That’s a very reasonably healthy salary for a long amount of time.
Did you have anything saved up in case of an emergency such as unemployment or any other expecting life events? You know - rainy day money enough to cover on average 6 months of your bills? Very reasonable to have ~10k in the bank through that time.
If not you lived above your means and overextended yourself. As even $400 a week was unlikely to cover that.
Can you honestly tell me it took you 40 hours a week, 5 days a week for 8 months of searching to find the job? If not, then why not? You could have worked while looking, which is what many people do. What greater motivator could you possibly have had to find a good job than working a crappy one for a week to get paid next to nothing compared to what you used to?
I don’t see you justification at all. It’s ok for others to work for less than you get paid for not working as you’re looking for a job as most likely they are too because you lived above the means you can support if shit hit the fan?