After having 2 major layoffs at work since January, I'm starting to get more concerned. I may have a 50/50 chance of staying employed the next year or so. If I get unemployed, it is likely I won't find anything in the same industry, which means I'd have to go to earning perhaps 1/10th of what I am now if I took a low-end cashier type of job (since writing software is the only skilled job I can do without extra schooling that I can't afford right now). I wouldn't even be able to make the house payments with that.
So, I'm pondering what my options are if that happens. My main expense is the house (and I have no equity anymore). Everything else is paid for. I'll be out of money almost immediately if I have no paychecks coming in. I figure I'd get unemployment checks for 6-9 months, which won't even cover the house payment after taxes. I'm not sure if that would then let me qualify for an Obama mortgage modification or not. I'd consider stop paying my mortgage payments and see how long I can stay there before they kick me out... that would get me free housing for a while, letting me figure out what else to do (and also saving money for alternate plans -- see below).
Anyway, my thinking is along the lines of how cheaply I could possibly live in a rural area of NH. (NH because it is free, cheap, and closer to possible high tech jobs should I find one again.) I see plots of land for sale for as low as $12,000 or so (for 5 acres or more), sometimes less, but then you are getting into landlocked land, unbuildable conservation land, or extremely tiny plots of land that aren't rural. 0.15 acres for $4000 sounds great until I see it is surrounded by suburbia, and I'm thinking of doing something that'd violate their zoning laws -- so whatever I buy needs to be way out there where people won't mind me doing crazy things.
First wild and crazy housing idea: tool shed. Big one, like 12x16 with a loft. Tool sheds have much less regulations than a house, plus they are extremely cheap. Like a couple thousand for the materials. I'd have a little heater (propane, kero, or I'll rip my pellet stove out of my current house, or use a little wood stove [can get those cheap]), probably insulate it. Its not illegal to live in one, right? I think I just have to make sure I don't put plumbing in it, or wire it up to the grid. I'd need a water source somehow, so a natural brook nearby could help, or maybe a well point as a last resort. Plus, I'd need a place to crap in. I see outhouses in Maine every so often... still legal in NH right? Or maybe just a portable chemical toilet. I just don't want to do that makes my tool shed become a "house".
Next idea: tow a dumpy (but not too dumpy) old camper or trailer onto property, then live in it. If it is a camper, it doesn't actually have to be drivable more than once, just to get it there. I think people get rid of these cheap when they are old, although I'm not sure how you tow one if all you have is a car. I'm assuming I'd have to pay someone to move it for me.
Other ideas would get into the area of tents, like a fancy $1000 yurt hut. But then I'm really roughing it. I'd prefer to avoid that.
Another issue is that I'll need a place to put my stuff, and what I describe above won't hold it all. Maybe a 2nd tool shed just for stuff, or use a storage place you pay for, or a root cellar if I'm really ambitious. What I'd be storing would mainly be guns, supplies (food etc) and equipment. All that fancy stuff I own now like furniture, book cases, TVs, etc. would all have to be abandoned or otherwise disposed of.
I also have 2 cats; they MUST be with me. My wife won't go along with any of this, so she'd most likely be elsewhere.
Thoughts? Am I nuts? Whatever I do, I don't want to end up in a tent city in CA... so planning ahead can be useful. Hopefully it'll never come to any of this, although I wouldn't mind buying a plot of land in advance just in case.