Graduate Exclusive! Beyond Finance Employee Ron M. Pays Off Nearly $40K and Surprises His Kids With Disneyland
While drowning in minimum payments, Ron made the decision to use his own company’s solution to get back on track. Now, he’s built up over $10,000 in savings, has already taken two trips to Hawaii to visit relatives, and surprised his kid with a Disneyland trip!
- Debt Amount: $37,547
- Started: October 2024
- Graduated: August 2025
Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m the Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist at Beyond Finance! I just celebrated my two-year anniversary here. Outside of work, I’m a NCAA baseball umpire.
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, in the East Bay. I love it. I’ve been here for about 30 years.
And I’m married with four kids: an 8- and 7-year-old, and two 5-year-olds. So yes, full house! It’s chaos. I always joke with my friends that I’m an underpaid Uber driver for my kids.
It was a rewarding feeling to be like, “Okay, one down, this many to go,” kind of mentality. You can cross it off with a Sharpie and just never have to think about it again.
How did you find yourself in debt?
I was laid off in 2023 and relied on my credit cards a little bit for medical expenses — things like that — for my family.
It was just this domino effect: I had a tire go out on my car, so I’d use my credit card. Then it was always something else. I was looking at my credit card statements almost daily — “Where’s the end? Where’s the light at the end of the tunnel? Is there an end of the tunnel for me?”
What made you join Beyond Finance as a client — not just an employee?
I was interviewing a candidate for a Consolidation Specialist role, and that person shared how they might approach a prospective client: “Why are you going to spend the rest of your life doing what you’re doing, when there’s a program in place to help individuals like yourself out of this situation?”
The candidate had no idea he was actually talking to someone struggling with their own debt. I joined the Beyond Finance program later that day.
What was your experience like as a client?
I know I work for this company, but I think anyone who enrolls in the program kind of faces this sense of: “Is this really going to work for me?”
It was a real relief when I saw the results: “Okay, this definitely works.”
It was a rewarding feeling to be like, “Okay, one down, this many to go,” kind of mentality. You can cross it off with a Sharpie and just never have to think about it again.
And the savings and stress reduction was incredible — to not have to worry anymore, just to be able to accomplish more goals for myself and my family.
What changed in your day-to-day life during the program?
It was like a 180-degree overnight behavioral change when it came to finances — one million percent.
In years past, I’d use credit cards for my kids to have presents under the tree at Christmas. Because of the savings from my Beyond program, I was able to avoid using credit cards throughout the entire holiday season last year.
And I paid for my son and daughter’s birthday party — which, previously, would’ve been on credit cards.
What’s life been like since you graduated?
That affordability — and not having to stress about, “Well, I can pay for this on credit and I’ll just pay it off in the next three months,” that justification process — I don’t have to worry about that.
Next week is Thanksgiving and we’re surprising the kids and taking them down to Disneyland. They’re going to be incredibly excited once they realize where we’re going!
We’ve also been able to take two trips to Hawaii to see our family, and I’ve built savings of over $10,000.
Just going out to dinner and not having to worry about putting that on credit makes a huge difference.
What new perspective do you have on Beyond Finance now that you’ve been a client?
The validity of the program.
The program actually works. And coming out on the other side of it helps me talk to candidates who might be on the fence about joining our team.
I can tell my own personal success story and say: it works, and it helps save individuals like myself so much money.
I’m just very, very, very happy to have gone through the program and to be here as an employee as well!