Contract work or permanent, which would you take?

I got a contract offer for 9 months as a hotel front-desk agent and I am unsure whether to accept. I am in Fresno, in case local advice matters. I have 8 months of savings left. How did you handle benefits?

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it last year, and it settled down once I kept a simple log of every call and form.