Mark & Juanita wrote:

Just as a thought, have you thought about raising your income, but
living on what you are currently making? By stashing away the extra for
some time, you could afford to have some "down time" in the future to
pay your dues in a new job. Make it something that is transparent to
you, as in through payroll deduction so you don't see the extra money,
only the increase in some investment account.

Yes and no. There's more to the story than just how much I could make in my
industry. I have a nice niche job and what, for the industry, is an
absolutely obscene amount of home time. I can't earn more than this
without giving up another 30-40 hours a week, and I'd rather be poor and
have time to play in my shop and do stuff with my kids.

So, in the short term, I have no plans to raise my income. In the longer
term, my useful income is going to be going up quite dramatically once some
long-running obligations are dealt with. We're going to do without it just
like we have been for all these years, and that should build cash reserves
very quickly indeed.

From there, I don't know. We'll figure it out when we actually get there.

--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/