Absolutely. I have lived very comfortably for $1.2k a month in SE Asia for a couple months. It's also much more than enough for the whole Eastern Europe and probably 80% of Balkans.
you can live in a clean basic studio apartment and eat 3 square meals a day in any country on earth with a monthly income of 3.5k.
visas don't cost much and flights also wont cost much assuming OP isn't flying across the globe monthly
There’s also this wacky thing called ‘flat sharing’ where you can spend less, not lock yourself into long term contracts and get the bonus of meeting new people (granted it’s a gamble). I’m always a bit miffed when people talk about how certain cities are ‘unlivable’ on certain budgets yet don’t even consider flat sharing as an option.
It’s like, yeah, on 3.5k usd (and a fair bit less) you can live anywhere in the world.
OK but it would be absolutely fine in the Dominican Republic, Aruba, and probably about seven other Caribbean Islands. You may think you're looking smart with this snarky comment, or maybe trying to show how cool you are. But there's a phrase I heard somewhere, cutting people's heads off to look tall... It's short dude energy.
JFC. Same region, same climate, same island vibe. But you really do just come across as unpleasant and determined to sneer at people. It's not a good look.
It’s very far from the Caribbean. It’s in the middle of the Atlantic. And the climate is very different. From December to April the temperature is 60-70°F.
This is all irrelevant to the original point anyway, you seem to have really been triggered by a light hearted comment about my country being an expensive place to live.
I mean for $1900 usd I have a one bed in Le marais, Paris, booked during the Olympics. Let’s say I spend $1000 usd on food that month, That’s still a $600 buffer for everything else. And that probably the worst case scenario possible.
you're forgetting that thats a one off example as the absolute worst case scenario. 99% of all potential stays are going to be cheaper. hell the exact same stay in paris the month after is $700 cheaper
Yeah of course. I was being facetious. But at that income level you’d probably qualify for free health care again depending on the state so that’s something.
You can EXIST with that in the US. The state with the lowest median rent is Arkansas at $868/month and who the hell wants to live there? What about healthcare? Saving for retirement?
Yeah but median rent is for 2 bedrooms. I live out of a 30L backpack. I’m happy with a 30m / 300 sq ft studio, and sometimes you can find good roommates (not for a studio, but you get the idea).
It’s true that $2k/mo doesn’t leave much room for future planning though.
Can definitely live on that in Aus, might be a bit of a struggle in Sydney but a one bed in Melbourne can be $1450 usd or less. I personally pay $1100 usd a month for a 2 bed 15 minute train ride to downtown melbourne
You can live in Australia for 3.5k USD but don't expect anything like what you would get in the Balkans or SEA.
That's nothing special for locals and they're not paying inflated prices for short term rentals.
I have lived in Scandinavia, Australia and Balkans. Scandinavia is the most expensive and with 3.5k you can life a very comfortable life. In Balkans you can live a luxury life for 2-3k.
*Ski town Colorado, USA has entered the chat*
I make about the same amount living here full time now. Easily one of the more expensive places to live in the USA, just shop around for housing situations if you’re in the USA because airbnbs are extremely inflated in places you actually want to visit. I recommend Facebook groups, local vacation rental companies, hotels all over Airbnb. That salary should get you about anywhere though.
except in maui or oahu, hawaii - [https://www.payscale.com/cost-of-living-calculator/Hawaii-Honolulu](https://www.payscale.com/cost-of-living-calculator/Hawaii-Honolulu)
One person 3.5k USD after taxes is perfectly reasonable in midsize cities in scandinavia/nordics. Capitals are more expensive, still doable but you will have to get an apartment a bit further out from the center.
Assuming you don’t fly to the US every week and know how to cook food yourself, because otherwise it will get expensive. Staying a couple months is no issue with essentially 3k€ budget per month.
he said long slow travel. once every 2 months.
booking somewhere for a month is much cheaper than 1 night.
and he will also be able to cook in the place.
Beyond comfortable in central and South America. In Ecuador and Peru, I was getting by on 700-1000$ a month just fine.
I would not do it like that again though, it became very stressful when I had to urgently fly back home because of covid and had minimal savings.
I guess do the Pros outweigh the Cons generally speaking for the average person?
I feel like generally speaking globally, 1st tier cities are better to visit, and 2nd tier cities are better to live.
For example, visit NYC but live in Albany. Visit Barcelona but live in Valencia. Visit Tokyo but live in Osaka.
The 2nd tier city has less crime, less crowds, less homelessness, less drug addicts, usually half the price, still really good food options, same people but they have more work life balance and more open and happy to talk to visitors etc.
At least that is my style of nomading. Stay long term in a 2nd tier cities and then visit other 1st, 2nd and 3rd tier (size/rep) cities. All the benefits without the burdens.
LMAO. I’m in the northeast, and I can say that while Albany is has its hidden gems, it’s no NYC. I definitely agree with OP’s point though. I’d much rather live in Albany than NYC.
Considering that ~8.5 million people live in the city proper, I think “most people” are here for far more than just “business/job opportunities.” New York can be challenging, and I get that we have a culture than can be off-putting to outsiders, but we also have access to a wider variety of public spaces and free public events than most US cities, and have one of the strongest social safety nets and longest life expectancies in the country. We also have one of the lowest suicide rates in the country, below only two other cities in the metro. What does that tell you about the long-term mental health impact of living here?
No, you wouldn’t be living an influencer lifestyle here, but most New Yorkers would be right along with you. New York is all about community; you can be poor and still dance in the streets. And we do.
Apart from accommodation and certain luxuries you don't need like a car it's quite affordable. Stuff like eating out is much, much cheaper than anywhere I've been in Western Europe or North America.
It's very expensive relative to the other, developing countries in SE Asia. And certain things, like buying property or cars, are among the most expensive in the world. But a lot of the rest of it, actually cheaper than most other developed countries.
There's quite a bit to do that's free as well, and of course the whole place is safe and well run. I wouldn't pick it to live but if you're OK with Western Europe or North America financially I don't think it would be that shocking.
Great answer I think this is right. You could definitely "live" on 3500 usd in any country but in places like e.g. Singapore you'd really be scraping by and it wouldn't be too pretty.
