This is enough to live by and enough to keep myself entertained but it isn't enough to be able to save, it's not a viable income level to be able to risk my home and my safety on a job I could lose in two months time.
... I should move to silicone valley. Things seem much easier out there.
The repeated references in this thread to "silicone valley" and the context which suggest that that reference might not really be what is intended lead me to point out that "Silicon Valley" is a region in northern California so-called for the predominance of computing-related tech firms (from the role of silicon in computer chips) and "Silicone Valley" is (as well as a not-infrequent misspelling of "Silicon Valley") a common joking name for southern California's San Fernando Valley that is a play on northern California's "Silicon Valley" and on the SFV's concentration of firms in the adult entertainment industry.
I go back and forth on this myself. The biggest thing keeping me from doing so is the cost of living. In South Carolina I rent a 1200 ft^2 (~110 m^2) 3 bedroom house on a third of an acre for less than $1,000 per month. I live about 10 minutes from the beach (Atlantic), and 15 minutes from work. My wife's a marine biologist and a yoga instructor. She'd be able to teach classes there, but it will take a while (if it's even possible) for her to get well-enough acquainted with the orgs in the area to continue her career as a biologist. That means to keep the same disposable income I'd need to cover both our salaries, plus the increased cost of living, and all the risk of our livelihood would be on me. The last time I ran the numbers I figured out that in order for us to have the same disposable income I'd need to make over $200k/yr or trade salary requirement for long commute times.
I'm on the other end of the scale - if I did move to Silicone Valley, my income would at least triple within the first couple of years... Assuming success and a visa.