The Digital Nomad Life is Cheaper -- A LOT Cheaper! -- Than Our Life Back in Seattle

One of the things that has surprised us the most about our lives as digital nomads is it has turned out to be so much cheaper than our life back in Seattle.


Let's run the numbers, shall we? 

Back in Seattle, our mortgage and utilities ran about $2700 a month. Groceries and restaurants were another $1500. Home repairs, auto, and other miscellaneous expenses was $700, with another $1500 for entertainment, vacations, healthcare, and other one-time expenses.

That's a monthly total of about $6400 for the both of us, or about $213 a day.

So far, as digital nomads, we've lived mostly in (very nice) co-living facilities, with rents ranging from $400/month (in Bulgaria), $1100/month (in Italy), and $2000/month (in Miami). Obviously, that includes no utilities, and our insurance costs are down as well. We'll have one month free rent this year, thanks to a friend's guesthouse.

For 2018, I'm expecting a monthly rent (and utilities, etc.) average of $1250.

We eat out more now, but restaurants and groceries tend to be cheaper, but let's say our food costs are the same ($1500). We occasionally have transportation costs, but we no longer maintain a car, so that's probably a wash ($500). We also don't do "vacations," since our whole life is traveling. Let's throw in another $500 for various fees, entertainment, and expenses (health insurance is complicated, the subject of another post, but we have a good deal, so I'm including it here).

Total? That's $3750 a month or $125 a day.

So yeah. We're traveling the world, seeing amazing things and having incredible experiences ... for slightly more than half the money we were spending maintaining a modest house in Seattle.

I'm honestly wondering why the #@%*! we didn't do this a lot sooner!

And why the whole goddamn world isn't doing it too.