Can you post some more details on your situation - location, jobtype etc ?
A few years ago I was looking to get out of my workplace where I also worked as a software developer. They had suffered five years of consecutive lay-offs and the environment had really suffered. Months of job hunting proved fruitless. So I made a return to university hoping to prop up my credentials. That's when I was making $1,000/mo (I was still working my other job - part time hours, full time load.) Fast forward a year, life events made it so I could no longer afford it, and I went back to work full-time.
A year later all the interviews came in. I changed companies, got a huge pay boost, and have been pretty happy since.