system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
When should I tell my supervisor that I’m thinking about dropping out of my PhD?

Here’s my situation, in a bit more detail: I’m just at the end of the Master’s portion of the degree, and would be leaving with a good grade in that; I’m in a social sciences/humanities programme in a world top 10 institution for my subject; I am in the UK; I’m fully funded by a research council. 

I’m basically 95% certain that I want to leave, and have already started searching for jobs. I don’t want my supervisor to put work in to my project when I know I’m planning on leaving - I would feel really guilty about it. On the other hand, I can’t afford to pay my rent if I lose my funding before I find another source of income and am a big fan of not starving to death - I don’t know if telling him means the institution will be alerted and cause me problems on that front, especially because I have no idea how long it will take for me to find something. At the minute, I’m considering not saying anything until I have a job secured, but again, I’m worried that that’s a dick move. 

What would you guys do, in my position? I can provide more information about my reasoning/situation if that helps - I’m being purposefully vague about the specific university and course.
gpt
Don't say a word until you have a new source of income. It's just about priorities, and your supervisor should understand if they're a decent person, and if not then meh, they evidently care more about their convenience than your wellbeing. But also: you don't \*know\* what'll happen, maybe you look around and are disappointed and end up being very happy to continue with that very decent-sounding funded project. It's just way premature to think about making waves and potentially screwing yourself over, however (overly) nice and considerate it is.