Broke.

I currently work for a major newspaper in Chicago.  On the surface, this is an ideal place for me to be "kicking off my career".  That being said, I am just about the lowest man on the totem pole (which I know is a misleading idiom because of Stuff You Should Know) and field phone calls from crazies across our great nation.  I also make $12/hr.  That means I make roughly $25K per year.  This is not very much money.  Like, at all.  So I am trying to tough it out and move up within the company, but because of my insatiable hunger for 2 meals a day every single day (I know, what a greedy brat I am), I keep my eyes peeled for other opportunities. Recently, a friend said she might be able to get me a jr underwriter gig at a bank that could pay as much as $40K.  That is like Scrooge McDuck swimming in his vault of gold coins money, friends.  I would probably gold-plate my Ikea stools with that kind of dough.
So anyway, I told a trusted family member about this, and her reaction was "NO you don't want to be a banker!  You want to work in publishing, stay where you're at!  Don't get hung up on dollar signs".
This got me pondering exactly how broke I am, and what I would do to not be as broke.
I would like to provide some real life broke stories/anecdotes:
-3 weeks ago, I went to the market to buy butter and had to check my bank account as to not overdraw.
-My boyfriend needed a loaner phone because his phone crapped out on him.  It was a $54 deposit.  He had $51.
-Before I was able to purchase the $86 unlimited rides on the CTA, I did the pay-as-you-go plan.  I would always have my earbuds in and sloppily tap my card when i got on the bus in hope that it wouldn't read right and then pretend I couldn't hear the driver when he asked me to try again.  $2.25 in my pocket!
-I ration tampons.
-I pound out chicken breasts so I can fool myself into eating less food because it looks bigger.
-I steal creamers from the cafeteria in my building so I don't have to buy it (It's not technically stealing--they're giving them away.  I just don't think they expect me to take 10)
-Every month when it comes  time to pay rent, I consider selling my guitar.  You know in old cartoons when starving people look at their dog or whatever and it turns into a big pile of steaks?  That's how my guitar looks but with money.  I love my guitar.  His name is Simon.
-I am pretty good at dividing the ABV by the price when selecting beer.
-I have started to fool myself into enjoying ramen.
-I keep a box of wine at my house.  I won't give up wine, no matter how broke.  You can't take wine away from me, universe!

So all that being said, yes I would love to stay at this job, but I also would like to leave my apartment to enter the public sphere and not feel immensely guilty if I get myself a burger and a beer once in a while.  Maybe it's going to be a moot point and the opportunity won't pan out, but if it does... I mean, I have bought myself 1 pair of shoes in the last 2 years.  I would like something nice someday.