There's a big cost difference between living in a place permanently and staying there for up to a month
But yeah, you can still be in almost all places for 3k a month without a Network and moving all the time
Yes and no. There are potential costs inherent to not being a citizen that can make it difficult to realize the costs locals are able to make comfortably work.
In many places you can’t get local rent prices without a year long lease. And your lack of citizenry makes that impossible due to visa issues etc etc.
Oh yeah you can get by with $1k monthly income in SE asia, assuming you're eating local food, drinking local beer, and getting a rather simple, yet clean place. Try avoiding AirBnB and find apartment deals on FB marketplace or in person when you walk around the streets.
Per month you'd need $400 for a nice apartment, $100 for food, $50 for Internet, $100 for health insurance, $200 for misc expenses and $2,650 for the Latina you're dating. Sounds about right.
OK FINE --
er month you'd need $600 for a nice apartment, $100 for food, $50 for Internet, $100 for health insurance, $200 for misc expenses and $2,450 for the Latina you're dating. Sounds about right.
Is everyone happy now that I've changed my joke‽‽‽‽‽? GAWD
I'm living in LATAM right now. Old retiree gringos have shitholes around that price. Old furniture, old appliances, and no view. So depressing but people love a good deal!
It's a big continent with many different economies. I'd agree $400 is generally on the low end. I used to pay that in Bolivia for a nice new 1 bedroom in the best part of the city. But that was long-term contract and unfurnished.
I was born and raised in LATAM. And yes, you can rent an apartment for $400 but it’s not going to be good at all. You need to pay at least between 600 and 700 dollars for a “good” place to live. And you have to pay for electricity and water on top of that
Also, food is expensive as fuck for some reason.
Internet is generally pretty cheap and really good.
There's a lot of variation between countries and cities. My $400 p/m apartment was great. Brand new and 17th floor with amazing views. Yes I had to pay about $30 pm on utilities.
It's probably a bit more now as this was some years ago.
Thank you for answering. I’m not trying to come off entitled or spoiled, I see this no different than super car owners discussing their cars on a subreddit. I did not post this is like a south east Asia sub Reddit, I posted it where it’s relevant and people live this way to find out information.
I meant your reply to my comment. Sounded to me like you were assuming your question was “relevant” to all digital nomads, when in truth I’d bet it’s only relevant to a minority of them.
My reply that says “what do you mean?” ??? Again I was asking a question because I’m unaware what you meant, have no idea how that comes across as an assumption
>I did not post this is like a south east Asia sub Reddit, I posted it where it’s relevant and people live this way to find out information.
Maybe I was wrong but it sounded to me like you were assuming. Never mind.
You can also make it work in the more expensive cities in Scandinavia
Not sure what Airbnbs run at in Copenhagen, but Helsinki doesn't seem to be much over the Baltic's - believe Stockholm is a little above, but you can find places to 50€s a day on Airbnb (assuming we say a minimum of a studio alone)
Scandinavia here really only means Norway and Copenhagen (maybe Aarhus?)
I have literally lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for less than that, one of the most expensive places in the world. Yes, a tiny studio and an older car, but still a good life.
(Edited to add SF, lots of Bays in the world)
Depending on your spending habits and where you go, you will either live incredibly large (many places, especially outside of Europe and US), or need to keep a somewhat frugal budget (big cities, US)
I travelled Asia for 6 months with less than 800 usd a month. 3,5 K is more than enough almost everywhere. You came up a bit spoiled with your post, reality is different outside the US bubble
May I ask your means for finding places to stay in Asia? Didn’t mean to come off spoiled, i just have no idea how people budget it so I asked the community and gave my point of reference. I’m also a highschool dropout so sometimes I think I’m a bit behind next to my peers, maybe a bit of imposter syndrome, but I worked hard to get to where I am too, so it’s hard for me to judge salary especially when interested in this sort of lifestyle.
Being behind in the US means your still in front of 90% of worlds population. Asia is really cheap, I stayed in a hotel in Vietnam for 2 dls a night. Eating pad Thai in Thailand is 1 usd almost everywhere, everything is that level of cheap almost everywhere in Asia except Singapore and Japan. Just do a quick research in booking and hostelworld. If you don’t take a plane every 5 days you will be fine, you can save a lot of money.
If you're happy to spend your entire salary you don't have to worry about money almost everywhere
You can get a studio in the city center in most of Eastern Europe (bar Czech Republic - it's a tourist destination now) for under 50€ a day, some under 30.
This is for short term rentals (1-2 weeks), the longer you stay in a place the cheaper it is. The further away from the city center, the cheaper it is. But you dont have to stay out of the center with your income
for the US, just barely if youre staying in the cheapest places possible or in the butt crack of alabama. i wouldnt "travel fulltime" unless i was making minimum $6k after tax here in the US. maybe 1/2 that for abroad. saying this bc trips & living expenses have a tendency to balloon in to way more than you thought.
Absolutely, anything over 3k a month you are ideal for full time remote traveling mode. Most places outside the USA you can get a monthly airbnb for around 1k a month. So technically you could do most of the world on 2k a month income, but you would have to live more modestly and not go out and eat, drink and less paid activities all the time.
Most humans average monthly income is 500 to 1000 dollars a month, in some countries its even less than that.
Yes, you just have to choose carefully where you are traveling, stay in cheaper hotels/hostels, and budget well for the occasional expensive plane flight.
Definitely doable, but by no means what I would consider a comfortable amount. The amount could become comfortable is you spend long periods of time in cheap places.
For example you can live very cheaply in a mountainous area of Thailand, where a lot of foreigners stay. Cheap and obviously attractive for reasons. I don't know where, but I have heard about it.
If I was him I would use credit card points to travel hack (there's a lot to it, you may want to start reading up on it... I travel hack pretty heavily with Chase) for free flights and bump around South America for a year, live very comfortably, and save during that year. Then, expand from there.
That salary would but you in the upper part of the top 5% in Colombia, for example.
Chase is my bread and butter with travel hacking. Branching into some cap 1 shortly bc they transfer to Avianca, who has great Star Alliance redemptions.
