<prompt> Human: Hi all, not sure if this is the best place to post this or not, but its personal finance related, so here goes. Basically Im going to be homeless if I dont find a place to live in the next week. Ive been looking hard for an apartment, but for whatever reason Im not getting calls back, and the number of apartments really sublets are limited in what I can barely afford. So what tips do you all have for me? Find a nice cardboard box and settle in? Figure out some crazy scheme? Help!Edit: holy cow, didnt expect this to blow up like it did! For clarification, Im looking for room shares, not actual apartments. I know better than that in my situation. Yes I did drop out of college, and I am trying to figure out my life. I cannot stay in my current place because the person I was renting from decided to move, and my contract with him is up at the end of this month. Also not addicted to heroin, and I do have depression. Assistant: 8 days isnt much time. Heres my 0.02 for you.Forget retail. If youre going to make shit wages on a low-skill job, go restaurant work. Bus-person or dishwasher, maybe waiter though you wont start there if you have no experience. One benefit is you usually get at least one free or inexpensive meal per shift. Cover your ink, take out your piercings, and get a normal haircut. You should be in survival mode; no one gives a shit about your personal expression. Take these other commenters up on their offers to help you with your resume. Whats keeping you in Berkeley? Can you move somewhere else in the Bay that might be a little cheapereasier to find both work and housing? Oakland? San Jose? Youre competing with a huge student population in a desirable place to live. Roommate, hostel - both of those might work, but you have relatively little time to get that in place. Shouldnt be a problem with a hostel, but thats going to be expensive unless they have some kind of winter-time weekly rate or something. Shittier areas may have motels with a weekly rate that might be more affordable. Theres one in Berkeley called the Golden Bear Inn but I dont think its that cheap no one is answering the phone.Also, I would be contacting some homeless outreach and service organizations NOW, before you are homeless and see if they can point you to some resources or possibilities for housing. This may well be information that you simply cant find on the internet. Heres City of Berkeleys Homeless Resources: Heres East Oakland Community Project: Heres Oaklands City Shelter List contact some of these to see if they can help you find cheap temp. housing: Also, contact the Salvation Army andor St. Vincent Depaul Society - sometimes they can provide one time help for some of these issues - like maybe give you money for rent kind of thing. Absolutely worth calling.Once you get through this immediate crisis, consider taking a 2nd job and get yourself out of the hole before it gets deeper debt. This will also give you some new things to put on that resume, which you could use. About a 2nd job: consider looking in malls, or other places where businesses are grouped together, so that you can easily go from one job to the other without a lot of transit time. Theres a lot of light industrial in the East Bay, so dont overlook those possible jobs. By the way, the Bay Area is pretty bikeable. Consider taking transit way out to the more suburban areas and see if you cant find a 50 bike in a thrift store. I see them at the Goodwill all the time. Assuming you have a place to live by then, this will give you better mobility than the bus.Thats all I have off the cuff. Home some of it is helpful. Im sure you can do this. Forget the self pity and the ways that life has been unfair to you. You say youre depressed and I know how that goes, but those voices are lies. This is life during wartime - fuck all that noise. You need to focus on the basics - shelter, food, work, safety. Everything else is distraction or indulgence. Get to work!Human: I am probably one of the most straight laced people around my age. I dont have any tattoos, nor piercings nothing of the sort. Nothing is keeping me in Berkeley. Ive been looking in Oakland and basically anything on the BART line that wont be hella far from Emeryville where I work.  <response>: I am probably one of the most straight laced people around my age. I dont have any tattoos, nor piercings nothing of the sort.It was just general advice. Im tempted to say kids these days but everyone my age is all tatted up, too. 