You are posting in a road bike forum, so I assume that you are looking for a road bike. Your craigslist experience did not work out, so that leaves out used... You cannot buy a new road bike for your budget. You could actually accomplish your goals of commuting and riding around by buying a $100 Target Schwinn mountain bike. Why don't you just do that? That is what I started out on. If you did happen to find a used road bike that wasn't junk on craigslist, do you know what size frame even fits you?