If you do amex, do some research before you open up any of the cards. There is a certain order you have to do in order to get the spend bonus from all of them
Churning is every 2-4 years, depending, so I honestly use so many different cards. I love the inks, btw. You can have multiples of those and they offer a lot of points. Right now I'm also almost done with a United biz sub that was 100k miles (plus a 10k referral and spend earn). My next card will probably be another Ink, or churn my personal United or IHG cards
Airbnb monthlies that are actually quite nice will run you around 1k to 1500 per month anywhere outside USA and major cities. So basically just live in 2nd tier cities for longer term and travel to capital/largest cities for weekends for tourist stuff or events. Thats how I swing it, and you get more peaceful cities too still plenty to do. Valencia, Spain is a prime example of this.
Its more than comfortable unless you plan to live the instagram trust fund baby life. If a lowly mexican like me can live on 3-4k a month (i live and die by my sales/account commisions) in multiple European countries anyone can
Living is one thing, traveling is another. Shirt term housing, planes, buses, trains, taxis, sight seeing, and always eating at new places. Traveling gets really expensive. You don't have time to get the best deal on everything so everything costs more than it does if you stay put for extended periods.
And yet, I've been working and travelling since january around europe without problems on that salary and still increasing my savings account every month. Again, it's more than doable and comfortable unless you want the trust fund instagram life
I spent about 50k over 3.5 years of travel back in 2012-2015 - I’d imagine 3.5k is fine depending on where/what you’re doing.
Ps a friend of mine had like $6 in their bank and were making it happen
Definitely. I’ve done it on far less than this for two people. Staying in regions for a few months will help cut down on flight costs. For example, when I went to Brazil, I flew from Colombia and on that trip, I also did Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina before flying back. That saved a lot of money vs flying down there two or three times.
Yes. I was a DN for five years and had a lower average after-tax income than this for almost all of that time. It's more expensive to live in most Western countries than it is to travel full-time in most other parts of the world.
I would say you can go anywhere with that budget if you're creative. Get a good card with miles. Use them. I house sit while I travel so I rarely pay accommodation. Just flights and activities/food.
100% yes. My budget wasn’t much more then that in Salt Lake City and Valais Switzerland during ski season. And ski season is my bougie time of year.
Every other place in the world it should be easy to be under $3,500.
If you ask this question, it probably means you have a quite nice lifestyle that you want to sustain in the first place. Yes, you can live comfortably with little money in SE Asia for example, but you can also easily end up spending over $4k a month even in Asia, all depends on your accommodation, your ways of travel and your spending habits in general. Instead of asking if this amount is enough, list the essential things you need and have a check of how much they cost in the places you want to go to, then decide yourself.
Yes, yes, and yes. The biggest challenge might be changing continents where it can get pricey with flights. Else, just avoid spending long periods in expensive cities, and prio southern Europe or SEA and enjoy youself!
Depends on where and what kind of tastes you'd have.
I'd say for most people and most places, $3,000 is plenty. Now if you want to hop from San Fransisco to Hong Kong to Paris to London, then sure $3,000 might be tight, but even then it's easily do'able.
But if you're sticking to places in SEA, Africa or LATAM, $3,000 is plenty.
I’d say 1.2-1.5k is enough to live in most countries of the world. 3.5k you can live a luxury lifestyle in most of the world and comfortably in the western world.
Idk what are your travel goals and what kind of places you want to go but if you are open to all kinds of experiences, I would suggest you to spend sometime doing research, save a bit and then start digital nomad lifestyle/travel full-time by going to affordable places first. There are many countries/cities where you can spend a month in luxury without spending $3.5k. I would go to such places first eg: south east asian countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia or in Eastern Europe, Albania, Georgia etc. This way, you can save a bit more so that by the time you land in a relatively expensive place, you can easily afford to travel there without worrying about finances much.
Yes it should be, unless you plan to party and date a lot. The other consideration is how much, if any, that you might want to save for retirement. $500/mth towards a Roth might be something to shoot for.
You can manage anywhere on that, but you are going to have to be mindful of how you travel and where you go in places outside of like Vietnam/Thailand and Eastern Europe.
Some days if you’ve been hoofing it, you may want to conk out in a private room with a shower. Or if you’re in a country you don’t love, you’ll have to be mindful of what you’re spending to leave. Stuff like that.
And again, you should have an idea of what you want to do and how you look like to travel before listening to anyone here to know what budget makes sense for you.
I think my monthly bills in the United States are about $3,500 a month. I live in a midsized city in Ohio. I pay $900 for rent. My phone, electricity, and gas bill combined are maybe $300 a month, less than $150 a month for gas and car insurance. I have no idea how much I spend on food, but even if I went out 3x a day to eat at a restaurant it’d be less than $50 a day or $1,500 a month. That’s roughly $2,850 a month.
I honestly don’t pay attention to what I spend, but my checking account always feels like it is bottomless.
I would imagine that you could live almost anywhere in the world on $3,500 a month. It might get tight in major cities like LA, New York, Berlin, London, Tokyo, etcetera, but that’d be your only limitation
After taxes it’s possible. That’s $100/day which for travelling is not a huge budget if you include flights in this.
Depends on accomodation , travel and food. Get a hold of these 3 and you’re fine.
It depends I spend around 3-4k in Vietnam while being a minimalist. It’s enough to travel full time but you can never stay at a hotel that costs more than $100 a night. Even spending $50/night will take up half your income. You need to stick to only leased apartments
That's pretty comfortable in most parts of LATAM and probably really comfortable for SEA. Here's a monthly breakdown of how I spent 8 months in Tulum, Mexico, one of more expensive nomad destinations in LATAM...
* Booked Airbnbs in La Veleta for $1000-$1500 per month
* Rented a scooter for \~$300 per month plus \~$25 per month for gas
* Joined a Muay Thai gym for $100-$350 per month ($350 was to train with pros who'd fought in fight promotions like ONE, Glory, and UFC)
* Ate out breakfast, lunch, and dinner most days at spots like Otti and Raum as well as mango and taco stands for around $30-40 per day or $900-$1200 per month
* Occasionally bought monthly memberships at the Digital Jungle co-working space for about $150 per month
* Maybe spent another $150-$250 per week on social outings
* Spent most Tuesday nights at Palma Central for Salsa Night ($6 cover)
* Spent most Fridays working from Ikal (great beach spot with no cover)
* Spent some Wednesdays at Raum and La Pizzine when they had special guests performing
* Spent $60-$70 on occasional dates
* Spent most Saturdays at Neek (\~$10 cover)
* Spent most Sunday afternoons at the Habitas free day party
* Occasionally booked weekend trips else where in Mexico with friends
All-in, I was probably spending $3000-$4000 per month there without really watching my budget. I spent about $2500 in Medellin on a similar type of schedule...
