By Leo Biasiucci
It was September 2014 and my girlfriend and I had been living in Waikiki for 5 months. We were paying $1700 a month for a 1 bedroom/1 bathroom apartment, 1 block from the beach. We didn’t have a car and really lived as modestly as we could in one of the most beautiful and most expensive places on Earth. We decided at that point, while laying in bed listening to the constant traffic, that my corporate job and her health profession job was truly cutting into our “us” time. We would both leave for work at 6:15am each morning and we wouldn’t get home until 6pm. By the time we got home, we were both so exhausted that all we wanted to do was unwind on the couch. And by the time we were done with dinner, it was time for bed again. It didn’t even matter that one of the most beautiful beaches in the world was 100 feet away. As far as we were concerned, the beach didn’t exist until the weekend.
Sacrificing Your Material Life
Living in Hawaii was truly amazing. But with such a high standard of living, you have to find a well paying job to make ends meet. Groceries were about 25% more than the mainland, gas was $2 more per gallon and finding a sale was hard to come by. So living in Hawaii meant working long hours in a demanding position that we both didn’t even like. This was a lifestyle we just didn’t want to live anymore. We decided at that moment that we didn’t need the material things to be happy and that we were willing to work less, make less, but live more! So we started going online and looking for places we could move to. The first stipulation was finding a place my girlfriend could work with her nursing license. We narrowed it down to a few cities but ultimately made the decision to literally move on the opposite side of the United States to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It had everything we wanted; beaches, nightlife, cheap rent, cheap living, decent weather and some promising prospects on jobs. So, without jobs or a long term lease finalized, we decided to take the chance and make the move.
Living on Less
We first decided to rent a place for 30 days and then check the area for other possible long term rental options. We didn’t have a car so we bought a trike moped for about $900 to temporarily get us around. Which it did for awhile, but after a few weeks my girlfriend landed a nursing job. Although it was for a lot less than she was expecting in pay, it was her first job out of nursing school and she really wanted to get some experience. Plus, it was at an urgent care center which was what solidified taking the job. It was perfect because we knew she would be home by 9pm, work only 3 days a week, and had majority of weekends off. These were all things we realized were important to us after our extremely time consuming jobs in Hawaii. Working more hours than spending with the one you love the most just didn’t make sense to us, even if it meant living on less money. So at that point we realized we needed a car since her office was located about 16 miles from our apartment. We considered moving closer to her work but we just couldn’t justify moving since our current apartment was costing us only $850 a month. Oh and by the way, that included all utilities(wifi, cable, electric, water, trash, workout room, 5 pools, sauna, steam room, tennis courts, basketball courts). We literally couldn’t believe how much cheaper it was out here. To add to the sweetness, our apartment is on the 15th floor and has an unobstructed view of the entire southern coastline of Myrtle Beach. That’s right, we pay $850 per month for an ocean view, oceanfront, 2 bedroom/2 bathroom condo…ALL INCLUSIVE!
QUICK TIP- A great way to find these affordable, all inclusive properties is to go on airbnb or flipkey and check homes or apartments that offer long term rentals. Book a night with them and then ask them if they are willing to rent to you at a lower long term rate. That’s what we did and it worked out since they didn’t have to pay commission to airbnb and either did we so it was cheaper for us and more profitable for them. #winning
Making A Major Purchase Like A Car Isn’t Going To Break The Bank
Ok, now back to the car. We looked around for the best deals and found some incredible lease options. We ended up going with a 2015 Honda Civic sedan on a 3 year,12,000 mile per year lease for $258 per month. Averages 35 miles per gallon and comfortably seats four people. Oh and the insurance? $60 per month! Talk about a great deal. Living on a modest budget doesn’t mean you should go buy a Mercedes or BMW. Why do you need that kind of car anyways? If it’s for status, then you’re reading the wrong article. You can find amazing lease deals online or in the local newspaper. Just go to Google and search for, cheapest car leases. You’ll find plenty of websites comparing all the current lease deals. It’s amazing what you can find when you do a little research.
Looking For Work
At this point, I personally had not found work but I wasn’t too worried since I was lucky enough to make great money while working in Hawaii. I had saved a substantial amount and realized I could live off of my savings for an entire year without a job. Plus, after that demanding corporate lifestyle, I could use a year off. But I also had the option to work for UBER and make a couple hundred dollars a week. Or even sign up for some day labor at the local career center. Remember, you only need to clear $12,000 a year, $250 a week or $1000 a month.
