No one owes you recognition, you earn it. Your writing has to be darn great and professional to earn it, and even then it might not happen because nothing can be predicted in the publishing field. Family and friends aren't a good source for feedback, and you'll need more than "I liked it" as feedback. You also need to know the technicalities of novel writing, of which your family isn't familiar. You're better off getting feedback from other writers and authors who understand the elements that make for a good novel and understand the technicalities of writing. Family and friends, IMO, are good for general feedback as "readers" and nothing more. Also, one more thing about having family and friends read it: make sure they're interested. You know a lot about their taste. If someone doesn't like reading then don't give them your manuscript because you'll end up frustrated. If someone likes Sci-fi and you wrote romance then don't give them your manuscript; not unless they read the genre you write. If you know someone is busy working full time and barely has enough free-time then they're probably not going to read your manuscript in a timely manner. Be discriminating when it comes to whom you give your manuscript.
If you're looking for a beta reader then be ready to offer something in return. Many will want you to beta their work in exchange. You can look on http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums for beta readers and you can also post your work in the Share Your Work section and have more people give you feedback. You have to register and be logged in to see the section. Many members are writers, published authors, aspiring authors, a couple own publishing businesses, and what have you. Just make sure that you've edited you work to the best of your ability.
You mention that you barely earn enough money to pay the bills. I hope that you don't see publishing as a way to get rich quick. Most authors have to keep a day job because they don't earn enough money in advances and royalties to live off of. Then if you are lucky enough to have a publisher buy your work then you don't get paid all at once. You might get 1/3 of your advance when you sign the contract, 1/3 when they accept your final manuscript, and 1/3 when your book is released. Most advance are much less than 10,000 dollars. Some can be only a few hundred dollars. And then you might not see that full advanced for 2 years after you signed a publishing contract, because it can take that long for your book to be released. Publishing is just a very slow industry.
I'm sorry that you're having financial trouble, but i just hope you don't see novel writing as your chance at the big time. Most authors write because they love writing, because the money isn't there.
Good luck with your manuscript.
[EDIT] If you don't trust online writing groups then you're SOL babe. You can always post pieces of your work here for feedback. If you're serious then you'll get serious feedback. I've posted pieces of my work on Y!A and got pretty good feedback both times from those who take giving feedback seriously.