When we quit our tasks back in 2008 to travel the world for a year, we understood that we needed to save up at least $20,000 to be able to afford a year-long trip in Southeast Asia. That was taking into account that travel was going to cost us $50 / day and there’d be some money for flights and travel insurance set aside.

But, quitting your job to live somewhere else and begin a business is much less expensive than quitting to travel full-time. moving from place to place is expensive. Buses, boats, planes trains and taxis quickly add up and the cost of hotel spaces is much more expensive than a long-term AirBnB rental or better yet, a 1 year apartment lease in a foreign country.

So how much does it cost to live abroad? how much money should you have saved up before taking the plunge and trying to become a digital nomad? Where are the most affordable locations to live and how much money do you need to begin making per month in purchase to be sustainable?

In this article I’m going to answer these concerns to ensure that aspiring digital nomads realize just how attainable their goals can be. This article will focus mostly on blogging and social network because that’s what we do, but there are many other travel tasks for digital nomads out there.

It’s really not expensive to change your life. You may be amazed to learn that you don’t need a lot of money in purchase to quit your job and become a full-time digital nomad, and you could be economically sustainable before you even leave home.

How much Does it cost To live Abroad?

This is the main question that everyone asks when thinking about life as a digital nomad and it will set the framework for this article. once you know how much it costs to live in a foreign country, you can then budget how much you need to save and earn in purchase to continue a full-time life overseas and eventually grow a business to the point where you can not only make, but save money.

The point of this article is to show the least expensive lifestyle, while still preserving a high quality of life, to ensure that you can see just how bit you need to begin out with. I’m going to list the most affordable locations we’ve found, but I’m not going so far on the budget end that your life will be uncomfortable.

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For travellers, it’s possible to live on the extremely lowest budget possible, because when you’re on a “trip”, everything is temporary. but when you’re making a life of it, you need to be comfortable, otherwise it won’t be sustainable.

I’m going to list some examples of apartments and costs of living that I’ve found in a few of the very best value regions in the world, including central America, Southeast Asia and parts of Eastern Europe.

Cost of Apartments ($250 / month)

You can find a nice studio apartment in Chiang Mai or on the island of Koh Phangan or Koh Samui in Thailand for just $250 per month. We’ve also seen similar costs in Mexico, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Indonesia etc. Of course, this is the lower end of the lodging budget in countries that are understood to have terrific value apartments. If you’re going to more expensive countries like Italy or France, you’ll have to pay 4 times this.

Our cool bit Casita in San Pancho, Mexico (5,000 pesos, or $280 USD / month)
An apartment for $250 will be a no frills place, with a bed, a couch, wi-fi, air conditioning (maybe) and likely a small TV. but it will be clean and bright. You could go lower than this, but remember, you want to be comfortable in our new home and workspace.

You may not find locations this low-cost online, especially if you’re browsing in AirBnB, VRBO, HomeAway or sites like that. When you sign a 6 month lease, you’ll get a far better place for much less money, because you’ll be renting a long-term home rather than a getaway rental, which are typically twice as expensive.

? Bonus Tip: consider house sitting to get free lodging around the world!

Cost of Food ($200 / month)

You can easily find $2 – $3 meals in many of Southeast Asia, many parts of Eastern Europe and central America as well. The bonus offer about this budget for those living in Southeast Asia is that the food is still healthy, while low-cost street food in many other parts of the world will confine you to deep fryers and trans-fats.

Delicious street food or even some international food like pizza and shawarma can typically be found for $3 or less. You caneat breakfast in your apartment for $0.50 as well.

Make yourself an omelette or a bowl of cereal to cut costs on your first meal of the day. You’ll probably be staying home and working in your pyjamas for the first few hours of the day anyways!

If you eat breakfast at home for 50 cents, then 2 meals out each day at $3 each, you’ll only spend $6.50 / day on food. That’s just $195 per month, let’s phone call it $200.

Cost of deliver ($130 / month)

Depending on where you’re living, it’s typically a good idea to have your own mode of transport. You want to feel like you have mobility and sometimes you can feel confined to your apartment if you’re out of town and have no method to get around. even public buses can be aggravating at times.

In central America, Southeast Asia and parts of Eastern Europe, you can lease motorbikes for $5 or less per day. better yet, if you’re planning on staying for 6 months or more, you can buy a new motorbike for as bit as $500 and then sell it when you leave.

I’ve heard of people selling their motorbike or car overseas for the same price that they purchased it for, so you could get your deliver budget down to nearly $0… but let’s say you lease for 6 months and you get a good deal on a small motorbike for $4 / day (what we’re currently paying on Koh Samui in Thailand). That’s just $120 / month.

Gas in a small 125cc bike shouldn’t cost you more than $10 / month (really) so that’s just $130 per month on transport. That’s less expensive than a public deliver pass in many countries!

