sounds like you need a financial adviser more than a messenger. Thankfully, I'm both! From both standpoints I'll tell you to either keep your current job or find something that pays a similar (or more) amount. (read: NOT messengering.) Many of us get by by existing in a parallel economy where we can survive on significantly less than what others expect (well, that and the trust funds of an increasing number of messengers.) For my company, three different dumpsters are an unofficial part of our daily routes, and we help deliver for FnB and get some food from that.

Messenger business (especially in major cities) is SERIOUSLY contracting. I've said it before and it bears repeating. There is much less work to go around these days, largely due to technological change. At the same time, there are lots and lots of folks flocking to the business for the coolness factor. Smaller pie + more mouths to feed = much less pie for each mouth. As a newbie on the scene, don't expect any pie at all!

The messenger business has to change significantly before it is anywhere near lucrative again for workers. My company has drastically changed the nature of our business, and we're still just breaking even, though we do pay ourselves a living wage and have great benefits. Some ideas are working outside of major cities where there may be an interest in messenger service, but there are far fewer competitors; changing the nature of our clients or what we deliver for them (pm me for some of the things we do), and marketing ourselves in different ways (as a cost-saving measure to hard-core bottom line businesses, as eco-friendly to greens, as comrades to bikers, etc.)