You need to find a local, family owned shop. Those chain shops (and all chain shops) are covering a lot of overhead. Ask around for references. I go to shop that charges me the retail price for part (as in Autozone retail) because they get the parts discounted and then reasonable labor hours.
As an example: Ford Dealership quoted me $1k+ to replace a part and the local shop did it for $400. So, there is a REAL BIG difference if you can find a local shop that is good at what they do.
Amen on finding a local shop. After getting a crappy answer from a dealer some years back, I decided to give the local guys a shot - I only knew their name because of their hokey commercials. I struck gold! They do good work, their prices are fair, and they’ll talk to me like I can actually understand the car terms they use!!! I trust them so much, I’ve taken vehicles in and said “We’re going on a long trip - please give the car a once-over and let me know if it needs anything.” Of course, since they maintain our vehicles, they usually know that all is fine.
And I suspect that if we were in a financial pinch, they’d work with us on the payment. Local all the way!!
Have you considered buying your own car parts and finding a cheap mechanic? You can get work done for 1/3-1/4 the price that shops will quote you (by shops I mean national chains that buy the parts for you) by doing that.
As an example, I had to get my timing chain replaced in my car recently. I was quoted $2000 to have it done. I bought the parts myself and found a somewhat cheap mechanic, total cost was about $700. Had I found a cheaper mechanic and bought all the parts myself (I forgot the gasket and a few others) I probably could’ve had it done for $500.
Craigslist has tons of certified mechanics willing to work for $20-30/hr out of their homes. And parts can be had on ebay, junkyards, auto parts stores, car-parts.com
I believe struts are only about 4-5 hours of work (plus an alignment). If you can find a craigslist mechanic (a certified one working on his down time) to do it for $30/hr that would be $150 in labor. The parts as others have said are about $200. Plus a $60 alignment.
I can make a couple of calls for you if you’d like. PM me if that’s a yes - I’ll need some information. 
Knowing full well that this answer doesn’t address your immediate car repair issue, and at the risk of sounding like a lecturing parent, please re-read the following excerpt from your OP:
Then read it again, and ask yourself why you’re not contributing anything to this account. Yes, I realize money is very tight right now, but if you can manage to squeeze even a few dollars from each paycheck, you’ll be doing your future self a* huge *favor. </lecture>
Tire cupping can certainly be caused by weak struts or shocks (a strut is part of essential suspension geometry with a shock absorber built into it). While there are other possible causes, it’s reasonable to assume they would not have been overlooked and it is indeed the struts/shocks that are the problem.
If there is no cupping wear on the rear tires (and the tires have not been rotated recently enough to suspect a problem with the rear shocks) then there may be no compelling reason to replace the rears. However, it is possible that the rear shocks are weak and will start to cause cupping if not replaced.
I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to have the tires rotated before the repairs are done. One concern is that this would almost certainly result in eventually having four cupped tires instead of two. Another is that it’s usually best to avoid having less tire traction in the rear than on the front to minimize the chance of a rear wheel skid. I haven’t heard of tires blowing out due to cupping, I think reduced traction would be more of an issue.
There are many aspects to pricing, and I won’t get into all of them here, but I’ll make a few observations. Their parts prices are what I would charge if I were using good quality aftermarket items, but about 50% higher than what I’d charge using genuine Ford parts. My price for all four with Ford parts, installed, would be 1015.
As for getting the parts and finding someone to install them, I don’t recommend it. Shops have good reasons to not want to use customer-supplied parts, and it’s not just about the cost. They also have good reasons to not want to take payments. If I were to accept customer-supplied parts for some reason, I would charge more labor than if I supplied the parts because parts markup is a significant part of the business’s profit structure. The idea of a cheap mechanic, especially one found on <shudder> Craig’s List, scares me. Too often you get what you pay for.
One way to find a good shop is to go to iatn.net and click on “Auto Repair Shop Finder.” The listed shops won’t be the cheapest in town, but I have confidence that they’ll be competent and honorable.
Thanks again for all the tips and expertise. I actually had two people reach out to me on facebook, and an old friend from high school is engaged to a guy who’s been a mechanic for 8 years. So I’ll talk to them and work something out, as soon as I have a few hundred bucks saved up.
This is a huge, huge load off my mind. Loss of traction *is *a problem, but it’s an issue that I can compensate for and drive more carefully to help mitigate. I’ve been unreasonably anxious about losing a tire on the freeway, and thus losing my job because I can’t get to work or afford to fix the problem.
I’ve already asked myself this question and answered it. Retirement saving is a luxury, on my wages. If you’d like to know the thought process, it goes something like this:
Can I afford my own crappy studio apartment yet?
Is my car paid off yet?
Can I afford to go for medical treatment anytime I need it?
Are my dental issues taken care of yet?
Is my modest credit card debt paid off yet?
Can I comfortably afford to pay for gas to drive my mother to the grocery store and doctor’s appointments yet, with money left over?
Until the answer to all of these questions is yes, retirement planning remains on the back burner. Unless, of course, you’re interested in making a contribution. In which case, please let me know.
You know your own finances better than I do, of course, so I won’t press the argument any further than to say it doesn’t have to be a huge amount. If you’d truly miss ten dollars out of each pay period, how about five dollars? Three? Put something in there, and as your own example shows, it will come back to you in spades.
Now I really* am *done lecturing, and I truly hope things start to look up for you. 
When I was poor and had a car that couldn’t pass inspection without new ball joints in the front, I ordered the parts from JC Whitney (IIRC) and bought a Chilton-type book from an auto-parts store for my make and model.
It was a huge pain in the ass, I scraped my knuckles up pretty badly, but it worked. Have any friends that could do the work?
Suzuki Auto is pulling out of the US and there are some pretty big price reductions on their cars along with up to 72 months at 0% financing on some models. If you qualify and with your car as a trade in you could be looking at pretty low payments and a brand new vehicle. There are quite a few dealers in your area and supposedly Suzuki will still honor warranty work even after they stop selling. Here’s an example for ~$13k.