@Durrell-Odom My advice there may or may not apply to your situation specifically but I'll give it a go (everyone's situation is different of course).
I would say the first thing to look at is your overall expenses. Is there ANY way to lower your cost of living, which would give you the opportunity to ditch one of the non-artistic staff jobs? If so, that would buy you a massive amount of time and energy. Things like moving in with another roommate, not having a car payment, not subscribing to cable (and other monthly dues other than SVS of course!) come to mind.
Not gonna lie, working two jobs and trying to get work as an illustrator is extremely difficult. You need to try and change the situation if possible to put yourself in the best position.
For us, we are actually looking at moving to a cheaper town. Since our clients are all remote anyway, why live in a high cost of living town. If you haven't checked out Mr. Money Mustache, you need to. link: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/. He talks about all this stuff in detail. I'm not a hardcore believer like some of his followers, but I do like what he is saying.
We also gave up small things like gym memberships, alcohol (beer and wine is expensive!), and other small things to lower our cost of living to maximize our income stream. It's tough and requires some sacrifices, but it's all worth it in the end.
Let me know if this helps and if you have any other questions. : )
Good luck!
-L
of course everything is at a demo state right now but will be working on both a new portfolio and a different market -maybe, not sure yet to be honest-) thanks again and have fun in making the course : )