Cost of Mobile data & Phone plan ($30 / month)

You’ll want to have some type of mobile data, especially if you’re planning on ending up being a travel blog writer or social network worker. In my experience, you can typically get a really good pre-paid plan for $30 / month, including 7GB data and a adequate amount of talk and text time.

Cost of entertainment ($50 / month)

In many of the less expensive regions, which I’ve noted in this article so far, you can get a beer at a bar for $2 or less, mixed drinks for $3, and you can see a movie at the theatre for as bit as $1. Not to mention, there are many free activities you can enjoy – swimming, going to waterfalls, hiking, etc. entertainment is cheap.

Hanging Out With Our Friends
But you still need to have an entertainment budget. $50 will allocate you enough money to go out with good friends a few times per month, see a movie, pay the entrance fee to a couple of sights and just enjoy yourself. That’s what it’s all about!

Total cost of Living in low-cost countries ($660 / month)

In my experience, this is a pretty fair budget to have if you’re trying to begin a business in less expensive countries found in central America, Southeast Asia and parts of Eastern Europe.

Accommodation: $250 / month

Food: $200 / month

Transport: $130 / month

Mobile Data: $30 / month

Entertainment: $50 / month

How much money should You save before Leaving Home?

In my experience, and the experience of many other bloggers, it takes at least 6 months to begin making some money from your blog. If you started your travel blog with our how To begin a travel blog guide and you got our Pro-Blogging eBook, you may be able to earn money even sooner, but generally, if you’re costs 4 – 6 hours each day on your site for 6 months, then after that time you should begin seeing some financial returns.

☞ Not sure what to name your blog? Doesn’t matter! You can still begin your blog and choose a travel blog name later

That’s not to say that some blogs don’t take longer than that, and also some blogs can earn much sooner, it’s just a basic guideline that assists with setting goals.

So if a life abroad costs $660 / month, and it takes 6 months to begin earning money, then you’ll have to save 6 x $660 to ensure that you have a good nest egg before leaving home. That would be $3,960 (let’s phone call it $4,000), presuming that you are earning at least $660 / month within 6 months after starting your blog.

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You’ll also need a flight out of your home country and some extra money just in case. Let’s say a one method flight costs you $800 (that’s a normal fare from Vancouver to Bangkok or new York to Bali for example). For extra money, $1,200 should do. So you’ll need $2,000 for flights and extra back-up funds.

Add this to the $4,000 you need to savefor the first 6 months of your life and this implies you should save around $6,000 before quitting your job and moving to a foreign country to begin on the path to ending up being a digital nomad.

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While You’re saving Money

Now it’s time to begin saving money. but this time around of saving is also a time of research and a good time to begin your blog and begin the process of transitioning to a life of digital nomadism. begin upgrading your electronics (like your laptop, your smart phone and your camera gear) in purchase to enhance the quality and efficiency of the content you’re creating.

While you’re saving money, you should also be building your business. who knows, by the time you save up that $6,000, you could already be earning $660 / month from your blog, meaning you can move abroad and keep that $6,000 in the bank, or utilize it to invest in your business further.

The money saving process is all part of the fun, and it’s interesting for people to read about your transition, so make sure to compose about it and share your experience. people like it!

Remember, saving money and planning to quit your job and live a life abroad is all part of the fun. someday you’ll look back on these transitional times with a smile on your face. You’ll remember this as the time that your life altered forever.

See Also:

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Can it Be Sustainable?

$660 per month is not an extraordinary amount of money to earn online. There are literally countless travel blogs available making this much money. It’s not unreasonable to believe that you could be making $1,500 / month after a year. Within a year after starting our blog, we were averaging $1,200 / month, and we hardly dealt with it for 6 months after we first developed it.

Plus, we were working in a time when there was extremely bit opportunity available for travel blog writers and on the internet influencers. These days, everyone wishes to hire a blog writer or a social network star to promote their business.

If you stick with it for 3 years and really work on honing your skills, composing for big publications and marketing your brand, you could easily be earning $5,000 or more. This is based, not just on the Goats On The road blog, but the blogs of many of our colleagues as well.

And, if you stick with it for 4 – 5 years or more, you could be amongst the few blog writers who kept plugging away and now earn over $100,000 / year.

Think about it, your cost of living is extremely low, you’re earning a good income and you’re living and travelling the world as much as you want.

This is extremely sustainable and it’s more attainable than you think.

See Also: Is travel blogging a trustworthy source of Income?

What about Retirement?

This is another one of the most common concerns we receive and it’s a valid point to make. If you’re thinking about leaving your current job and the security that comes together with it, in purchase to pursue a life overseas, then you’ll want to know what your future will look like. It’s normal to concern about leaving your government retirement funds to travel the world.

Going off of all the calculations we’ve made in this post, let’s believe about this logically. Let’s say you build your on the internet business to earn over $100,000 per year. Your cost of living is next to nothing and you’re already living a life that is like a dream retirement.

Just believe of all of the money you’re saving. When we resided in Canada, we spent $3,500 per month on automobile payments, mo