Six Months In A Warm Locale Sample Budget
Source: Keith Roper at flickr
Perhaps the biggest thing stopping people who dream of taking a sabbatical is that they do not know how they are going to survive without an income for an extended period of time. That is why I spend a lot of time on this site talking about how to develop a location-independent income. Of course, you don’t have to have an income while you are away if you have sufficient savings to live off of, or an investment income of some sort.
If I asked you, “How much would it take to live in Spain for six months?”, what would the answer be?
You might run some numbers in your head based on your experience with European vacations. You might say, “My last trip for my wife and I cost us $5,000 for two weeks in Paris. So it seems logical that six months would probably run $50,000-$60,000. European hotels run about $200 a night even for basic accomodations, so that seems logical.”
And you’d be wrong.
Because when you travel for more than a couple of weeks, you have to live a different way. You would then rent a house or an apartment instead of staying in a nightly hotel. You buy food at the grocery store and cook at home. You find a good restaurant that serves tapas and a beer for under $5 a person and go there a couple of times a week for lunch instead of the more touristy places which are 5 times the price. You rent a place a little out of the core tourist spot but is close to good transit. You don’t go on an unlimited shopping spree trying to max out your customs limit with shoes and designer purses.
You live different. You live like a local.
So I put together some rough numbers for my own 6 month adventure. Hopefully the total will surprise you in how low it is.
Airfare - $2100 Canadian or 1300 Euros
Rent – 600 Euros a month for a furnished apartment with Sea views, 3600 Euros total
Food – 30 Euros a day for groceries and/or eating out, 5500 Euros total
Transportation – 1200 Euros, might be low
Optional Spedning - more than just restaurants, shopping, seeing shows, living – 10 Euros a day or 1800 Euros for the trip
So the grand total for a 6 month adventure in Spain? 13,000 Euros or $21,000 Canadian dollars. That’s only $19,000 in US funds.
So if the original guess for such a trip was $50,000, the actual total of $21,000 is quite signficantly lower. It’s still a lot of money by some standards. But in the context of the average salary for a middle class couple in North America, it’s quite reasonable to think that money can be saved in less than a year. If you currently make $80,000 a year as a couple, can you live on only $60,000 a year? Most certainly you can.
One year of sacrafice here for 6 months of stress-free life in Spain. Not a bad trade actually.
And with a bit more sacrafice, maybe the money can be saved in only 6 months?
And that’s how you do six months here and six months there. At least one way.
Let me know in the comments what your experience has been on how expensive it is to live overseas, or if you think my budget numbers are off.
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This plan looks pretty do-able to me, without having researched the cost of living in Spain myself. During your 6 month sabbatical though, will you have ongoing expenses to keep your place at home going? (or memberships, or licenses, or insurance, etc)? These are things that can unexpectedly add up.
One way to curb your accommodation (and sometimes food) expenses is to work in trade for your accommodation. There are lots of different ways you can earn a free stay, from house sitting, to gardening, to landscaping, to campground management, to teaching english…I even managed to stay in a Hawaiian hostel for free by painting murals on the property…and you work anywhere from 6-25 hours/week, depending on the gig (and perks involved), so there is still usually lots of time to enjoy your surroundings too.
I found I am able to travel (full-time) for less than your 6 month budget, but then again I take lots of cost-cutting measures that might not be your cup of tea. That’s the wonderful thing about travel – it’s so different for everybody!
How can i raise money fast for missionary work?
@Nora: Thanks for your comment. I actually was talking to my wife last night about offering a home owner some physical labor in exchange for staying at the property. For instance, if the backyard needs a lot of work (deck, shed, landscaping), I can work over the winter to get that in decent shape for the summer renters in exchange for free board. I certainly need to be doing something every day beyond basking in the sunlight.
What do you think about 30 Euros a day for food? Certainly that could be very high for some people and very low for others. What’s your experience?
@Rosostrov: Raising money fast for anything is always a challenge. Perhaps look for missionary work that pays for everything including housing and food as part of the deal? So instead of going off on your own to try and help people, be part of an organization that can support you as long as they align with your mission.
@Scott – I’m not sure on the 30 Euros a day for food budget. It has been many ears since I was in Spain, and it wasn’t a trip where I was able to shop and cook for myself much….sussing out the local markets and cooking for yourself will certainly be the way to stay on-track with your budget!
(And go for it….see if you can get some free or discounted digs by offering up your expertise. The worst they can say is ‘no’, and you might even find another place that says ‘yes’)!
@Rosostrov – Depending on the org you wish to do missionary work with, they often have programs in place to help you raise money for volunteering. You may want to do a little research with the missionary orgs to see what they have on offer. Scott’s suggestion is also great – look for a place that will cover your expenses for volunteering your time.