MrSoap

During a recent "conversation" with my advisor (i.e. being yelled at because my opinion didn't agree with his), he stated that I will not be finished by next spring ("or any time soon") - which has been the "plan" all along. This presents a serious problem for me, as my financial situation will not allow me to continue to stay in school after April 2015 (13 months from now). I am now faced with the very real possibility that after 3.5 years (or in April 2015, 4.5 years) of graduate school, full time research and living off Ramen, I very well might be walking away with nothing to show for it. Further complicating things is that my research is being held up by a lack of supplies (only 1 company in world synthesizes the material required) and my advisor, who has starkly refused to allow me to continue - instead he continues to insist that I work on a fundamentally flawed concept (which is related to, but significantly different from my dissertation research). I've discussed the flaws with this system with him multiple times, and he shows no sign of caring. I'm really at a loss as to how to break this to him without him taking it as some sort of ultimatum. This is particularly stressful for me given his tendency to react completely unpredictably when given "bad" news - ranging from angry yelling to calm and rational discussion. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Just the thought of all the hours of research, course work, studying, TA'ing and everything else, all without obtaining a degree makes me sick to my stomach.