I'm sinking fast

5 months ago I accepted working in a restaurant as a server again. I could no longer wait for the right opportunity, as my bills were going to be late. I hadn't missed a payment on any bill for many years.

5 months later, after working an average of 32-38 hours per week in the restaurant, the following disasters have taken place:

• I am 4 months late on my student loans. These private student loans are about to enter default. 
• I had to extend my cellular phone bill every month since working at this restaurant job. It is likely I will be extending for the 6 straight month. Before taking this job, I never extended the bill once in 13 years.
• My car brakes have been failing the past 6 months. I can't repair them. I got turned down for credit due to the student loans going delinquent. 
• I had to get several payday check loans to pay rent and random bills. I'm failing into the rollover trap of repaying and taking out another loan again.
• I have gotten several jewelry Pawn Loans that involve high interest. California gives a borrower 4-months to retrieve their items. On the opposing side, Florida Paw Shops charge 25% interest per month. After 2 months, you lose all your items. 
• I only make $4.65 plus tips as a server in Florida. In California, you will make $8.50-9 per hour plus tips. In the past 5 months, the amount in lost hourly wages could have staved off my upcoming student loan default. 
• I earned 4 college degrees that are not doing anything for me right now. Waste of education.
• I served in the Air Force as medical technician in the 90s. This past experience is no longer an asset. I am a Veteran with no career opportunities to advance my situation. 
• My car last got an oil change in May. Almost a year later, I can't afford to get an oil change. 
• I have lost weight due to reducing my food intake and overworking at my current serving job. 
• I have bothered my mom repeatedly to help me out financially. 
• I barely sleep because I am always trying to resolve this disaster
• I got rejected for several good jobs
• I considered working the graveyard shift at a convenience store to make up the difference in wages. Because another server requested me to work a night shift on the day I was supposed to visit the new store, I couldn't accept the second job. Now I am scheduled to work 6 out of 7 days a week with a few double shifts between those days.
• I had to reschedule important hospital appointments because I had no gas and toll money.
• I took a city job test in San Francisco - ranked number #500 out of 750 applicants that passed. No immediate job opportunity is available. 
• My screenwriting dream is about to crash and burn. I have no time and energy to write and submit my scripts. 
• My websites generate 30,000-50,000 visits per month, but make little money in result of this traffic. 
• I feel unappreciated. People view me as a failure. 
• I lack resources to open a film company. I decided 2 years ago I want to open a film company; however, I have no funding available to make this dream a reality. 
• I am still struggling with our Houston robbery experience from last April. My insurance company refused to cover the loss since they are using an informal e-mail as my intent to cancel my 7-year old policy 6 months prior to the renewal date. Imagine losing out potentially $10-15k from an e-mail. I never signed anything. I never agreed to any request. This insurance company refused to pay, even though they originally agreed to cover the losses until after reviewing my intent to cancel. Since I couldn't reach my agent, I was told to send an e-mail. I only sent this e-mail because I moved out of the apartment and didn't think I could retain this insurance after the move-out date. Apparently, without this e-mail, I would have been covered. The robbery location is another story involving possible setup (visit here to read). 
• Figured out that everyone at my job must work two jobs to survive. Never seen this in California. 
• Vegetables cost far more in Florida than in California. 
• Once you arrive in Florida, it is tough to leave. I've talked to many who feel this way - trapped and depressed. I'm optimistic an opportunity will surface soon to get us out of this disaster zone. 
• Serving many inpatient guests, which are unlike California guests. 
• The hot weather has ruined my health.
• I haven't slept on a bed for almost a year. I sleep on a raft you use for camping. 
• Our possessions are in a public storage unit in California that cost me $146 a month for a year and is now increasing to $160 a month. Our home goods, furniture, college degrees, clothes, documents, and other possessions reside in this unit. We lived in this Southern California city for 7 years. It is where we want to live again. How do we get back there again? 
• and many more obstacles and challenges

As you can see, a low paying job with limited opportunity will get you nowhere. A good education is worth nothing unless you maximize your college degrees to find a reliable job. Student loan companies could care less about your situation. Sallie Mae refused to help me prior to my delinquency. 

Now Sallie  Mae continues to blow up my phone daily, leaving hundreds of messages per week. When you call, they tell you to pay the amount no matter if you don't have the money available. How did earning a Master's Degree, a Bachelor's Degree, two Associate's Degrees, and serving in the Air Force help me? What about writing thousands of pages of content? I have nothing to show but failure. 

I keep hearing that opportunity will present itself soon. I believe in my future. I have wanted this writing dream for 19 years. I can't reach success without the right resources. What should I do to get out of the quicksand. This life is suffocating me. I can't go bankrupt again, a process that I experienced 10 years ago after a bad roommate in 2000 and an expensive apartment impacted my life. 

My goal was to relocate to Florida on a temporary basis to find financial relief. After I agreed to work in a restaurant as a server again, a job I performed while attending college for about 8 years, I find myself sinking deep. No matter how many bills I pay, I feel the low paying is creating a 50% deficit each month. Through payday loans, Pawn loans, job income, and borrowing from friends, I am no closer to reaching financial relief. 

My money management situation is a mess because I don't make enough money to survive. A successful business person told me I need to cut 40% out of my budget or make more money. I attempted to get another job, but I can't afford to train at minimum wage in their current state. I can write content nightly to help others to avoid my pitfalls. It is not going to make me money. 

I have a book ready to be published. Nonetheless, I don't know to how to prepare a manuscript.  If my book was a script instead, I could format the material right way for submission. 

How can a decent life fall into the dumps? In Florida, it is very easy to struggle. There are no good jobs in this state unless you hold experience in health care, marketing, upper hotel management, and engineering. The reality is that you must work two jobs to make ends meet. If you decide to move to Florida, know the real truth that you get stuck once you realize you made a huge mistake. 

I know of several co-workers who are struggling to survive. They work many hours per week, even taking up on second jobs to keep afloat. You see this workers overworked and unappreciated. I wish I could rescue this hard working people. My first priority is to help all those who have helped me make it through my struggles. I managed to survive all the way to Florida and up to my student loans entered delinquency. My credit score is shot - it went from 700 to 510. I haven't been late on any bill in 10 years. 

Student loans are terrible, especially private student loans with Sallie Mae. Beware of this company that took out a private loan on my federal loan in 2008. They refuse to fix their mistake and tried to state that it is what I wanted. The loan was never disbursed to me, as two previous private student loans were after I applied for them in 2005 and 2006.  

This 2008 student loan which was approved by my graduate school somehow got submitted as a private loan and eluded me. I didn't know nothing about this private loan since all my graduate school loans were federal loans. This Sallie Mae mistake cost me $13,000 and my credit status. 

After accepting a serving job and working an average of 32-38 hours per week for 5 months, I face the problems above and many more future setbacks. I don't make enough money to survive. I barely eat, which in result has diminished my health status. Worst of all, I can't accomplish my screenwriting and movie dream without figuring out how to overcome my current disaster. It is a tough test, as many of these scenarios have affected me over the past few decades. 

What are your thoughts about this current job market? Are you also struggling after earning your college degrees? Possess skills that employers overlook? Don't know the right people to secure good jobs? Do you live in the Florida disaster? 

The only positive outlook in Florida is that my co-workers and managers are good people. They deserve to live better lives. Since the managers work on salary, the company overwork them to the point of exhaustion. It is really hard to see these people near burnout status.  

Share your thoughts and concerns. Thanks for reading.