Increase income or cut costs. There isn’t more to it.

Many people will place a cap on medical expenses for animals. At some point their own quality of life is diminished by recurring medical treatment.

If you want the job then go ahead since they’ll probably stop moving ahead with your app. But it will be used to keep your wages down. I would not and o would look for a different job.

Did you have a severance clause in your contract? If not and you’re at-will then you’re not entitled to any severance.

Housing is not an investment for most people. Recent housing market has been loopy, but usually housing trails market returns and barely beats inflation.

If your goal is to invest in RE the math is different than if you simply intend to own your home. If your goal is to simply increase NW with minimal effort then the market is a much better option.

Use it to put gas into your car and drive to a job.

I find it hard to believe that the choice is so binary. I’m sure there are/will be opportunities that offer career and compensation growth. You don’t have to decide to stick around forever right now. You can stick around until you find something better. Just be sure to take a look around a few times a year.

Overall, one of the best ways to accelerate your career along all dimensions is to switch jobs. You fall behind when you’ve only known one way of doing things.

You provide no detail so we can only assume you owe that or you used the estimator wrong or the withholding is low, despite what that note said.