2001 ford explorer brakes

Yesterday a grinding noise that sounds like it must be the brakes started when I applied the brakes. I can still faintly hear a grinding noise when I'm driving, and not braking. The grinding has gotten worse since last night. I rely on my car to make my living, so I can't afford to go without it. Oh- I also have literaly no money at the moment. Can I safley drive it and if so, how long? How can I get them fixed in a pinch with little or no money? How much will it cost? Please help a drowning man!!

Thanks everyone!

I have an idea. This has happened to me phumphty times and it is usually a stone trapped in the brakes. What you can do is drive at about 20-30 mph and then apply the brakes hard. Obviously choose a safe place to do this. It might take a couple of attempts, but if it is a trapped stone, it should work. Otherwise, maybe you can take off the wheel from the corner you think the sound is coming from and examine the brake closely.
If it is not a stone then your brake pads have probably worn away to bare metal, in which case you need some new pads.

Hope this helps.

Matt

hose the F***kers real hard...even using a pressure washer and try and spray right in between the pad and disc....99% chance it will fix it. Good luck

What you might be hearing is a rake-like
indicator that suposed to vibrate, and make noise when the pads
get down to about 3/64".
You can acutually see how much pad there is,
by looking at them(with the aid of a flashlight),
thru the holes in the wheel.
It may be helpfull th jack the car up, so you
can rotate the wheel to get the best angle of view. Mabye you wont have to. Make sure to
use a JACK STAND, if you do this.
You should be able to see the steel substrate.
The distance between the substrate, and the
disk-roter, is how much pad you have left.

hmm..it would be more of a screeching noise i think if that was the case m8...