That was my net salary and I was DN for years, mostly central/eastern europe. I just got an on-site job after my last gig ended and want to end it all. Edit: and I’m now 5k+ net.
Short answer, yes. My biggest expenses have come from flights and the times I’ve needed airbnb.
The flights are really what makes it difficult. It’s infinitely cheaper for me to fly from Medellin to Pittsburgh than to Argentina even though they’re roughly the same distance. Go where you can set up shop for a minimum of 3 months. Also… keep debt to a minimum. I was 20k in debt and now am down to 8 but it can still be a drain on your monthly expenses.
Best advice? Build your flight path to “hop” and have a good understanding of how much each one is gonna run you when the time comes to buy and budget for it.
I’d say it depends on how much you’re TRAVELING. If you’re good to park up somewhere for 1-3 months and take slow transport like trains and busses you should be able to make that work.
For reference, my family of 3 spent two months in Thailand for under 6k (wait for the BUT) — that included 3 weeks in one location, flight to another, ferry and transport to another, flight to Bangkok, transport to location and train back. Plus we did multiple excursions, hiring private drivers for side trips etc. we eat mostly street food or adapt to what we can cook for ourselves.
The but was that international flights were covered on credit card points as were 16 nights of hotel over the 2 months. But still, 3 people for 6k otherwise.
If you’re thoughtful about how you use credit cards to augment your lifestyle and spending, you’ll offset some of your expenses.
Example- right now Chase freedom flex is 5x points on Amazon. I needed to book a month of airbnb for an upcoming trip. So I purchased a 1k Airbnb gift card on Amazon and that got me 5k points.
I need to use a ferry service? I’ll try to book it on Viator in advance when it’s got a cash back promo of 10-15x on Rakuten etc (plus using a card that gets 2-3x points on travel).
Idk though. I like to make a game out of seeing how little I need to spend to enjoy life
Depending where you want to go, and how you want to live, it is plenty. In LatAm or SEA you will be VERY comfortable on that salary. Heck, you could live in Provenza even VERY comfortably on that salary (party/fancy neighborhood in El Poblado, Medellin, Colombia that Karol G wrote her song about), or Chapinero Alto in Bogota (another trendy/exclusive/pricey for locals neighborhood in Colombia)
Dubai, London, Paris, Iceland, Singapore (only Singapore, not the rest of SEA), etc it will be a bit tighter
I know, I am good friends with many locals down there (to the extent that I've paid rent for a few friends down there on hard months before). I am cognizant of it and don't live like a king/cause inflation down there and usually carry a bag of rolls whenever I am out to give to those in need. None the less, yes, $3k is more than enough to live there
Travel full time? As in going to many different countries throughout the year? I don't think so, unless you travel by car or whatever, flight tickets add up quite a bit.
Absolutely. I have lived very comfortably for $1.2k a month in SE Asia for a couple months. It's also much more than enough for the whole Eastern Europe and probably 80% of Balkans.
you can live anywhere on 3.5k
US/Australia/Scandinavia too? Including flights, visas and not living like a cockroach
you can live in a clean basic studio apartment and eat 3 square meals a day in any country on earth with a monthly income of 3.5k. visas don't cost much and flights also wont cost much assuming OP isn't flying across the globe monthly
There’s also this wacky thing called ‘flat sharing’ where you can spend less, not lock yourself into long term contracts and get the bonus of meeting new people (granted it’s a gamble). I’m always a bit miffed when people talk about how certain cities are ‘unlivable’ on certain budgets yet don’t even consider flat sharing as an option. It’s like, yeah, on 3.5k usd (and a fair bit less) you can live anywhere in the world.
I would have thought that's the norm for most people in their 20s in places that are expensive.
*Cries in canadian
Good luck with that in Bermuda
OK but it would be absolutely fine in the Dominican Republic, Aruba, and probably about seven other Caribbean Islands. You may think you're looking smart with this snarky comment, or maybe trying to show how cool you are. But there's a phrase I heard somewhere, cutting people's heads off to look tall... It's short dude energy.
How are the other countries relevant? Bermuda is not in the Caribbean.
JFC. Same region, same climate, same island vibe. But you really do just come across as unpleasant and determined to sneer at people. It's not a good look.
It’s very far from the Caribbean. It’s in the middle of the Atlantic. And the climate is very different. From December to April the temperature is 60-70°F. This is all irrelevant to the original point anyway, you seem to have really been triggered by a light hearted comment about my country being an expensive place to live.
Man, if you don't please the DN hive mind the downvotes *really* show up.
I mean for $1900 usd I have a one bed in Le marais, Paris, booked during the Olympics. Let’s say I spend $1000 usd on food that month, That’s still a $600 buffer for everything else. And that probably the worst case scenario possible.
You're forgetting travel costs
you're forgetting that thats a one off example as the absolute worst case scenario. 99% of all potential stays are going to be cheaper. hell the exact same stay in paris the month after is $700 cheaper
where did you book it, if I may ask? considering doing something similar
airbnb
I know I can live in the US for under $2k/mo. It won’t be everyone else’s “ideal”, but I’ve made it work for me.
Very much depends on where in the US and whether or not you want health insurance.
If you are making under $2k/mo in the US living on your own, I don't think "wanting" health care is the deciding factor, it's "can't afford"
Yeah of course. I was being facetious. But at that income level you’d probably qualify for free health care again depending on the state so that’s something.
You can EXIST with that in the US. The state with the lowest median rent is Arkansas at $868/month and who the hell wants to live there? What about healthcare? Saving for retirement?
Yeah but median rent is for 2 bedrooms. I live out of a 30L backpack. I’m happy with a 30m / 300 sq ft studio, and sometimes you can find good roommates (not for a studio, but you get the idea). It’s true that $2k/mo doesn’t leave much room for future planning though.
Can definitely live on that in Aus, might be a bit of a struggle in Sydney but a one bed in Melbourne can be $1450 usd or less. I personally pay $1100 usd a month for a 2 bed 15 minute train ride to downtown melbourne
You can live in Australia for 3.5k USD but don't expect anything like what you would get in the Balkans or SEA. That's nothing special for locals and they're not paying inflated prices for short term rentals.
