My FU money story (a snippet from
my post on FU money):
...
It was the first time I was making over $100K/year. Not a feat I’d thought I’d manage on a liberal arts degree and no certificates to speak of—certainly not at 25 years old.
I had something to lose.
After several months of very positive feedback and a generally good experience, I was called in for an earlier-than-expected review.
They offered me a full-time position with a slightly higher salary, performance bonus, and huge benefits package.
I was already saving about 50% of what I earned, but the retirement benefits would greatly speed up my financial independence path.
I had about $50,000 to my name at the time with no debt.
As we were finishing up the meeting, they had one very unexpected caveat to the offer I’d need to accept.
“You’ll need to cease operations of your business.”
Now mind you, at the time, my little side consultancy was basically nothing. I might have earned a few thousand dollars from it in the same year. Just from existing clients—maintaining the service I’d offered them in years prior. These were small organizations in an entirely different sector with tiny budgets.
I certainly didn’t compete with the Beltway bandits.
I said thank you very much. Once I had time to look through the benefits package and consider everything, I’d follow up with my answer.
I sent an email shortly after the meeting asking for clarity about the business:
“In regard to my side business, I haven’t taken on a new client since I started working with the company. It’s hardly active, really just taking payments to continue to offer existing services to fulfill contract obligations. I’m not sure how reasonable it is to cancel those existing contracts.”
The response: “You’ll need to dissolve the actual LLC.”
That night, I spent a lot of time thinking about what was being asked of me. Initially, I thought I might need to cease ongoing operations—but they were asking me to dissolve the entire company. A business I’d started years before and genuinely meant something to me.
At the time, I still had ongoing service contracts with every single client I’d ever had. Sure, it wasn’t much money—but the point was to keep those relationships alive. Remember all those concrete contracts I talked about earlier?
I’d have to break those contracts—it’d hurt my reputation and have some financial consequences. At the same time, it just seemed wrong.
The next day I went into the office like normal. I set up a brief morning meeting with my supervisor.
I explained that I wouldn’t be able to break my existing client contracts, that I was obligated to keep to the terms. Once my client contracts were up for annual renewal, I offered to not renew them. However, the LLC would not be dissolved.
My supervisor thanked me and said he’d follow up shortly. I went back to my desk and awaited the outcome.
Not long after, my supervisor showed up at my desk. He looked upset, apologized, and said that not only was my offer rescinded but that they were canceling my contract.
Right then.
As in—”Get your stuff—we’re walking out right now. Give me your security badge.”
I shut down my workstation, grabbed my bag and a few personal items, then walked out the door with the supervisor right behind me.
I drove home stunned, but happy with my decision.
FU money let me do what I thought was right.
And I wasn’t the least bit worried about paying my bills until I found a new job....
Full source: This Is the Power of FU Money (and How I Was Escorted Out)