How do you or have you dealt with meeting women (or men for that matter) at points in your life where you are essentially broke?

Thats where Im at. Im going to start attending “MeetUps” soon, but I work a low status job that makes me feel self conscious. Its not that I myself think of it as so low status, but people I’ve interacted with have made me feel bad about it by making comments about it (whether intentional or not). Im recovering from a disability and its a job I have for now. But its tough because I have a degree so when people hear I do have a degree and see I make minimum wage and its been years since I was in school, I feel so awkward. I know I could easily lie to people at meetups, but I HATE lying, because then you just aren’t being yourself. You then have to keep a bunch of falsehoods straight over time if you develop a relationship with someone.

Any thoughts? Im mid-late 20s if it matters.

Tl;dr Want to meet women at MeetUps, feel self conscious addressing the dreaded “What do you do for a living?” question as I make a very low wage.