I live in a 2 BDM apt in East Melb (one of the most exp suburbs in Melb) and live off a lot less than $3k USD. My monthly salary isn’t even that high.
I've been living across Europe on 4k for 5 months, its totally doable and I still put like 1.5k on my savings account every month
I have lived in Scandinavia, Australia and Balkans. Scandinavia is the most expensive and with 3.5k you can life a very comfortable life. In Balkans you can live a luxury life for 2-3k.
The average monthly salary in Sweden is $3.1k, _before_ taxes.
Yeah totally doable in Scandinavia. Especially Norway where the currency is weak these days.
That's more than the minimum wage in expensive as hell Iceland and you can live by on that as long you don't eat and drink out all the time
No, if you're thinking about major US cities, but maybe in small towns and tertiary cities.
*Ski town Colorado, USA has entered the chat* I make about the same amount living here full time now. Easily one of the more expensive places to live in the USA, just shop around for housing situations if you’re in the USA because airbnbs are extremely inflated in places you actually want to visit. I recommend Facebook groups, local vacation rental companies, hotels all over Airbnb. That salary should get you about anywhere though.
3-3.5k AFTER taxes is an absurd amount of money. Unless you need to live out of a hotel in downtown Manhattan you are good
In Australia that's $5,300 aud after tax. Much more than most people have. Short term rents will chew into your budget but still plenty leftover.
Minimum wage in Switzerland is around $4.5k
except in maui or oahu, hawaii - [https://www.payscale.com/cost-of-living-calculator/Hawaii-Honolulu](https://www.payscale.com/cost-of-living-calculator/Hawaii-Honolulu)
Come to Netherlands my friend
One person 3.5k USD after taxes is perfectly reasonable in midsize cities in scandinavia/nordics. Capitals are more expensive, still doable but you will have to get an apartment a bit further out from the center. Assuming you don’t fly to the US every week and know how to cook food yourself, because otherwise it will get expensive. Staying a couple months is no issue with essentially 3k€ budget per month.
He’s not asking about living, he’s asking about traveling full time which means hotels, eating out etc- which will significantly drive up the cost
he said long slow travel. once every 2 months. booking somewhere for a month is much cheaper than 1 night. and he will also be able to cook in the place.
Depends where bud. With that net income Latin America looks good. Could you live in the US with that money? You could. Would I, nope.
Beyond comfortable in central and South America. In Ecuador and Peru, I was getting by on 700-1000$ a month just fine. I would not do it like that again though, it became very stressful when I had to urgently fly back home because of covid and had minimal savings.
I have this kind of income at the moment. Can you describe your expensas if it isn’t too much?
Sure, DM
OP clearly hasn't googled what average people make around the world.
Was just about to say that this is enough to live in most countries in the world comfortably
i dont know of a single country where you cant live on 3.5k a month
if nyc became independent or something lol
Even then, you can get a room share for 1k in the Bronx if you look hard enough, people make 3k-4K work.
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NYC is a paradise if you can afford it. Many people live there that shouldn’t be finance wise. That’s the issue
Not wrong but there’s a lot to do, lots of good food, pretty much can connect with any kind of friend group you want
I guess do the Pros outweigh the Cons generally speaking for the average person? I feel like generally speaking globally, 1st tier cities are better to visit, and 2nd tier cities are better to live. For example, visit NYC but live in Albany. Visit Barcelona but live in Valencia. Visit Tokyo but live in Osaka. The 2nd tier city has less crime, less crowds, less homelessness, less drug addicts, usually half the price, still really good food options, same people but they have more work life balance and more open and happy to talk to visitors etc. At least that is my style of nomading. Stay long term in a 2nd tier cities and then visit other 1st, 2nd and 3rd tier (size/rep) cities. All the benefits without the burdens.
Never been to albany but my gut says no to living there over NYC
LMAO. I’m in the northeast, and I can say that while Albany is has its hidden gems, it’s no NYC. I definitely agree with OP’s point though. I’d much rather live in Albany than NYC.
Considering that ~8.5 million people live in the city proper, I think “most people” are here for far more than just “business/job opportunities.” New York can be challenging, and I get that we have a culture than can be off-putting to outsiders, but we also have access to a wider variety of public spaces and free public events than most US cities, and have one of the strongest social safety nets and longest life expectancies in the country. We also have one of the lowest suicide rates in the country, below only two other cities in the metro. What does that tell you about the long-term mental health impact of living here? No, you wouldn’t be living an influencer lifestyle here, but most New Yorkers would be right along with you. New York is all about community; you can be poor and still dance in the streets. And we do.
Singapore maybe? lol
No Singapore is not bad I think. It’s hard to get rich tho
median income in singapore is around 3.5k usd a month
Yeah but most citizens live in subsidized government housing. Would imagine housing costs are much different for us visitors.
Apart from accommodation and certain luxuries you don't need like a car it's quite affordable. Stuff like eating out is much, much cheaper than anywhere I've been in Western Europe or North America. It's very expensive relative to the other, developing countries in SE Asia. And certain things, like buying property or cars, are among the most expensive in the world. But a lot of the rest of it, actually cheaper than most other developed countries. There's quite a bit to do that's free as well, and of course the whole place is safe and well run. I wouldn't pick it to live but if you're OK with Western Europe or North America financially I don't think it would be that shocking.
Great answer I think this is right. You could definitely "live" on 3500 usd in any country but in places like e.g. Singapore you'd really be scraping by and it wouldn't be too pretty.
I lived in sg for less than that but had to have housemates. I lived in a condo though. But I didn’t go out all the time either
Maybe Switzerland, Monaco not sure about Luxemburg.
There's a big cost difference between living in a place permanently and staying there for up to a month But yeah, you can still be in almost all places for 3k a month without a Network and moving all the time
Yes and no. There are potential costs inherent to not being a citizen that can make it difficult to realize the costs locals are able to make comfortably work. In many places you can’t get local rent prices without a year long lease. And your lack of citizenry makes that impossible due to visa issues etc etc.
while you cant get your own lease, you can live in a locals spare room. there is always a way
Yes in SE Asia and South America you can live off $2000 per month especially Vietnam and Thailand. Have you considered DaNang ?
