Looking for anything in the LA area

Hi. My name is Phil and I’m a 35 year old immigrant from Germany. I have a Greencard, and have lived and worked in Long Beach, CA for the last 10 years. This spring, my last job ended when the video store I managed finally disappeared (I say ‘disappeared‘ because it was such a long process, it almost feels to me like it literally faded away over the years), and around the same time the lease expired on my roommate situation, figuratively.

I took all that to be a sign; an opportunity to start once again, again. So I spent the last month putting all my stuff in storage, and now I’m on a mini vacation to regroup and figure out my next steps.

Problem is, I have neither job nor place right now, and all the research I’ve done so far suggests it hardly possible to get one without the other. And I don’t want to just jump into the next job or roommate situation that I come across (I’ve had my fair share of bad ones).

The good thing is that I have only a bag and a backpack right now, and nothing to hold me at any particular place. I worked almost full time (as the only employee) at the video store from 2020-2022 and saved up most of that money. I have references and am willing to pay a few months in advance, if that means that I can spend more time figuring out exactly what I want to do with my life. I’m not looking for much; a room with a door I can close behind me, so I can finish that novel I’ve been working on since 2018. A shack with electricity and running water would be more than what I lived in for most of 2020 and 2021, and while I know that with time and age I should maybe demand a little more for myself, right now I really just need a home base; something I can go job hunting from. The one thing I need, however, is Southern California. I’ve fallen in love with the place and wouldn’t know what to do if I had to leave. I don’t have a car, but I do have a license, and if there’s space to park a bicycle, I will make it work. I also was a busboy for two years, so I know how to keep a place clean. I’m not big into smoking and drinking, although I don’t mind others doing it. I won’t leave dishes in the sink or hairs in the drain. I make a delicious rum banana hot sauce, bake my own bread and squeeze my own ginger shot (and I will share all of those goodies, as well as my extensive digital movie collection).

My budget would be around $900, and I don’t have a preferred location. Just some considerate roommates would be nice. I’d like to move by July 1st, but I’m prepared to be realistic.