<prompt> Human: I feel like Im about to explode. I moved to Los Angeles two years ago and ended up going back to school for audio engineering and never missed a day of class and have a GPA of 3.5. Edited , they told me at the beginning I would have enough to graduate and deal with loans after school like most others , maybe they were just trying to have me sign up .My school is holding my degree ransom until I can pay off the remainder of my loans 2100 and thats just never happening. I work at Starbucks and even with picking up shifts, begging my store manager for work, there just isnt any hours . I got an email today from Navient. October 20th is my first due payment of 260. My rent is 1350 a month and I have two roommates. One roommate who lives on the couch just up and left today. No note but his stuff gone. I always asked him nicely to give me some time to find someone else . So, now, cant afford rent. My phone bill is outstanding 40 bucks. I successfully attempted school and have nothing to show for it and have been looking for audio work as much as I can. Im 27. The walls are closing in. I have 40 cents in the savings and negative 3 in my checking. Im about to be homeless. I dont know where else to post . Maybe one of have advice ?I dont know. I havent slept since yesterday at 6am. Its 330am now and Im writing this just to see if I can try and pass out.  <response>: First of all, unless theres shit going on that you dont mention in your post, youre not in that bad of a position. Nobody died, you arent physically hurt, all you have to do is make some numbers work out.1 Talk to whoever the loans are with. Dont assume that the payment or payment due date is non-negotiable. Calling shows that youre taking the loan seriously and arent just blowing it off. Explain to them what the situation is. Be calm and confident about what you can and cannot do. Ask questions and listen to what the person who answers the phone has to say. When its clear that they cant help any more, thank them and let them go. Even if the terms stay the same, you may get someone whos sympathetic and can give you some help.2 Dont assume the restriction on your degree is non-negotiable either. Call the school up, calmly talk to them, explain that not having the degree makes it harder for you and that your roommate just took off. If they refuse to budge, thank them and let them go.3 Put up an ad for a new roommate. Even if you have to move out, its not going to hurt. Just keep any personal contact info phone number, email, etc out of the craigslist posting so you dont get spammed.4 Go into your schools financial aid office. Or go to any other university or college that you can easily get to and talk to their financial aid office.5 Go to creditkarma.com and figure out your actual credit score.6 Go to whatever credit unions are highly ranked in your area and talk to them about the situation. Explain the situation and look into a personal loan, which might give you some immediate cash to pay off the 2100 bills. Do not let them run a hard credit check until you are sure that you want to try for a loan there, since too many hard credit checks will make your credit score slightly worse. Instead tell the staff what your credit score is and ask what they think they could do. Also make sure you fully understand how much additional debt you will take on - a personal loan only gets you out of the immediate problem of not having your degree. Look at reviews for that credit union.7 Cancel nonessential services. Eat thrifty but dont get sick. Dont buy beer at the bar on weekends. Dont go to the movies. Etc etc. If you livework near a Costco, you can buy a hot dog soda for 1.50 even without a membership.8 Start trying to find a friend to crash with. If you have a car, maybe you can live out of it. It sounds like rent is your biggest expense right now so do whatever you can to get that down.9 Look for random gigs you can do on craigslist. Might be a good way to chip away at the phone bill and first payment. Do the best job that you can and network as much as you can.10 As other people have said, you did the work for the degree even if you dont have the paper. Put it on your resume. If you dont feel you completed it, put it down as pending degree or something.11 Dont stress out or take risks with your health. Worst-case is that things will start getting sent to collections, but you can still dig yourself out of that hole. You can even survive bankruptcy if it comes to that, although it will make things harder for you. You do have a future even if you cant pay everything off right now. Your goal right now is to do the best that you can regardless of whether people think you could be doing a better job or not. Mistakes and failures are OK as long as you do your best and keep trying.Things may be rough now, but the lessons you learn in facing this problem will help you later in life.PS: I upvoted your posting in LAlist. :EDIT: Just realized your 2100 may be a typo for 21,000 which would make more sense. If thats the case, definitely talk to the school and any financial aid offices and try to figure out why the restriction is there on your degree and what options you might have. 