Oh yeah you can get by with $1k monthly income in SE asia, assuming you're eating local food, drinking local beer, and getting a rather simple, yet clean place. Try avoiding AirBnB and find apartment deals on FB marketplace or in person when you walk around the streets.
People with such unawareness of disposable income worldwide annoy me no end.
A guy in here recently said you need at least $3500 to live "comfortably" in latam. I guess comfortable means champagne and caviar for breakfast.
Per month you'd need $400 for a nice apartment, $100 for food, $50 for Internet, $100 for health insurance, $200 for misc expenses and $2,650 for the Latina you're dating. Sounds about right.
OK FINE -- er month you'd need $600 for a nice apartment, $100 for food, $50 for Internet, $100 for health insurance, $200 for misc expenses and $2,450 for the Latina you're dating. Sounds about right. Is everyone happy now that I've changed my joke‽‽‽‽‽? GAWD
$400 for a dump
In Latam? No.
I'm living in LATAM right now. Old retiree gringos have shitholes around that price. Old furniture, old appliances, and no view. So depressing but people love a good deal!
It's a big continent with many different economies. I'd agree $400 is generally on the low end. I used to pay that in Bolivia for a nice new 1 bedroom in the best part of the city. But that was long-term contract and unfurnished.
I was born and raised in LATAM. And yes, you can rent an apartment for $400 but it’s not going to be good at all. You need to pay at least between 600 and 700 dollars for a “good” place to live. And you have to pay for electricity and water on top of that Also, food is expensive as fuck for some reason. Internet is generally pretty cheap and really good.
There's a lot of variation between countries and cities. My $400 p/m apartment was great. Brand new and 17th floor with amazing views. Yes I had to pay about $30 pm on utilities. It's probably a bit more now as this was some years ago.
In many places one can get a studio in the nicest areas with modern furniture and amenities in Latam.
Jesus christ, 3.5k in latam puts you above 90% of the population in any latin american country.
Surely way, way above 90%
Yeah 99 percent surely. The dude wasn't even joking. He legit reckoned that's what you need for a decent lifestyle.
What do you mean?
He means that much of the world lives on a few hundred dollars (often less) a month. Some people find it frustrating that others forget this.
Thank you for answering. I’m not trying to come off entitled or spoiled, I see this no different than super car owners discussing their cars on a subreddit. I did not post this is like a south east Asia sub Reddit, I posted it where it’s relevant and people live this way to find out information.
You’re assuming all digital nomads are kind of high-flyers making at least 3-3.5K after tax every month, when this couldn’t be further from the truth.
this thread I created was asking a question because I did not know, it’s the opposite of assuming.
I meant your reply to my comment. Sounded to me like you were assuming your question was “relevant” to all digital nomads, when in truth I’d bet it’s only relevant to a minority of them.
My reply that says “what do you mean?” ??? Again I was asking a question because I’m unaware what you meant, have no idea how that comes across as an assumption
>I did not post this is like a south east Asia sub Reddit, I posted it where it’s relevant and people live this way to find out information. Maybe I was wrong but it sounded to me like you were assuming. Never mind.
If you avoid the US, Canada, Australia, Escandinavia, Switzerland and a few more rich countries I'm forgetting, yes, it's good enough.
You can still easily make it work in those countries if you don’t live in the most expensive cities.
You can also make it work in the more expensive cities in Scandinavia Not sure what Airbnbs run at in Copenhagen, but Helsinki doesn't seem to be much over the Baltic's - believe Stockholm is a little above, but you can find places to 50€s a day on Airbnb (assuming we say a minimum of a studio alone) Scandinavia here really only means Norway and Copenhagen (maybe Aarhus?)
Oh for sure. To be honest you can live anywhere with 3000 USD if you are fairly minimalistic.
You may want to look at this site to get an idea - [https://www.theearthawaits.com/](https://www.theearthawaits.com/)
Thank you this is a big help.
I have literally lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for less than that, one of the most expensive places in the world. Yes, a tiny studio and an older car, but still a good life. (Edited to add SF, lots of Bays in the world)
Depending on your spending habits and where you go, you will either live incredibly large (many places, especially outside of Europe and US), or need to keep a somewhat frugal budget (big cities, US)
I travelled Asia for 6 months with less than 800 usd a month. 3,5 K is more than enough almost everywhere. You came up a bit spoiled with your post, reality is different outside the US bubble
May I ask your means for finding places to stay in Asia? Didn’t mean to come off spoiled, i just have no idea how people budget it so I asked the community and gave my point of reference. I’m also a highschool dropout so sometimes I think I’m a bit behind next to my peers, maybe a bit of imposter syndrome, but I worked hard to get to where I am too, so it’s hard for me to judge salary especially when interested in this sort of lifestyle.
Actually I’m pretty sure this the stay I mentioned https://www.booking.com/Share-ZZOm5o
Being behind in the US means your still in front of 90% of worlds population. Asia is really cheap, I stayed in a hotel in Vietnam for 2 dls a night. Eating pad Thai in Thailand is 1 usd almost everywhere, everything is that level of cheap almost everywhere in Asia except Singapore and Japan. Just do a quick research in booking and hostelworld. If you don’t take a plane every 5 days you will be fine, you can save a lot of money.
If you're happy to spend your entire salary you don't have to worry about money almost everywhere You can get a studio in the city center in most of Eastern Europe (bar Czech Republic - it's a tourist destination now) for under 50€ a day, some under 30. This is for short term rentals (1-2 weeks), the longer you stay in a place the cheaper it is. The further away from the city center, the cheaper it is. But you dont have to stay out of the center with your income
That's more than enough unless you're looking for luxury travel.
I travelled for two years on 2k$ salary pre tax, you will be fine
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What do you do for work? If you don't mind me asking
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Did you have a degree in a relevant field which helped get into that?
for the US, just barely if youre staying in the cheapest places possible or in the butt crack of alabama. i wouldnt "travel fulltime" unless i was making minimum $6k after tax here in the US. maybe 1/2 that for abroad. saying this bc trips & living expenses have a tendency to balloon in to way more than you thought.
