I lived for about 11 years after college without a mortgage and very reasonable rent payments. It was liberating in the beginning of my career to be able to tell some manager bearding me about doing something that I would not do the aspects of the request that I did not enjoy doing. I’ve written computer software for about 15 years now. Being a creative introvert , I’m not particularly good at customer support…so I simply said I would not and could not do it. They already had 35 out of about 500 employees doing that and adding me as one more didn’t make sense, anyway.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a hard worker (I worked many 16 hour days because I wanted to, not because I had to) and like doing my job on my terms to help a company achieve a goal…especially because there was more qualified people doing the extraneous stuff I was being asked to do. More than once a manager in a different department tried to “get rid of me” for not being a “team player” (that is, not buckling to his will and doing stuff I never want to do nor are good at doing). Fortunately, someone knew that it was better to keep me doing what I was good and productive doing rather than try to make me do things I simply don’t desire to do or are not particularly good at doing. aka the guy in the back spitting out code, designing systems and getting “filtered” information about bugs and enhancement requests via a support team. That’s my happy place in life and it was very satisfying.

This all started to change, however. They started dangling carrots in front of me (stock options, bonuses, etc.). Greed crept in and I found myself wanting more and more money. This lead to a me obtaining a mortgage…and now I realize that I had a sense of indentured servitude that I allowed myself to fall into.

Fast forward to today. Now, I work at a small company that was shifting to do software and has now reversed course on that decision. I was trying to get in on the ground floor of something that could have been really huge. This was so I could finally not have to work, but rather choose to work. However, they asked me to do support because they cannot/have not adequately staffed the support department, yet they want world class 24/7/365 support.

I agreed to start doing support because I thought that it was a means to an end. I now realize how wrong I was. It was a means to a bad end. I have indentured myself and am now doing the exact things I do not want to do.

So, you see my conundrum…with a mortgage on two houses (primary dwellings we had before marriage) and both of us “lucky” to still have our jobs after the morons in charge of mortgage backed securities and our fiat-currency system screwed up, we have begun discussing some options.

We decided to sell both of our houses in the near future and we will be outright purchasing a different, more modest home with the equity we have in our two homes. I estimate that we should be able to have disposable income of about 80% of what we make at that point if we decide to continue doing the same jobs. My wife has a great job that she loves and her med-benefits cover both of us.

I am starting to realize that the things you buy (i.o.w, buy but do not own: i.e. mortgage, loans, etc.) begin to own you, to paraphrase Tyler Durden in Fight Club. I basically allowed myself to become a drone, mindlessly allowing myself to be bullied and told to do things I was neither good at nor desired to do.

That’s all about to change…realization is the first step to enlightment.

I have a whole new attitude about life and work. I started to feel that same feeling I did until 4 years ago, before I allowed myself to become another yes-man/corporate drone. I can even feel the creativity returning to my mind and body. I think I may even quit doing full-time software and go to culinary school or even just start doing hardwood flooring installation. Now I have that chance because we will never allow debt to enslave us if we do not absolutely have to. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that the existence of debt is bad. Debt as a tool, used wisely, can help you achieve your goals if you are willing to give a lot of control to the people that employ you. I just think that if you use debt to provide a roof over your head, a car to drive and depend upon a salary provided by people that are mostly interested in exploiting you to pay those bills that you have lost a little bit of your freedom. You have willingly indentured yourself to a company (or even society) to achieve a particular goal.

I, for one, will no longer partake of this poison if I do not have to.

I lived in Harlem, Crown Heights, and Bed-Stuy during the 9+ years I lived in New York, and my apartment was ONCE broken into, and NOTHING was stolen! And I lived ALONE most of those years! I lived in one of the worst neighborhoods in San Francisco, and then in Oakland, and NEVER had a problem! I now live in North Memphis (to give you an idea of what kind of neighborhood it is, my mother bought me a stun gun!), and again, I have only ONCE had a problem – my place was broken into, and they stole my stereo and printer – but left the laptop! My neighbors speak to one another, we look out for each other, and my rent is LESS than one WEEK’S after-tax pay (actually about 3/4 of it – for a 2 bedroom place). My utilities is the other 1/4 – only because I hate the cold! In the summer it’s a LOT less.

BTW, I’m not some big muscle-bound guy. I’m barely 5′5″, weigh about 150 lbs, and am female. I just learned how to take care of myself and watch my surroundings, and NEVER look or act like a victim. I’ve NEVER been mugged, RARELY threatened (maybe 2-3 times), and in 20 years of living on my own, in some pretty questionable neighborhoods, I’ve had 2 break-ins. I know people in “good” neighborhoods who’ve had more trouble!

Here’s the link for those who are interested:
http://martialsimplicity.blogspot.com/2009/06/how-to-get-rid-of-things-you-dont.html

I love this article and I would post it my room.

Thanks a Million

Madhu