I just got finished reading the "What would you do to save a buck" post and there were so many great ideas. I recently lost my job and with the current state of the economy, I'm having difficulty finding another one. I am a 28 year old, single, college graduate with nearly $100,000 of student loan and credit card debt. I will be the first to say that I've made many financial mistakes but what's done is done. I can't file bankruptcy because 80% of my debt is student loans which can't be filed in bankruptcy.
Before I lost my job I was barely making ends meet. I had gone from a 2 person household to just me. I had no savings or retirement so when I lost my job things just went from bad to worse.
Now, I am currently living off Unemployment Benefits and very little financial help from my parents in exchange for helping out at the family business. I've managed to pay everything in full and on time up till now. Which really upsets me because I have always had really good credit. I just don't know what else to do.
Here is a list of things that I've done to save money/make money. If you have any other ideas, please let me know. I could really use the advice.
-I Have a roommate.
-I cancelled the cable & home phone.
-I have cheapest auto & health insurance.
-I've sold everything I could on Ebay, at yard sales, and to consignment shops.
-I have yard sales about twice a month selling things people donate to me.
-I've attempted to sale cosmetics to no avail. And unfortunately, I have no other services to offer.
-I hardly spend any money on food. My diet pretty much consists of cereal and soup.
-I use coupons and buy store brands.
-I hardly ever leave the house (to avoid the temptation of purchasing even the smallest little thing, and to save on gas)
-I'm already collecting points at mypoints.com.
-I've already consolidated my student loans, called for repayment options, and entered forbearance
-I have a car payment and looked into selling it but I'm upside down by thousands of dollars so that's not an option
-I've studied up on all money saving tips imaginable for electricity, food, gas, etc.
-I feel that with my credit cards being maxed out and over the limit, it's a waste of time to try to negotiate my interest rates. They keep skyrocketing; so why would they give me a break?
-I've basically just done without
Any ideas?