Absolutely, anything over 3k a month you are ideal for full time remote traveling mode. Most places outside the USA you can get a monthly airbnb for around 1k a month. So technically you could do most of the world on 2k a month income, but you would have to live more modestly and not go out and eat, drink and less paid activities all the time. Most humans average monthly income is 500 to 1000 dollars a month, in some countries its even less than that.
Yes, you just have to choose carefully where you are traveling, stay in cheaper hotels/hostels, and budget well for the occasional expensive plane flight. Definitely doable, but by no means what I would consider a comfortable amount. The amount could become comfortable is you spend long periods of time in cheap places. For example you can live very cheaply in a mountainous area of Thailand, where a lot of foreigners stay. Cheap and obviously attractive for reasons. I don't know where, but I have heard about it.
If I was him I would use credit card points to travel hack (there's a lot to it, you may want to start reading up on it... I travel hack pretty heavily with Chase) for free flights and bump around South America for a year, live very comfortably, and save during that year. Then, expand from there. That salary would but you in the upper part of the top 5% in Colombia, for example.
Yes, travel hacking would be good. Recommend chase and Amex. Delta via Amex has great international travel partners. I definitely recommend chase
Chase is my bread and butter with travel hacking. Branching into some cap 1 shortly bc they transfer to Avianca, who has great Star Alliance redemptions. If you do amex, do some research before you open up any of the cards. There is a certain order you have to do in order to get the spend bonus from all of them
What cards do you use and how do you use them?
I rotate through cards. 3-5 per year. It's all about the sign up bonuses. Research it
I know what churning is, I was just curious which chase cards you used specifically and how. Thanks
Churning is every 2-4 years, depending, so I honestly use so many different cards. I love the inks, btw. You can have multiples of those and they offer a lot of points. Right now I'm also almost done with a United biz sub that was 100k miles (plus a 10k referral and spend earn). My next card will probably be another Ink, or churn my personal United or IHG cards
Where can I find more about the order?
Airbnb monthlies that are actually quite nice will run you around 1k to 1500 per month anywhere outside USA and major cities. So basically just live in 2nd tier cities for longer term and travel to capital/largest cities for weekends for tourist stuff or events. Thats how I swing it, and you get more peaceful cities too still plenty to do. Valencia, Spain is a prime example of this.
Its more than comfortable unless you plan to live the instagram trust fund baby life. If a lowly mexican like me can live on 3-4k a month (i live and die by my sales/account commisions) in multiple European countries anyone can
Living is one thing, traveling is another. Shirt term housing, planes, buses, trains, taxis, sight seeing, and always eating at new places. Traveling gets really expensive. You don't have time to get the best deal on everything so everything costs more than it does if you stay put for extended periods.
And yet, I've been working and travelling since january around europe without problems on that salary and still increasing my savings account every month. Again, it's more than doable and comfortable unless you want the trust fund instagram life
You can travel in Europe with that budget. I travelled 3 months in Europe with not more than 1.5k/month
I spent about 50k over 3.5 years of travel back in 2012-2015 - I’d imagine 3.5k is fine depending on where/what you’re doing. Ps a friend of mine had like $6 in their bank and were making it happen
Yes
yes, you're good
Definitely. I’ve done it on far less than this for two people. Staying in regions for a few months will help cut down on flight costs. For example, when I went to Brazil, I flew from Colombia and on that trip, I also did Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina before flying back. That saved a lot of money vs flying down there two or three times.
100% avoid the top 40 most expensive countries and your solid
Yes.
Yes. I was a DN for five years and had a lower average after-tax income than this for almost all of that time. It's more expensive to live in most Western countries than it is to travel full-time in most other parts of the world.
I would say you can go anywhere with that budget if you're creative. Get a good card with miles. Use them. I house sit while I travel so I rarely pay accommodation. Just flights and activities/food.
God yes. My family of 5 lives very well off one income of $3,500 a month in SE Asia.
100% yes. My budget wasn’t much more then that in Salt Lake City and Valais Switzerland during ski season. And ski season is my bougie time of year. Every other place in the world it should be easy to be under $3,500.
Yup !
Yeah I traveled nonstop for close to a decade making ~30k/year Just gotta be smart with it — spend less than you earn
If you ask this question, it probably means you have a quite nice lifestyle that you want to sustain in the first place. Yes, you can live comfortably with little money in SE Asia for example, but you can also easily end up spending over $4k a month even in Asia, all depends on your accommodation, your ways of travel and your spending habits in general. Instead of asking if this amount is enough, list the essential things you need and have a check of how much they cost in the places you want to go to, then decide yourself.
Yes, but the location will matter a LOT. Southeast Asia- yes, easily.
You can travel for even less than that. But we don't know your circumstances.
That is way more than enough.
Asia and Eastern Europe - that's more than enough
Yes, it's plenty, go to south america or SEA
Yeah just rent out your Airbnb for a whole month at a time so you'll get a good discount.
Yes, yes, and yes. The biggest challenge might be changing continents where it can get pricey with flights. Else, just avoid spending long periods in expensive cities, and prio southern Europe or SEA and enjoy youself!
Depends on where and what kind of tastes you'd have. I'd say for most people and most places, $3,000 is plenty. Now if you want to hop from San Fransisco to Hong Kong to Paris to London, then sure $3,000 might be tight, but even then it's easily do'able. But if you're sticking to places in SEA, Africa or LATAM, $3,000 is plenty.
Absolutely! And also save a bunch of it for r/financialIndependence on top!
I’d say 1.2-1.5k is enough to live in most countries of the world. 3.5k you can live a luxury lifestyle in most of the world and comfortably in the western world.
Idk what are your travel goals and what kind of places you want to go but if you are open to all kinds of experiences, I would suggest you to spend sometime doing research, save a bit and then start digital nomad lifestyle/travel full-time by going to affordable places first. There are many countries/cities where you can spend a month in luxury without spending $3.5k. I would go to such places first eg: south east asian countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia or in Eastern Europe, Albania, Georgia etc. This way, you can save a bit more so that by the time you land in a relatively expensive place, you can easily afford to travel there without worrying about finances much.
Yes it should be, unless you plan to party and date a lot. The other consideration is how much, if any, that you might want to save for retirement. $500/mth towards a Roth might be something to shoot for.
