there are plenty of "day jobs" that actually keep you in your field. it might now be ideal, or what your heart wants, but it's better then flipping burgers.
i've done commercial audio, home AV install, and worked as a consultant at an acoustic design consulting firm. i've never worked outside audio since i "entered" this field (which was when i was 22 years old)
i can't say all those various jobs were awesome. however, i've always worked, paid my bills, and made time to make records. i think ultimately, being in a music market is the only way to truly forge a career in this biz. my life has gotten SO much easier being in a music town. LA wasn't for me, or my family, and my wife wasn't into the idea of raising a family in NYC, and i simply couldn't afford (and didn't have more then a few contacts in) London. so nashville it was. certainly helped that an established producer brought me here to engineer for him. made the risk much more manageable.
if you're single with no kids, it's kind of a no brainer to me to move to a music market town.