depending on how much/if I could collect unemployment or other benefits (food stamps or housing assistance?) I could probably survive for 4-6 months without a job assuming I cut way back on spending (ie: cancel cable, stop going out, stop shopping at whole foods, etc)... if I hit that 6 month mark without a job or without a job that could pay the rent, my last resort plan B would be moving back in with my parents and taking out loans to go back to school -- the one benefit of where my parents live, tons of great universities within driving distance. I could pretty easily commute to any of the manhattan colleges, not to mention rutgers or princeton in NJ.