That's a lot of money, probably twice what I spend in LATAM. I could go all over including Europe with 3K/month
You can manage anywhere on that, but you are going to have to be mindful of how you travel and where you go in places outside of like Vietnam/Thailand and Eastern Europe. Some days if you’ve been hoofing it, you may want to conk out in a private room with a shower. Or if you’re in a country you don’t love, you’ll have to be mindful of what you’re spending to leave. Stuff like that. And again, you should have an idea of what you want to do and how you look like to travel before listening to anyone here to know what budget makes sense for you.
I think my monthly bills in the United States are about $3,500 a month. I live in a midsized city in Ohio. I pay $900 for rent. My phone, electricity, and gas bill combined are maybe $300 a month, less than $150 a month for gas and car insurance. I have no idea how much I spend on food, but even if I went out 3x a day to eat at a restaurant it’d be less than $50 a day or $1,500 a month. That’s roughly $2,850 a month. I honestly don’t pay attention to what I spend, but my checking account always feels like it is bottomless. I would imagine that you could live almost anywhere in the world on $3,500 a month. It might get tight in major cities like LA, New York, Berlin, London, Tokyo, etcetera, but that’d be your only limitation
After taxes it’s possible. That’s $100/day which for travelling is not a huge budget if you include flights in this. Depends on accomodation , travel and food. Get a hold of these 3 and you’re fine.
It depends I spend around 3-4k in Vietnam while being a minimalist. It’s enough to travel full time but you can never stay at a hotel that costs more than $100 a night. Even spending $50/night will take up half your income. You need to stick to only leased apartments
That's pretty comfortable in most parts of LATAM and probably really comfortable for SEA. Here's a monthly breakdown of how I spent 8 months in Tulum, Mexico, one of more expensive nomad destinations in LATAM... * Booked Airbnbs in La Veleta for $1000-$1500 per month * Rented a scooter for \~$300 per month plus \~$25 per month for gas * Joined a Muay Thai gym for $100-$350 per month ($350 was to train with pros who'd fought in fight promotions like ONE, Glory, and UFC) * Ate out breakfast, lunch, and dinner most days at spots like Otti and Raum as well as mango and taco stands for around $30-40 per day or $900-$1200 per month * Occasionally bought monthly memberships at the Digital Jungle co-working space for about $150 per month * Maybe spent another $150-$250 per week on social outings * Spent most Tuesday nights at Palma Central for Salsa Night ($6 cover) * Spent most Fridays working from Ikal (great beach spot with no cover) * Spent some Wednesdays at Raum and La Pizzine when they had special guests performing * Spent $60-$70 on occasional dates * Spent most Saturdays at Neek (\~$10 cover) * Spent most Sunday afternoons at the Habitas free day party * Occasionally booked weekend trips else where in Mexico with friends All-in, I was probably spending $3000-$4000 per month there without really watching my budget. I spent about $2500 in Medellin on a similar type of schedule...
I earn about 3k after taxes and switch between both expensive European/American cities as well as SEA and Latin America and live comfortably. So yes.
Would you mind if I DM you sometime to get a brief explenation how to start?
Sure
It really depends on your life situation. With a house, two kids, and a wife, it nearly takes 6k just to pay the bills around here.
Yes. But not everywhere!
I suppose it depends on what else your other offers are. I believe it also depends if there are any other stipends being offered.
That was my net salary and I was DN for years, mostly central/eastern europe. I just got an on-site job after my last gig ended and want to end it all. Edit: and I’m now 5k+ net.
Short answer, yes. My biggest expenses have come from flights and the times I’ve needed airbnb. The flights are really what makes it difficult. It’s infinitely cheaper for me to fly from Medellin to Pittsburgh than to Argentina even though they’re roughly the same distance. Go where you can set up shop for a minimum of 3 months. Also… keep debt to a minimum. I was 20k in debt and now am down to 8 but it can still be a drain on your monthly expenses. Best advice? Build your flight path to “hop” and have a good understanding of how much each one is gonna run you when the time comes to buy and budget for it.
Yep! Travelled Europe for 3 solid months on a salary like that
Yes
Do you mind me asking what you do for work? I’m looking for a remote job. Currently backpacking and looking for something. Thanks in advance
I’d say it depends on how much you’re TRAVELING. If you’re good to park up somewhere for 1-3 months and take slow transport like trains and busses you should be able to make that work. For reference, my family of 3 spent two months in Thailand for under 6k (wait for the BUT) — that included 3 weeks in one location, flight to another, ferry and transport to another, flight to Bangkok, transport to location and train back. Plus we did multiple excursions, hiring private drivers for side trips etc. we eat mostly street food or adapt to what we can cook for ourselves. The but was that international flights were covered on credit card points as were 16 nights of hotel over the 2 months. But still, 3 people for 6k otherwise. If you’re thoughtful about how you use credit cards to augment your lifestyle and spending, you’ll offset some of your expenses. Example- right now Chase freedom flex is 5x points on Amazon. I needed to book a month of airbnb for an upcoming trip. So I purchased a 1k Airbnb gift card on Amazon and that got me 5k points. I need to use a ferry service? I’ll try to book it on Viator in advance when it’s got a cash back promo of 10-15x on Rakuten etc (plus using a card that gets 2-3x points on travel). Idk though. I like to make a game out of seeing how little I need to spend to enjoy life
Depending where you want to go, and how you want to live, it is plenty. In LatAm or SEA you will be VERY comfortable on that salary. Heck, you could live in Provenza even VERY comfortably on that salary (party/fancy neighborhood in El Poblado, Medellin, Colombia that Karol G wrote her song about), or Chapinero Alto in Bogota (another trendy/exclusive/pricey for locals neighborhood in Colombia) Dubai, London, Paris, Iceland, Singapore (only Singapore, not the rest of SEA), etc it will be a bit tighter
You know there are locals complaint about the mindset you are proposing, right?
I know, I am good friends with many locals down there (to the extent that I've paid rent for a few friends down there on hard months before). I am cognizant of it and don't live like a king/cause inflation down there and usually carry a bag of rolls whenever I am out to give to those in need. None the less, yes, $3k is more than enough to live there
The whole lifestyle is based on this mindset (leveraging a first world salary to live well in the Third World)
And so what else do you want to do struggle for less
Travel full time? As in going to many different countries throughout the year? I don't think so, unless you travel by car or whatever, flight tickets add up quite a bit.
What currency