Qualifying before Quitting

In 2004 my life plan looked something like this:  buy a house while I still had a good salary, leave my career in biotech forever, live out of my truck and rock climb full time while renting out the house.  The thought of this plan made me really happy.

What I actually did was was this:  buy a house that needed a lot of work, and keep working to support my boyfriend's DIY efforts.  (He picked window refinishing over heat for the winter.  It was rough time.)  

Finally, when the responsibility of homeownership was about to crush me under its mighty thumb, I reverted to plan A and quit my job anyway.  What was the worst that could happen?

Well…less than a month after kissing a regular paycheck and financial security goodbye, and just in time for climbing season to start, this happened: