i need some advice and help on what to do? skinny fat

Try maintenance and weightlifting

At 5'8", your weight of 130 is at the very low end of the normal range.

I realize that the BMI is not the be-all and end-all, but I think that you can at least get from that that you don't need to lose any more weight, especially not to what you have showing as your goal weight - 120 pounds.

I think you need to go to the thread called "In Place of a Roadmap" or go to the Scooby's Workshop website and enter your stats in and see just how many calories of healthy foods you should be eating and start there.

Start doing some strength training as well, as already suggested. Since money is an issue, you might try body-weight exercises.

By eating enough and building muscle, I do think you can re-shape your body.

BTW, congrats on the weight loss!

thanks (:
i am part of a gym, but most people suggest a trainer and that I cannot afford;

also, since im in school most of the day, i find it difficult to eat maintenance, any tips?

Figure out HOW to eat at maintenance. We all have jobs or school. It's a challenge. But you must learn how to eat. Otherwise you'll just keep damaging your body.
Eat healthy (special K and bars is not healthy) and get some exercise. EAT FOOD (as in vegetables, fruits, etc.). REGULARLY.
And please stop losing weight.

I'd opt for more natural bars like Zone Perfectly Simple or Lara bars...something that has more of a balance of carbs/protein/fat and less carbs. What about packing a small cooler with string cheese and boiled eggs or other things that you don't need to keep cool like a small single serve container of peanut butter with some Kashi Sea Salt Pita Crisps. Fruit.

What concerns me the most is your ticker that says your goal is 120 pounds. At 5'8", that's very very thin. I'm 5'5". 120 is a good thin weight for me...like a size 4 even with muscle tone. If you're only wanting to lose because of the stomach, I would focus more on eating healthy instead of carb-rich overly processed foods. Carol_L gave you great information.

You are the only one who can help you. So my best advice to you as someone who has been your age and was once in my 20s and done the unhealthy eating but skinny thing, is to stop focusing on what you can't do and focus on what you can do. Control the controllables. No one can do this for you. So if you want to eat all your calories (which will be more than 1200) and be healthy, find a way to make it happen. People do it every day successfully without excuses. I don't mean that to be harsh but to be honest. I have a mobile job. I leave my house in the morning, often have business lunches in offices (which are not healthy) and come home late afternoon or evening. Every day is different. Some days I have no lunch scheduled but am running around. I have choices. I can eat the unhealthy lunch or skip it and starve. I can pick up fast food or not. I can pack a couple of bars and eat them in the car. Instead, I prepare the night before and pack something to eat the next day. I pack a lunch box in a small cooler for my car with something healthy in it and usually throw in a Lara bar or a couple of string cheese sticks or some almonds and fruit for an afternoon snack. I have an insulated water bottle ready to go. On days when that prep doesn't happen, it's not a good day and I don't even feel well. But this is a choice I've decided for myself. And I'm only trying to lose 8 pounds. Sometime I get asked why I'm not eating the work lunch. I tell some people either I'm not hungry or I ate in my car, etc. I think they're used to my healthiness by now! Lol! But no one is going to eat healthy for me. I have to do it myself. So what I'm trying to say is that every day is a choice for all of us. If you really truly do want results, you need to assess how badly you want them. If its bad enough, you'll do what it takes to get them. No excuses.

Try to incorporate pulsing or isometric ab training. And do workouts that shape you whether it be strength training with weights (The FIRM DVDs are good to start and progress with this), yoga, Pilates or barre workouts.

Dumb question, but are you using a padded mat under your spine for ab exercises?

If you can, get on YouTube and check this out. It's dated but is one of the best, most complete ab workouts that gets results. I've kept it in my video collection for almost 20 years because it works. Not one full sit up required:

The original 8 Minute Abs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNqrkGnkUWc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I hope that helps you a little bit.

Look into Turbo Fire - not necessarily to buy it, but the types of exercises in that program are great to strengthen and develop the muscles in your core. If you can strengthen your back / core area, it might be easier for you to do more complex ab routines and save you some time in the long run. I hope that helps. Diet is key, but having a nice body is also linked with the right exercise routines so you are absolutely on the right track. Good luck!

Edited to add: I also think you should stay on maintenance calories and focus solely on improving your diet + exercise. Lift heavy, train hard. Don't starve yourself!

I don't think you will be able to tone your stomach without ab exercises.

Tone your abs and your core should help relieve your back pain.
When the muscles are strong and supporting your frame, it takes stress off of your bones.

I say focus on what you should be eating... getting in all of your happy fats, complex carbs, protein, calcium, iron, vitamins, and all your other micro-nutrients. You are already at the low end of the healthy BMI range. Now is the time to Eat to be strong strong means so much more than skinny. You can do more with strong. you have choices with strong.

If you haven't been exercise start small and build gradually.
Make sure you track, so you'll be able to see your accomplishments more clearly months from now.

oddly enough I started by counting stairs, then it became a game I'd go out of my way to find more stairs to add to my routine. Now I"m at the gym a couple a times a week.

Find something heavy, pick it up, put it down. Yes, weight lifting. Don't worry about bulking up, you have to eat at a significant surplus and lift with the specific intent of adding size (moderate weight, high reps). New Rules of Lifting For Women is a highly recommended training program. It gives instruction on how to do the lift exercises as well as the overall training program. It's highly recommended. A balanced fitness program does both strength training and cardiovascular exercises (cycling, running, swimming, etc). Exercising will slowly build muscle as well as strength, but that's a good thing.

1 pound of muscle weighs the same as 1 pound of fat (as in they are both 1 pound), but 1 pound of muscle is smaller and denser than 1 pound of fat. To stay the same weight, you will get smaller by having more muscle than fat. To stay the same size while building muscle, you will gain weight. Does weighing a couple pounds more if you are fit and trim and feeling great?

As others have mentioned, EAT! For the next month or two, eat at a maintenance level if not a slight surplus. I don't care if you eat 10 small meals a day or 1-2 very big meals, just make sure you're getting enough calories and the micro-nutrients your body needs (vitamins and minerals). Why maintenance? You need to eat to fuel your body for the exercise and healthy living you plan to do. After a period of basically resetting your metabolism, then it will be ok to start making changes if you need to. But really, your weight is low enough already.

The BMR calculator at Fat2Fitradio.com is a great place to start figuring out what maintenance level calories look like. You should get the same or extremely close to the same value from MFP.