5 Ways to Budget Slomad - Cutting Costs while Remote Working

The Digital Nomad Budget Travel Tips

5 ways to budget and save money as a digital nomad while remote working. Hacks on how to cut costs and make your money go further.

The DN (Digital Nomad) dream is minimal work for top money while enjoying yourself travelling. While it is very possible to work for just 3 or 4 hours a day for decent money, at the very least it takes time to get there. Those who are there, have often already done the hard work. Best of all, they are living off rental income or other passive income.

But the reality is that at the very least, it takes time to get there. And many nomads find their money doesn’t go as far as they had imagined.

But we don’t necessarily have to build up our work empire before we leave home. After the work to find ourselves a job or created ourselves our niche, there are ways to minimize our costs, whether we are setting out on a nomadic lifestyle, or as a traveler wanting to spin out our travel hours. There are ways of exchanging some of our time to save on accommodation and food. Then there are these ways of helping our budget.

1 – Go to the Cheap countries

The first step is to choose a cheap country. I see so many people stressed out at the living costs, when all they’ve considered is Europe – this is most of the expensive part of the world. But there is a lot of world beyond Europe.

Notably, Central and South America, most of Asia, the Pacific islands, and Africa. I spent 3 years in Morocco. It’s not the only easy and cheap place to stay in Africa.

And don’t forget the middle east and Eastern Europe – Georgia, for example, is getting a name for an easy 12 month visa option. Turkiye is a great stop, so is Egypt, Albania, Montenegro, and Croatia in the Balkans. But there are plenty of places to stay, and to move around to.

Where a meal in Europe might cost $20 or 30, in a cheap country you may be spending a dollar or even less. Fresh fruit and vegetables and standard supplies will also cost much less, as well as housing and net charges.

In Morocco I paid $5 a month for quite decent phone topup and plan, and just $20 a month for net.

The western cultures may be your comfort zone, but there is so much more to learn and enjoy in a non-western culture. If you really feel a need for somewhere speaking English, there are English speaking countries – like Nigeria. And there are many places where there is plenty of English spoken to get by, especially amongst the young people.

Tangier, Marrakech, Rabat and Casablanca in Morocco all have plenty of English. Dahab in Egypt speaks almost only English. In fact, most cities and tourist places should have you sorted. I’m constantly struggling to learn the local languages because there is so much English everywhere.

2 – Stay Longer

There is a regular message from nomads who seem to feel they must constantly move, staying in one place for just a few days at a time. One said they were burnt out and giving up nomading – after 10 countries in 6 weeks. I’m not surprised. That is an exhausting schedule, without trying to earn an income. These people can’t possibly even be seeing much or learning anything about a culture. Their routine can be nothing more than hotel rooms, then back, to the net plane, train or ferry.

Being a digital nomad is a lifestyle. The criteria are little more than being mobile, working remotely. There is no definition on how many days or hours you can stay in one place. Nomading isn’t a new concept. It has existed as long as human beings have. And to be honest, why are you doin it if it’s not for the fun you gain from it. Something that leaves you exhausted and burnt out is not fun.

So besides that, staying in one place for longer is much cheaper. For a start, every time you go somewhere you are paying for transport fees, plus taxis, taxes, and maybe visa fees. So if you stay longer every extra move you don’t make, you are saving money.

I go somewhere, and I stay until I am ready to leave. This can be anywhere from a few days to a few years. The Digital Nomad Police have never chased me down for a time infringements, fined me, or put me in Digital Nomad jail.

The other advantage of staying longer is that accommodation is also cheaper. Book by the month and it will be cheaper than booking by the day or the week. A year-long contract will give you cheaper monthly rent than a stay of one or 2 months.

Even if you want to stay just 2 weeks somewhere, check also the monthly rent. I have often seen the monthly rent, even for just one month, being less than 2 weeks of rent for the same place. Again, the Accommodation Police are not going to chase you down for not staying for the 2 weeks you’ve paid for.

3 – Stay in Share Flats and Houses, and Hostels

If you have decided to stay a little longer, check out flat shares and where you can rent out a room from a house. Or stay in a hostel – they have single rooms as well as the dormitories. They will also give you instant company, and often local information and experiences. The more you are involved with the locals, the less you will feel lonely and disconnected from everyone.

Some people need a room with a work space. But if you are not one of them, if you are one like me, find yourself a café (or co-working space) which suits you. I just need power and wifi (you can always buy your own box, or an upgraded phone plan and hot spot your PC to it)

Unless you’re living somewhere like Vietnam where the street food is cheaper (and probably more delicious) than you can make it yourself, make sure you have a place with a serviceable kitchen. Home cooked food is not only cheaper, but also better for your health.

4 - Cook at home, Eat and Cook Locally

An extension of the above point, but if you can cook, the cost of living will be way cheaper. However cheap it is eating out, buying your own food will be less – in most places, anyway. If you move around a lot, carrying with you your oil and spices is a major hassle, and extra luggage you don’t need.

But there are plenty of hostels with kitchens, and dishes needing little input. I love Asian food, and have worked out a way of making a pork noodle soup without oil, needing just a small bottle of soya sauce and ground white pepper outside the actual ingredients – a quick one-pot dish, and I can even eat it out of the pot.

Sourcing local fruit and vegetables and cooking it yourself is a much better quality of food, and better for your health. Find out from the locals where the best markets are, with the cheapest and best quality, fresh ingredients. Have fun exploring local ingredients and learning how to cook the local cuisine, or just use their products for variety in your own cooking.

5 – Join Local Pages

One of the biggest complaints I hear from nomads is loneliness. When someone is moving every few days and staying isolated in hotels and Airbnb, spending all their time sweating over their PC, they are not going to meet or get to know anybody.

Even if you aren’t planning a long stay, join the local facebook pages – as in, local to the town where you are staying. Not only are they a great place to ask questions and get information, but also to meet people. Simply ask if anyone is around for a coffee, or what events are on, or where the best place is to hang out.

I may have stayed longer than I’d planned – I went to Tangier for 2 months, and stayed for 3 years – but I was always meeting interesting people. Often passing through, sometimes staying for a while, sometimes just a conversation that lasted 2 or 3 hours for an interesting afternoon or evening.

Sometimes, even the briefest have become regular ongoing contacts/friends. Some I have met up with in different locations many times over. The point is, you never know how a connection will work out, which of the strangers will become friends.

So connect up, find local events that you enjoy, get out and meet people. IF you like yoga, or working out, or hiking – ask for people doing these things. At worst you will discover some local secrets. You may even make new friends who you will connect up with for many years to come.

How does this help the budget? They also will show you to the local secrets, and be able to tell you the cheap options. You never know what might come out of it, but the locals rarely spend the money that is normal on the tourist track.

Personally speaking, the tourist track is the last thing I am interested in. The local social life and daily rhythms are of far greater interest to me. I learn more from checking out a local supermarket and an invitation to someone’s home than I do from gazing at a monument and learning the history of people I’ve never heard of and don’t (yet) understand their significance.

Ultimately, both are parts of a place. Don’t sell yourself short by skipping what’s at hand.

Remember, being a digital nomad is a lifestyle. There are no rules. You can nomad, or slomad. It is perfectly fine to stay put for a while, getting to know the culture and the people better. Think about why you want to be a nomad, lose your possessions down to one backpack plus a cabin bag (I’ve met some who manage just off a cabin bag), and set yourself free. It is fine to make last minute plans, to make it up as you go. It’s your life. Enjoy it. If slowing down enables what you want, save costs and stay put for a bit longer.