First things first - relax. You don't have a debt problem or a spending problem, you have an income problem.
No credit card debt - awesome, you're already doing better than most of the western world.
No car debt - lapping the field here.
Combined $70,000 school debt - given the crazy numbers people pay to go to school this isn't the end of the world.
Low rent - wow, nice
Low food cost - really nice
Shitty wage combined with high commute cost and infrequent work - this is your problem.
From what you've said your current shortfall will be about $300 / month. That seems like a lot but it's not. You could borrow $3,600 from either of your parents and that would give you ONE YEAR of breathing space at your current burn rate to sort this out.
So here's what I think you should do.
1. See if you can't get the credit score issue resolved. I'm not American and your way of establishing credit is greek to me but there will be people on here and elsewhere on the internet with the process you follow to try this.
2. Talk to your family or hers and see if you can get a $5,000 loan so you're not worried about being pitched out on the street.
3. Brainstorm 50 ways you could double your income. Write down anything that pops into your head, no matter how stupid is sounds.
- You're good with property, offer to do maintenance work on people's rentals at half what tradespeople charge. Your landlord might have other properties or he might know people. Go find a local property manager and pitch her on this. PM's love cheap reliable help (reliable more important than cheap).
- Could you relocate? To Asia? Dubai? As English teachers? I taught English in Japan for a year and saved $15-20,000 pretty easily. As a couple you could net $35K. In two years you'd be debt free and you might have networked your way into your career of choice. I have a friend who places teachers in Korea if you're interested.
- Can you make websites? I taught myself HTML, CSS and a bit of word-press and now I regularly set up sites for people at $500-$3K a pop as just something on the side. You could set up something for your self, an online store or blog and maybe try to monetize is. In the "throw down the gauntlet" forum on here there's a thread about creating a passive income stream and some of the guys in there are talking about monetizing websites.
- Are the skills you learned at school valuable to a small business that couldn't afford a full time hire, but might be interested in 1 day a week? I currently consult at a friend's company 1-3 days per week.
- That's 4 ideas... the other 47 I'll leave to you.
4. Know that your job/commute system is unsustainable and you might have to go somewhere else for work. That's OK. ou have 50 ideas to follow through on. I went to Japan for work a decade a go and never left.
Nick