I'm so sorry.
I'm not a doctor, but here are some things that are free or almost free that have been shown to work for depression as well as antidepressants. (Not that one shouldn't take antidepressants as well if a doc says so -- the combination is often better than just one method. I take Zoloft myself.)
The book
Feeling Good, by David Burns is a self-help book based on Cognitive-Behavioral therapy for depression. The exercises in it have been shown to work as well as antidepressants and even better in that there is a lower rate of relapse. I can't recommend this book enough (which is why I probably recommend it in almost every thread on this subforum!
)
Aerobic exercise. I know, who wants to exercise when they're depressed? But if you can get yourself to do it, it really helps. Personally, I've found things that really make me breathe hard, like running and swimming (I suck at swimming!) help the most.