How to Be a Digital Nomad on Budget?

So, you’ve finally decided to embrace the adventure of being a digital nomad. You’ve always dreamt about it, and now it has become your living reality. You’re extremely excited, but you’re nervous as well. You’re aware that the nomadic life will offer you freedom and a sense of fulfilment but you’re worried about the other challenges of this lifestyle. The biggest challenge of them all is financial planning. Therefore, creating a budget and sticking to it is important to manage your financial needs and save as much money as you can.

As a digital nomad, you can travel to all kinds of different places and get to learn other peoples’ practices, cultures, and ways of life. You will also enjoy local celebrations, food, and art. Careful budgeting is an absolute necessity that directly affects the day-to-day experience. So if you want to live the digital nomad life, working on a calm island, or living in your dream city, here are some key budgeting tips that will help you enjoy the nomad lifestyle.

1.      Find an Affordable Location

One of the advantages of being in the privileged position to work from anywhere, aside from the wonderful travel opportunities, is the opportunity to save some money by living in a country that has a cheaper lifestyle than the one you come from. For instance, Romania is a fantastic choice for anyone looking for a cheap country in Europe. It has a solid digital nomad community, plenty to get up to whatever your interests are, and fast WIFI.

Malaysia is another wonderful destination if you’re looking to live in Southeast Asia. It has lovely wildlife, nature, and food! The food options here are famous throughout Asia with Malay, Chinese, and Indian cuisines all ready to indulge in. It is one of the cheapest places to live on this list with a strong remote worker community,

The higher the cost of living is at any given destination, the more challenging it becomes to stick to your budget. So, make sure that you can provide for your needs and have fun at the same time by doing proper research in advance. Look into the costs of living at each destination you consider as the next step in your nomadic wanderings and factor them into your budget before you make the move.

2.      Use Public Transportation to Reduce Travel Costs

Transportation costs might soak up your entire budget. While options like renting cars or taking taxis are often most conveniently easy, they might take up an important portion of one’s budget while abroad. You can avoid this financial issue by using more public transportation, which often gives you ample opportunities to enjoy a little bit more of the local culture, too! Trains and buses are safe means and are usually cheaper than taxis. You can also use forms of transportation that are unique to a given area, such as ”tuk-tuks” in Thailand, “coco” taxis in Cuba, or “Kutchi” in Morocco. These can become valuable parts and fun moments of your experience, and over the course of weeks or months can save you substantial amounts of money.

3.      Build an Emergency Fund

Adventure surely waits for you as a digital nomad, but so do unexpected emergencies and critical incidents. What if your laptop dies, gets stolen or lost or the apartment you booked is in a scary neighborhood? What if you forget your smartphone somewhere and can’t remember where exactly or must rush back to your home country for a family emergency, sudden death for instance?

Therefore, it is wise to save at least an extra amount of money $1.000  for example in an emergency fund.

4.      Cook Your Own Meals

You’ll save a lot of money by preparing and cooking at least some of your own meals. It’s better that you look for a rental with a ready-made kitchen, with different items including pots and pans, a cutting board, and cooking utensils. It’s still good to get out and socialize while experiencing the local cuisine, but you’ll save money if you know how to prepare a few cheap yet delicious meals with noodles, eggs, meat, rice, and veggies.

Last words

It’s important that you don’t let your fears and concerns overpower your longing and yearning for freedom and liberty! If you’ve been thinking of living as a digital nomad for quite some time but have been extremely doubtful about how to manage your budget and savings, you can always refer to this guide that will help you stick to your most prioritized decisions. Budgeting is now considered to be one of the most important skills that you should learn. It will ultimately help you to continue the digital nomad lifestyle as long as you wish to. Bear these tips in mind and you’ll surely have the best working and traveling experience. Enjoy the great adventure waiting for you.