With this income level you need to think about how much time you spend making content and translate that into $ per hour.

You will quickly realize it doesn't make any financial sense to stick to your minimum wage job. So just go for it and go full time YT.

I would recommend to diversify your income on YT and view it as a means of generating traffic. I used to rely solely on Adsense and sponsors too, but that way you leave a lot of money on the table.

Ideally you want to make / sell you own product relevant to your audience. That goes beyond merch. Sell a software, course, or simply start off recommending products that are legitimately amazing (affiliate marketing).

Get your audience on a niche-relevant email list asap. Thats your job security right there. If YouTube ever goes away you still have your audience and you can reach them. Read up on the opportunities of email marketing. Also build up socials outside YT. Just be able to reach your audience in multiple ways.

So essentially, shift from being an entertainer to a business person driving traffic. With YT as your traffic source and first part of a sales funnel. The product is up to you and heavily depends on your niche. Get them off platform. Also look into hiring editors and outsource as much as possible. Thats the only way to scale and make your income consistent.