Weighing a contract offer against waiting - any advice?

I got a contract offer for 18 months as a retail manager and I am unsure whether to accept. There are 18 people counting on me, so I am trying to be careful. I have 7 months of savings left.

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it 7 months ago, and it got easier once I kept a simple log of every call and form.