We're a digital nomad couple. Here's everything we spent in 2024.

Yahoo

27-01-2025

Eight years ago, back when my husband Michael and I were 'normies' in Seattle, we spent around $85,000 a year, not counting taxes. And in a city as expensive as Seattle, that meant we lived a relatively modest lifestyle.
In 2018, our first full year as digital nomads, we spent $41,000 — and our lifestyle felt considerably more lavish.
We didn't realize how expensive America was compared to the rest of the world, nor did we know how low we could drive our expenses simply by living at least part of the year in more 'affordable' countries.
Yes, this is incredible Western privilege — obviously. It's also worth noting that wherever we live, we're really good at stretching a dollar.
Since that first year, Michael's and my costs have gradually risen — partly because of inflation and partly because we could afford it. In 2022, we spent $56,000; in 2023, we spent $60,000.
But even so, we were still pretty far under budget. So last year, we challenged ourselves to — er, please don't hate us! — spend more.
Did we succeed?
As with last year, I will look at the different spending categories one by one, with commentary, and then give our overall total spending at the end.
Some dates overlapped, so months are used for clarity only; for various reasons, we also paid for days we didn't use, so the total number is greater than 365. All figures are in USD and include all taxes, fees, and gratuities.
Sydney/Whale Beach, Australia, Airbnb, 15 days: $2,131 ($142/day)
Sydney, Australia, transit hotel, 1 day: $85
Seattle transit hotel, 1 day: $108
Port Townsend, our timeshare condo, 12 days: $900 ($75/day)
Valencia, Spain, Airbnb, 45 days: $3,771.96 ($84/day)
Instanbul Airbnb, 31 days: $2,008.38 ($65/day)
Fethiye, Turkey, hotel, 9 days: $469 ($52/day)
Fethiye, Turkey, hotel, 3 days: $169 ($56/day)
Fethiye, Turkey, apartment, friend of a friend deal, 32 days: $1200 ($38/day)
Istanbul, Turkey, transit hotel, 1 day: $39
Barcelona, Spain, transit hotel, 1 day: $169
Back-to-back one-week Mediterranean Virgin cruises, 14 days: $2800 ($200/day)
Oslo Airbnb, 29 days: $2,111.32 ($73/day)
Portsmouth, UK, apartment, 10 days: $1016 ($102/day)
Liverpool, UK, Airbnb, 17 days: $1,094.35 ($64/day)
Southampton transit hotel, 1 day: $89
September - October
Caribbean Princess, 4 back-to-back 2-week cruises, 56 days: $11,937 ($213/day)
Bristol, UK, Airbnb, 58 days: $5,034.28 ($87/day)
Southampton transit hotel, 1 day: $89
Transatlantic cruise, Sky Princess, 17 days: $3144 ($185/day)
Stayed with friends in San Francisco, 4 days: $0
Stayed with my brother in Seattle, 2 days: $0
Seattle Area Airbnb, 9 days: $682 ($76/day)
Seattle Airport transit hotel, 1 day: $120
Some observations:
We spent almost $15,000 more this year on lodging than we did in 2023, but there's a good explanation: First, we took seven different cruises for a grand total of more than three full months at sea. As a result, the totals here also include food, entertainment, transportation, and more; this raises spending here but will lower it in other categories. Incidentally, for two of those three months on cruise ships, we had balcony cabins (often deluxe ones); for one month, we had interior cabins. The quoted cruise prices are for two people, double occupancy, and also include all taxes, fees, and gratuities. Second, unlike previous years, we spent most of 2024 in 'expensive' countries: Australia, Norway, the UK, and Valencia, Spain, during a famous festival. Third, we deliberately chose better accommodations! We also mostly opted for two-bedroom units to give us more personal space.
For comparison purposes, our pre-nomad, pre-2018 Seattle-area housing costs were: $2700/month (mortgage + utilities): $32,400/year or $89/day.
As always, when examining our annual lodging costs, it's important to point out that as nomads, our 'vacation' costs are now $0 (since we're basically always on vacation). Our annual holiday costs previously averaged around $3500. If we subtract an inflation-adjusted amount from the annual total, that means our lodging costs are still only a few thousand less than our total housing costs used to be back in Seattle.
