Are you stuck between ‘I need to save money’ and ‘you only live once’? Meet this 27-year-old who saved 80,000 dollars in 3 months despite living in a major city. He took 6 months off work to travel as a mini-retirement instead of early retirement.
Kyle Stimpson and his partner Lauren share the strategies they used to save while living in Sydney – the most expensive city in the world. For them, saving money for mini-retirement was a cake walk.
“Travel is not just for the rich since once you leave behind your expensive lifestyle, life on the road can actually be fairly cheap,” said Stimpson
Kyle Stimpson loved travelling and always wanted to go on a trip that lasted more than two weeks. He and his partner Lauren moved to Sydney in 2015, for a new job, change and warm weather. He made his dream come true by saving enough money within 3 years, they are now travelling for six months beginning from June 2018. He is planning to take a mini-retirement every 10 years.
His mini-retirement is funded by the money he saved (over $80,000) with the help of a budget and savings plan due to which he managed to save 30% to 40% of his post-tax income. He is allocating $20,000 toward his first mini-retirement with his partner.
Here are Stimpson’s strategies to save wisely for your mini-retirement
- Cut living costs and manage living expectations: Stimpson and Lauren saved almost 1000-2000 dollars by living in a house with a small bedroom in a third-floor walk up.
- Not spending too much on alcohol: He went to bars only one or two days a week and avoided going too frequently.
- Use public transportation: The Cheaper way to travel instead of shelling out money on fuel and maintenance of your own vehicle. Ride-hailing apps like uber are also considered to be slightly expensive.
- Cook food at home and shop local: He was able to save a lot of money by shopping at the local farmer’s market and cooking food at home.
- Enjoy the outdoors: Beaches, biking, bird watching, national parks, and mountains which are cost-effective alternatives for fun and entertainment.
This article was originally published by Business Insider.
Read more: A Guide to Budget Solo Travel – How to Cut Costs when Travelling Solo
