After one of our contractors suddenly quit, left the country, and dramatically changed his lifestyle, my old manager started to joke that in the future he'll on

After one of our contractors suddenly quit, left the country, and dramatically changed his lifestyle, my old manager started to joke that in the future he'll only ever hire people with a mortgage. What do you value the most? Slightly more practical advice - this depends entirely on your situation, but what about consulting? If you can transition to that and still make enough to cover the mortgage, you should have much more control over your schedule. Along the same lines - I once worked with someone who was only working 4 days a week. Why? Simply because he asked. It didn't affect his role on the team, or his effectiveness, he just wasn't there one day a week. If you're willing to take a 20% pay cut, it's an option to consider.