In addition to Airbnb apartments and hotels, we also had our usual mix of other unconventional lodgings: our time-share condo back near Seattle (which is working out perfectly for our purposes); a friend-of-a-friend cash deal in Fethiye, Turkey; and occasionally staying with friends.
Groceries: $5340 ($445/month)
Restaurants: $5736 ($478/month)
Some observations:
As I said above, unlike previous years, we spent much of 2024 in 'expensive' countries, so we probably ate out a bit less. Even so, we continued to eat extremely well — much better than when we lived in the United States — and the restaurant food was almost certainly much healthier too. Plus, here's your annual reminder that outside of America, tipping is not completely out of control.
As with last year, we continued to splurge on groceries, especially luxuries like fresh berries, gourmet cheeses, and prepared meals, such as the great Indian deli selections in UK grocery stores.
On those cruise ships, we ate very well too, and since it was mostly all-inclusive (included under 'lodging,' above), this reduced our food budget here. On the Caribbean Princess, the food was just okay — mostly because it's a smaller boat with smaller kitchens and fewer selections. We did like the novelty and creativity of the food on Virgin Cruises' Scarlet Lady boat, which is decidedly upper-end and aims for hipness and 'creativity,' but the selections were also often richer and heavier than we expected, and ironically, their vegetarian selections were subpar. Honestly, we most liked the food on the Sky Princess, which is a newer boat with a zillion choices, including many more healthy and vegetarian options.
I tease Michael that his regular Starbucks coffees are driving us into poverty — just like Suzie Orman used to stay. But even those are less expensive outside of America. (I think it's ridiculous, paying $8 for a damn cup of coffee, including the insane American tip and taxes, but internationally, he generally only spends $4 to $5 for his lattes with a milk alternative.)
Sydney to Seattle: $0
Seattle to Valencia: $0
Valencia to Istanbul: $0
Istanbul to Fethiye, Turkey: $131
Fethiye to Istanbul: $125
Istanbul to Barcelona: $180
Barcelona to Oslo: $270
Oslo to London: $260
Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco: $420
San Francisco to Seattle: $390
Seattle to Puerto Vallarta: $0
Seattle in February (two weeks): $537 + $73 gas = $610
Seattle in December (two weeks): $620 + $55 gas = $670
Taxis/Rideshare: $560
Buses/Metro: $290
Some observations:
We flew too much this year! We feel very bad about our carbon footprint and promise to do better in 2025.
As always, we 'paid' for our major flights using points from our various travel credit cards. (We recommend United Gateway or Explorer.)
When we left the UK for America, we traveled via a transatlantic cruise ship (whose cost is cited under 'lodging' above).
Movie tickets: $75
Streaming services, iTunes, Kindle purchases: $58/year
Museums, tours, and other paid attractions: $1650/year
Some observations:
Post-Covid, we still haven't returned to live music or theater (alas!), but we did slowly start attending movie theaters again. For home viewing, some friends have gifted us their passwords for several streaming services, and we occasionally buy or rent movies and TV shows via iTunes. We also saw a lot of first-run movies on those seven cruises.
We get most of our books for free as e-books via the public library back home where we have a permanent address.
As usual, we visited many museums and other tourist attractions, took several tours, and hired the occasional personal guide. But we're mindful of prices, looking for bargains, and on cruise ships, we almost always book independent tours, saving massive amounts of money.
U.S. Insurance: Kaiser Permanente, Bronze Policy (subsidized by the ACA): $250/month or $3000/year
Travel Insurance: $161/month or $1932/year
Dental, two cleanings/examinations and two new mouthguards: $180
International doctor visits: $4780
Some observations:
I've written before about what Michael and I do for health insurance as we travel the world as nomads: we keep a robust travel insurance policy with Genki for emergencies, and this also includes great medical evacuation coverage; in the event of a truly terrible mishap, that evacuation coverage would get us back to the U.S., where we also carry a subsidized ACA/Obamacare policy (because of our fairly low income).
We had a rough year with a number of medical mishaps this year. Here's how we paid for them all:
I had major foot surgery in Istanbul. It was a pre-existing-ish condition, not exactly an emergency, so we didn't submit a claim to Genki (but I suspect they might have paid out). Instead, we paid out-of-pocket, $4000 cash (plus $250 in ATM fees). Why pay cash? It's a long story.
