2-25-10 Think. Think. Think...

What motivates you when you find out that your paycheck has been deposited but is $130 less than your last one? But didn't you work all of the alotted nights, without OT of course? And aren't you regularly functioning on roughly 3 hours of sleep? Coffee for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and sometimes with a cola chaser!
Am I supposed to think that I am valuable to a company that can't even pay me enough to make a rent payment. Yep, my check is going to be the above mentioned less. On the up side, I may qualify to defer my student loans (again!). On another down side, I make roughly $1700 a month net.
Did you ever think when you were small that when you get to be an adult, you would question most of the path you have taken? Did you hypothesize that you would have to change jobs in your 40's (or even at all) with only 25 years left to retirement age?
How do I get through this? I will have to payroll advance again! That means that the next check will have money going to the bank. But how will it be fixed long term. I know others are out of their jobs but I am not them. How am I going to make this better so that I don't have to worry all of the time about how little I make or how I am going to stretch that meager amount to cover everything?
Suggestions accepted here.