There are 4 things which are working against your hamstick idea. First is the compromise radial situation. Second is the hamsticks are too short for any reasonable efficiency, especially the 40 meter one. The third factor is in most typical situations like yours, you are surrounded by structures such as brick fences, stucco over wire house walls, and other obstacles. The fourth is your limited finances. I have operated when I visit friends and relatives in the SW desert areas and it is possible. Usually I do not operate from their home, but walk to a park, toss a wire into a tree and have a good time with my little QRP CW rig, usually on 20 or 40 meters. However I have had some success at their homes and other areas. I know your finances are tight, but if you could buy a remote antenna tuner (cost probably a few hundred dollars) you could load even rather short wires and have performance much better than the even shorter ham sticks. Just one example a SGC 237 will load something as short as 7 feet on 3.5 MHz or above. Now for sure this would not work too good on 3.5 or 7 mHz, but something like a 20 or 25 foot wire would probably work (OK) on 40, 30, and 20 meters. If no room for the wire, I have looped something like a 17 foot wire over probably a 10 foot high tree. Go up 10 feet, then over the top of the tree perhaps 2 feet, then drop down the opposite side of the tree to perhaps 5 feet above ground. The remote tuner would be right at the bottom of the vertical wire. Hook up the best counterpoise you can to the tuner ground. Use small insulated wire...something like 24 ga (perhaps green, brown or gray ?). This antenna will still "suck" but I have had some success with similar antennas on 40, 30, and 20 meters. Have not tried this idea on a 7 foot tree, but if you could obtain something like a 10 or 12 foot tree (and it will grow taller). A U shaped antenna may work nearly as good as a vertical, especially if you do not bring the far end of the antenna down too far toward the ground. Before purchasing a tuner, you could just drape something like a 17 foot wire over your 7 foot tree and feed it with coax and hook up the counterpoise to the shield, then trim the length for resonance on 20 meters. This would at least give you an idea if the concept is worth improving upon. The ARRL and RSGB and I think VK3YE and others have books on stealth antennas. I have even had some success loading up umbrella tables, rain gutters, and other miscellaneous objects, but usually need a tuner. Good Luck Rick KL7CW