The Gaming Den

So here's the situation -- my lease is set to expire in one month from now. Unfortunately, a job I thought that I was going to be hired for fell through. I have about 5000 USD right now available. I am really going to try to get a job ASAP, though since I was a Navy Nuke and an EE I'd rather not commit to something too low. A part-time or temporary job would be preferable while I search for a 'real' job.

What I'm asking the boards is: what's the cheapest way for me to take care of shit in the meantime? I know all about the advice on food and such, my big things are:

Accommodations- What's the cheapest I can safely stay at while I try to extend my job deadline?
Moving - I have furniture. Specifically, 2 8 x 5 x 1' wood bookcases, two dressers, a queen-sized bed with foldable frame, and 2 4 x 6 x 1 wood bookcases along with a lot of books and clothes. All of it fits comfortably in a studio apartment. Should I just get a storage unit for my stuff and try to stay in a motel or tiny apartment or whatever?

I also own a car. It's fully paid-for and up-to-date on insurance and maintenance. It can hold some of my essentials like clothes and computers and whatnot.

It's not a super-emergency situation, but I am feeling a bit of a pinch. I'd rather not have to do something too disruptive if at all possible.

Now, I can't answer your question since I've never been in the US, but I imagine that it depends heavily on where you live.

Accommodations: Get a cheap room in a house, summer sublet for a month or two. Depending on region, can be very cheap (padmapper works great).

Cheaper: Sleep in vehicle, or find a friend to couch surf with.

Moving: Sell your stuff. Move with just your vehicle. Pick up free versions off craigslist of whatever you got rid of when you get back.

Is switching over to a monthly lease doable? That's what my wife and I have done, and although seeing our rent go up 16% sucks, it's still cheaper than moving somewhere else temporarily (especially somewhere like a motel + storage unit).

Cheapest safe accommodation is your parent's house. You probably don't want to be there in the daytime or anything, but you'll be job-hunting or part-timing anyway. Siblings can also work, even cousins, probably not old work buddies, steadily less likely to put up with your shit for any reasonable period. Go halves in the bills, eat better, shower more, and have neater clothes for interviews than living in your car.


Furniture is a giant pain. Storage should be cheap, but you can easily find yourself not even wanting it when you get set up somewhere else, so unless it's particularly valuable, cash out or just give it to someone who needs it, like whoever you crash with.

It can also be a great opportunity to get rid of everything you haven't used in a while. It's a lot better to do that early than have it sneak up on you as money gets tighter. But if storage is cheap enough then boxing it all may be quicker. Parents got a big garage?

A car in the US is a huge asset. Being ex-navy should be worth something too. Remember that any shit work you can leave in a hurry at no cost is still money you can use to help find better work, and stay in the good humour of your host. Mind you don't catch too many hours in a crap job.

Okay, I don't know your particulars and a lot of advice varies from city to city and town to town, but here are steps I would take in your situation:

1. Talk to landlord and see if a short term lease extension (one to three months) is possible.

2. Talk to friends and gamers and friends of friends and friends of gamers and heck even ask the bartender at a neighborhood bar to see if anybody is looking for a roomate and/or has crash space for a month or three. (If you're local to Pittsburgh I can give you some leads and possibly even space on a cot in the basement for a few days)

3. Use similar social networks to look for part time food-on-the-table temp jobs. Usually someone you know needs a burger flipper, cashier or help loading trucks at a place that can't hang on to employees.

4. If you can't find the above through people you actually know, turn to Craigslist and whatever charities / social services are local. There may or may not be options to rent rooms from YMCAs, Youth Hostels or even Churches near you. (Oddly the Quakers (Society of Friends) and Unitarians seem the best for this near where I am.)

5. Look up costs of local storage units and compare those to your estimate of the loss from selling furniture now and repurchasing similar later. Regardless of what it comes up, sell off or donate some of your heaviest / least essential stuff to make the inevitable move easier.

After the VA medical scandal, politicians made noises about taking care of us. Depending on where you are, they might have even accomplished something you can use. In addition to the VA ebenefits, you could try usajobs.gov.

Move to Asia and teach English

Thanks for the advice, fellas. I'm going to see how next week goes before I go into panic mode or anything. Right now though I have the cardboard boxes, a few more lines of credit (about 3500 USD more credit), and a potential crash location set up in case things go south.