I Think You Should Stop Paying Your Debt Right Now
By: Leo Guinan
Tags: Mental Health, Me, Finance, Innovation, Debt

Life After College

I had a degree in Computer Science. I thought I would have no trouble finding a job. Turns out, I sucked at interviewing. I did finally figure it out though. After nine months of job searching, including a failed interview at Best Buy trying to get a seasonal job*, I finally got not one, but two job offers. I got to make a choice. That was a freedom that I had lost touch with.

At the same time, I also began a battle with mental health. I don’t know why everything happening would stress me out like that, but it kinda broke me. It started out with panic attacks, and eventually fell into a depression that I had a hell of a time breaking out of.

Corporate Struggles

I struggled in the corporate world. I kept trying to do things differently. Trying to do things faster, more efficiently. I kept getting told to stop. People were noticing things.

I got a warning from my boss that I was getting too many code review comments. This was because I was new to this whole corporate life. I figured out that I could just do something to the best of my ability and let someone who knew better tell me what I did wrong, instead of me struggling to make it perfect before it got to that stage. That was how I enjoyed learning.

I realized that I could be more productive if I threw a movie or TV show onto my second monitor, and work on the other. Again, I was told that people had certain perceptions, and it looked bad. I realize now that I had discovered a life hack for dealing with my pretty extreme ADHD. I stopped though, because what would people think?

I am super lucky that I was in the job I landed in. They were really nice to me the whole time. It was truly having a second family. And the people I worked with were some of the most wonderful and knowledgeable people I have ever worked with. I took advantage of their tuition reimbursement, and got my first master’s degree. They sent me to England for three weeks. That was one of the coolest experiences of my life. But I had to leave. Why?

Money.

The Problem

I was working at a nonprofit. I was approached by a consulting firm that offered me a raise of about 40%. I took it. I think it was important for me to make that change, but I didn’t quite realize the ramifications at the time. Why did I have to leave? The debt monster that was chasing me. So I continued to run into the future. The debt from school chasing me the whole time.

I worked on a couple of projects at a couple of different companies. It was not a great time in my life. I picked up smoking again. I quit the day I graduated from college, just like I told myself I would. About seven years later, I picked it right back up. That was a dumb mistake. Took me about 2 more years to quit again.

Analysis

I realize something now, though. The job was not the best. But the thing I was really missing was a support system. So, I turned to one that I had previously. Cigarettes.

I now have a job that I enjoy. I switched from consulting here to a full-time employee. The company actually does care about its employees. My team feels like a family again. I am currently still running from the debt monster. My second master’s degree is in progress.

This time though, I didn’t bother getting tuition reimbursement from the company. I was in school just to prevent having to pay student loans. Tuition reimbursement at this company locked me here for two years. I wasn’t that ready for a commitment. I like having flexibility.

As I look back on all of this, I realize how much the fear of debt has driven my life. I at least have turned it into a positive for me. I make about 2x what I did out of school initially. That isn’t a bad investment for 9 years. I know a ton more than I did. I love learning, so I figured out how to at least learn while I was running from debt. I think it finally paid off.

One of my realizations has been that debt no longer makes sense. It made sense until the value shifted from real-world items to data. Data appreciates over time. Our economy has just become unlimited. Therefore, debt is wasteful. We need to get rid of it now. We are tying people to their past mistakes and stopping them from living their future.

Signed,

Someone who is hopefully close to getting rid of your debt and mine.

*the best part of this story is that I showed up in a suit to my interview. The people I asked to see the interviewing manager thought I was serving him a lawsuit or something. This shows how poorly I understood interviewing at that point in time.

Note: I am not a financial planner. This worked for me, and I hope some of the ideas work for you. Please consult those around you for advice before trying to apply them. Communication makes lives so much easier. I am working to cancel all debt, but you need to be fully aware of your situation and what the consequences are if you stop paying your debt.

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