Hunger may be variable before making money (8)
I believe the answer is:
yearning
'hunger' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'variable before making money' is the wordplay.
'variable' becomes 'y' (I've seen this in other clues).
'before' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'making money' becomes 'earning' (I've seen this before).
'y'+'earning'='YEARNING'
'may be' is the link.
(Other definitions for yearning that I've seen before include "Unfulfilled desire or need" , "Longing, wishing for" , "Longing (for something)" , "Hankering, longing" , "Feeing great desire" .)