In 2024 I was living with my girlfriend, working 60+ hours a week as a manager at about ten different cafes under the same coffee chain. I was making pretty good money, but I practically lived at work, and all of my relationships and passion projects outside of work suffered for it. Towards the end of the year I discovered she was seeing another man because I wasn't there for her. I broke up with her, packed a bag and couch surfed for a few weeks before loading all my belongings into a storage unit and moving in with some friends of mine.

Around the same time, I quit my job, as it was clearly ruining every aspect of my life. I starting working casual at an independent coffee shop in the city and finally took my life back. I'm spending more time with my family, I'm seeing my friends again, and the rent at this house was really cheap so I could afford the massive pay cut I took by quitting my job.

In the second half of 2025 we were all kicked out of the house due to another romantic relationship falling apart, and I was forced to take out a loan to secure a rental. I'm now suddenly paying three times the rent I was before, with a storage unit I'm struggling to afford and a pretty significant amount of debt.

I really don't like asking for help from people, but I now owe my roommate quite a bit of money from him covering my half of the rent when I couldn't, and I'm hoping there's someone out there who has something to give, anything will help. I really don't want to leave this current job for something that will pay me more. I truly love what I do, everyone there respects my time and my energy, and at the end of the day I'd rather be happy than be rich.

Thank you for reading.

-Aaron