1994 Toyota Camry engine running rough

Please help, this is 1 of only 2 cars in our 4 person driving household. Lost my job of 18 years recently and cant afford a mechanic. Here is the problem; This started during the winter. The car seemed to have very little power when it was cold. The power was low and it felt like it wanted to stall as I would engage the gas pedal. The car would run fine after it warmed up. As the weather warmed up it did not happen. The other night it happened again but did not get any better as the car warmed up (like it did in the past). The car seems to lose power as I engage the pedal and then it seems to catch up when the RPMs are faster. The engine on the car was so quiet before the problem started up again that you could not even tell if it was running after the car was started. Now the cars idle is very rough. The check engine light came on today for a bit and then just shut off. The light is still off but the car is idleing rough. It also sounds louder when giving it gas and it seems to ping. I am not for sure, but it seems to have very bad gas miliage all of a sudden. Please Help