Spending Money
So now comes the extra costs. We spend roughly $100 a month in gas. This is a high estimate, especially when we are driving such a mpg friendly vehicle. We also budgeted about $425 for groceries. Now, a lot of you might wonder about that dollar figure but it comes out to be about $15 per day for food. Sounds pretty dismal, right? Well, it really isn’t. If you go grocery shopping every single day for food (like a majority of the rest of the world does) that you are going to eat the next day, it actually turns out to be extremely easy to achieve. And when you shop everyday, you find some incredible sales on groceries that are about to expire. For example, the other day I went to Wal-Mart and they happened to have organic packaged salads that were priced at $3.99 each, but discounted to $1.00 as they were about to expire in a couple days. We literally find these deals everyday. Go to the meat or heated food department and you’ll find pre-made food on sale daily. And the food doesn’t have to be junk food either. You can find organic soups for under $2 a can, cold cuts for under $2 per ¼ pound(you won’t need more when you shop for only one day of food), bread for $1 and 1 gallon of water for .37 cents. Food really is cheap, if you know how to shop and where to look. Plus, why shop for a week if half the food will be spoiled before you even get to it.
A Little Spice To Your Life
Now, just like anyone else with a heartbeat, we love to mix it up a bit from time to time. So what we do is try and spend $10 one or two days a week on groceries instead of $15, and then we use that extra money to go out to eat one or two nights a week. Or we use it to grab some drinks one night or go to a movie. Don’t think by living this way means your life is now suddenly going to be boring and uneventful either because it’ll be anything but that. You just need to be aware of where your money is going.
Well what about putting some money away or if you want to go on vacation? Guess what, you’re still $300+ in the surplus each month! Put $200 into a savings and another $100 towards that monthly vacation. Put $250 in savings and use the other $50 to buy something special for yourself or significant other. Or do what we did… We booked a trip to Thailand and Dubai. We made sure we saved our money and then when we had enough, we bought it cash money. It only took us putting away $150 each per month for 6 months to pay for our flights. And we still had $150 extra per month to do what we wanted. I personally put $100 into a savings account and used the other $50 to pay for an extra night out on me.
Purpose Of Living This Way
I did this because everywhere you look today, you see an article written about wages. I couldn’t agree more that pay inequality is something that needs to be discussed. But I will also be the first to say that if we bought only the necessities and lived a modest yet comfortable lifestyle, we could all easily live off of $12,000 a year(after taxes and insurance). Many of these CEO’s and companies that making millions, if not billions in profits, are ones that we shop at and it’s usually for things that are a privilege to have, not a necessity. So in other words, we as a society need to really think about where our money goes before we complain about not getting paid enough. Then it won’t be so bad when we work at a job we truly love, for a company who treats us right, even if it’s for less. Companies do exist that spread the wealth and treat people as equals. So if you find a company like that and then really live on a budget that doesn’t include tons of material items, then the people making the billions of dollars that run greedy companies won’t be making that kind of money anymore. Then they will be forced to change when people will finally realize that they should be spending money on quality food, better education, vacations and personal growth instead of 5 barbies or a new 80 inch television every year.
It’s A Choice, Not a Punishment
I’m trying to point out that we don’t have to work crazy long hours, spend less time with family or loved ones, not go on vacation or not take care of ourselves just because we have this illusion that we need to make as much money as possible to be happy. As I showed you, we can all work somewhere we love, for less hours, and don’t have to make $50,000 a year to make it. And I’m not saying living like this is necessary or even for everybody. You have the choice to live how you please and I respect that. If you’re happy and your needs are met, that’s all that really matters. I’m just here to show you that it is truly possible, and to be honest, I don’t feel like I’m living a modest life lacking excitement or the finer things. I watch the waves each morning and each night, I drive a 2015 Honda Civic, I eat healthy and workout at the gym downstairs, I traveled to Costa Rica, The Bahamas, bought a share of 3 race horses, went to the Kentucky Derby, will be going to Dubai, Thailand, Cuba and Columbia all this year. All of that while living on a $12,000 a year budget. It’s easier than you think; you just have to know where to look!
RENT: $850 2BED/2BATH FURNISHED WITH ALL UTLITITES
CAR PAYMENT: $258
CAR INSURANCE: $60
GAS: $100
FOOD: $425
MISC: $100(Cell Phones, Gym Membership, Etc.)
SAVINGS/VACATION MONEY: $207
TOTAL: $2000 PER MONTH DIVIDED BY 2 PEOPLE =$1000 PER MONTH OR $12,000 PER YEAR
*DISCLAIMER* This article is based on a couple living together with no children. If you’re a single parent with 4 kids, obviously you’ll need to bring in more money to satisfy the necessities.
This article was republished with permission from Leo Biasiucci.
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