I live in a small coastal village in Southeastern Connecticut and work remotely. What I did was purchase a three family house that provides a good bit of revenue on it's own. This makes me much less dependent on coding for money and smooths out the ups and downs of contracting.

I'm also looking into diversifying income streams with some seasonal side business in an effort to capture some of the tourist dollars that flow through the town.

My new goal is to buy up as much of the town as I can, I now see contracting as an income source to park in more rental property, and thanks to the magic of leverage and anticipated low interest rates, this should be a viable exit strategy in relatively little time.