How a grad paid off $48,000 in one year
To achieve the debt-free dream, he cleaned gutters for his parents and had a second part-time job
Daryl Marritt desperately wanted to use his master of education degree to help underprivileged children. But what he needed to do was pay down $48,000 in debt that hurt his ability to pursue his passion.
A year later Marritt had accomplished a feat that eludes thousands of other Canadians: he became debt-free.
He has since managed to save nearly $100,000.
Half a year after he graduated in 2011, Marritt faced a monumental decision. He could accept a dream job as a teacher in Honduras that paid $400 a month; or, he could return to a steady job at a car dealership in Brampton and embark on an aggressive campaign to eliminate his student loans and other debt.
“I was a slave to my debt,” the 30-yearold said.
Marritt took the full-time job in business development at the Toyota dealership and went on an extreme debt diet.
He negotiated a compensation package that knocked $3,000 off his $48,000 salary, but included a company car and payment of his auto insurance. His only monthly expense was a $50 cellphone bill, a discounted plan he took over from a seller on Kijiji.
He sold his own vehicle for $18,000. That paid off a $12,000 car loan. The rest, plus $2,500 more from the sale of his road bike, went toward his student loans. Marritt committed to putting at least $2,000 each month toward debt repayment. If he had more than $1,000 in his bank account at the end of the month, that also went toward his loans.
There were other sacrifices. He took on a low-paying, part-time job.
He made a deal to live with his parents, where he paid $200 plus several hours of handyman work each month for room and board.
“I was up on a ladder cleaning out gutters and any other jobs — rewiring electrical fixtures or whatever I had to do,” he said. Sushi was his one indulgence. “It was like ‘when I feel really frustrated about saving all this money and not going out, I’m going to go out for sushi, I’m not going to hold back.’ ”
Marritt climbed out of the red in September 2013, a year after setting the ambitious goal. Two years later, he has amassed $95,000 from savings, which he plowed into the stock market.
He invests the monthly $2,000 that used to go toward debt and makes frequent additional contributions to his savings, helped by pay raises, a part-time job and investing his tax returns.
Marritt says he is happier now that he has stepped off the “hedonistic treadmill” and feels pride in mastering the art of living simply.
He met his wife through the Meeting House, a church with Mennonite roots. It emphasizes the importance of frugal living and fostering relationships with people instead of things.
“We value simplicity; we value relationships,” Marritt said of his wife, Sarah, who also works at the car dealership.
They married this summer and exchanged wooden rings that cost $400.
Sarah made her own dress. And in lieu of gifts, they asked guests to pay their own way, $200 each, for a weekend stay at a camp in Parry Sound, Ont. The couple has moved in with Sarah’s family, paying $300 each month for a room in a 2,000-squarefoot home that houses 12 people — six adults, including his father-in law, his wife’s brother, sister and brotherin-law, two full-time children and four who live there part time.
They share all costs, including grocery and hydro bills. He figures his expenses are even lower now that he and his wife split rent and his company pays his cell bill.
The couple convinced their friends to replace their annual Christmas dinner at the Keg with a steak dinner at home.
Now that Marritt is debt-free it’s hard for him to part with money, but he doesn’t plan to be a miser.
The couple is well on their way toward their dream of building their own off-the-grid tiny house, at an estimated cost of $40,000, and a piece of property to park it on.
But they are content to be patient. They’re not going to take on debt to make it happen. Plus, the other members of their extended-family household don’t want to see them go.
One day, Marritt said, he might fulfil his dream of teaching underprivileged youth.
For now, he satisfies his desire to help others by volunteering at the local homeless shelter, an experience that puts his own sacrifices into perspective.
“We put too much stock in stuff,” Marritt said. “What’s more important: Money, possessions, houses, private space . . . or people?”