfriend to let her live with him. When Julia finally hits rock bottom and finds herself living in her car, she decides to begin her comeback--and ultimately discovers what's really valuable in life.