<prompt> Human: Briefly: Im technically homeless because have been living with friends the last few years without having to pay them rent, because I earn enough that if I were to pay rent or mortgage, it would completely drain all my income. So my friends have been very kind to let me stay with them until my circumstances improve. Now my current benefactor has made it clear that I need to leave this living situation within one year, because he is selling his house and moving abroad, and I am a middle-aged woman and passionate to be on my own anyway. So clearly with this inheritance I need to buy a shelter over my head. Problem is the area I live is High Cost of Living, so even if I were to buy a house in cash out outright, I still could not afford the property taxes, HOAcondo fees, utilities, food, everything one needs to survive. I might barely squeak by but Id have nothing left to enjoy life. All my money would go into that house. I couldnt bear living that way. So Im currently on the verge of buying a Mercedes Sprinter and luxuriously customizing it to live in it. That way I would have a roof over my head, everywhere I go would be home, and would still have about 200,000 left as a cushion to fall back on anytime, and my income would go towards maintaining the vehicle and daily life. On the other hand, I might not be able to Bear living that way either, imagine living in a van with all your stuff in there!! Id probably have to get a storage unit too, to store off-season clothing and my bicycle, car maintenance supplies, Etc.Alternately, Ive also thought about buying a house and renting out rooms so the house would earn me money. However Ive read in a thread here on Reddit that its not wise to buy a house to rent out unless you can fully afford it on your own without renters.Additionally, The thought of buying a house whether with renters to help pay the mortgage, or buying it on my own, this thought makes me Restless. You see, because my children ages 11 14, who still very much need me live in an hour away with their father, and I work and Im thriving an hour away from them, Im always going back and forth. So having a house in one place would be overwhelming, as Id be torn between three things, my job, my children, and my house which would absorb the bulk of my energy and attention.. and if I buy a house all my energy would go into that and it would be less time enjoying life with my children.Okay, so thats my predicament my ideas. Please set me straight, you Financial gurus. If you were in my situation what would you do with 300,000??Thank you for taking a moment to consider my situation, and Any input from your outside perspective is much appreciated. Thank you.p.s. The voice-to-text function on my phone randomly capitalizes some words. There are so many typos to correct after using voice-to-text, so as long as things are spelled correctly, I leave them be. Good enough.  <response>: 300K wont last you a lifetime but it will go a long way towards getting you back on your feet if you are smart about it. Spending close to 100K of that money to live in a van is not smart. Heres what you should do:1. Make sure all of that money gets into your bank account2. Buy a used car if you dont already have one. Do not buy something fancy, but rather something practical. 3. Find a modest place to live - probably an apartment since you dont own much of anything4. Start looking for a higher-paying job but keep your current one in the meantime. Your 300K should last a while but you will need more income if you want to avoid being homeless again. 5. Figure out what you need for an emergency fund and invest the rest in low-cost index funds until you learn more about investing. You can either do this in a brokerage account or open up an IRA. If in a brokerage account, you can always cash out if you need to get that money back. 