I had several precancerous skin spots removed in Spain, which was covered by Genki (minus the 50 euro deductible).
Michael had a precancerous skin spot removed in Turkey, which was covered by Genki (minus the 50 euro deductible).
Michael slipped and hit his head in a pool in Norway and needed stitches and a CT scan. We didn't bother submitting a claim to Genki. Instead, we paid out-of-pocket the ridiculously low Norwegian health care cost of $165 USD.
I had a kidney stone in Norway, which included emergency care, a CT scan, and a three-day hospital stay, and it was all covered by Genki (minus the 50 euro deductible). My Norwegian kidney stone CT scan showed 'cysts' on my kidney and liver, and I subsequently had a doctor's examination and ultrasound, but I didn't bother submitting a claim to Genki and paid the $200 out-of-pocket. Oh, and the news was all good — my internal organs are healthy.
Outside of the United States, dental cleanings and examinations are much more affordable — and the care is usually as good as in America, sometimes better. This year, we happened to have examinations only once (in Turkey), but also both had our nightly mouthguards remade — but the total cost of those two examinations and the mouthguards for both of us was only $180 USD — $250 less than what a single mouthguard used to cost us in America after insurance.
Umbrella Liability Policy/Renters: $375/year
Non-owned Auto Insurance: $260/year
Life Insurance, two policies: $1100/year
Some observations:
In addition to health insurance, we keep a worldwide $3 million 'umbrella' personal liability policy (because we're Americans, always expecting to be sued). But in order to get this policy, you have to have auto insurance, and we no longer own a car, and also some sort of 'lodging' policy, but we no longer own or rent a home. To fix this, we keep a 'renters' policy on our storage unit back home, and we also have something called a 'non-owner auto' policy. Fortunately, we can 'suspend' this latter policy most of the time (and still keep the liability insurance), but we turn it on when we're back in the U.S. and have to rent a car. This year, we paid $31.24/month for the umbrella and renters' policy and another $260 for five weeks of rental car coverage.
We also have $500,000 life insurance policies on each other, which we set up years ago, and we pay the premiums once a year.
Seattle storage locker, 5X5: $1080
Electronics: $950
Phone/data plans (12 months): $560
Clothing: $610
Toiletries/prescriptions: $623
Accounting service: $600
Miscellaneous memberships, fees, and office supplies: $460
Some observations:
Due to new corporate ownership, the price of our storage locker skyrocketed in a truly ridiculous way — from $60 to $110 a month; so much for rewarding us for our seven years of loyalty! — and we're now in the process of switching companies.
We still use Airalo for our data plan and Google Voice for very infrequent international phone calls (usually one cent a minute). Our cable/wi-fi cost is included in the prices of our lodging.
This year, we bought one new phone and various minor electronics.
Almost all of these purchases are strictly utilitarian, and that is absolutely deliberate. We are openly anti-materialism!
This does not include our annual taxes and charitable contributions.
Well, whaddaya know! We finally spent considerably more than we did the year before — almost $12,000 more.
But honestly? Between inflation, better and bigger Airbnbs, and my foot surgery in Istanbul, I thought we'd spent even more than that.
And frankly, we still have more in our budget to spend.
We really tried to loosen the purse-strings this year. But a big part of the 'problem' is that the rest of the world is simply so much less expensive than America — especially once you get outside the costly tourist areas.
How interesting is it that seven years after we left Seattle, we're still spending $13,000 less than we did back then — and living much better?
Like most American nomads who work remotely, we've found a real sweet spot: (relatively) high American salaries combined with the lower cost of living in most of the rest of the world.
Plus, yeah, we really are good bargain-hunters and negotiators. I've said before that this is a hard habit to break. On the other hand, why spend money you don't have to?
We also don't have champagne tastes, and we truly don't care about material possessions. On the contrary, we love the sense of freedom that our minimalist lifestyle provides. Our life is less cluttered, and we absolutely feel the difference.
But we do enjoy a good meal out, and the plan is to do more of that in 2025, along with possibly even better lodgings. And we also intend to start enjoying live performances again.
Oh, and we also plan to increase our charitable giving.
Check back in another year to see how well it all works out!