Engineering7 min read
Technical Debt: When to Pay It Down vs. When to Rollover
Not all bad code is bad. Sometimes, speed matters more than quality. The "Credit Card" metaphor for engineering.
The Mentasm Team
December 16, 2025
The Credit Card Metaphor
Good Debt vs Bad Debt
If you take a loan to buy a factory (scale), that is good debt. If you take a loan to buy a vacation (waste), that is bad debt.
Good Tech Debt: Harcoding a variable to ship a prototype for a demo tomorrow. (You gain speed/learning). Bad Tech Debt: Copy-pasting code because you are too lazy to refactor. (You gain nothing).
The Rule of 3
- First time: Just Write it.
- Second time: Copy it.
- Third time: Refactor it.
Do not optimize prematurely. You don't know if anyone will use the feature yet. Make it work. Then make it right. Then make it fast.
The Cleanup Sprint
Dedicate 10-20% of every sprint to debt repayment. If you don't pay the interest, the compound interest will kill you later.