British backpacker and partner saved $50k while travelling - by living off $1 meals
615 次觀看・1 年前
A couple travelling around Australia in a van revealed how they saved $50k in five months to fund their next trip - by living off $1 meals.
Dominique Nuttall, 23, moved to Australia from her hometown of Stalybridge, Manchester, UK, to travel - and met Aussie native Jesse Coleman, 30, out there.
The couple - who are currently based in the Pilbara, Western Australia - started their journey together in July 2021.
Since then, they have travelled up the east coast, along the entire north of Australia and down the west coast.
The couple bought a van together for $15,000 and have spent the last two years alternating between stints working to save money, then setting off travelling and living in their van.
Last year they decided to work for the whole of 2023 to save up enough to fund a whole year of travel in 2024.
They shared how they have saved $50,000 by since they started saving in October 2022 - and have a saving goal of $200k.
Dominique works an admin role and a hospitality role, at $35 per hour and $37 per hour respectively, while Jesse works as a labourer earning $36.50 per hour.
Both working 60 hour weeks, this allows them each to put away $1,500 a week in savings to work towards their goal.
Dominique said: "2024 will be the year of just travelling.
"When I first moved to Australia, I realised I could work for a short time then I can enjoy myself with the money I saved.
"I know I'll enjoy it then because I worked to create the money. That's what we want to do."
Aged 18, Dominique moved to Australia alone to travel after finishing college.
While working on farms to get visa extensions 18 months later, she met Jesse, from Port Macquarie, New South Wales, and they hit it off.
Jesse quit his nine to five job with a door manufacturing company so he and Dominique could travel the enormous country's coasts together.
Since then, they have travelled 70,000km together.
Jesse said: "I was always going to go, I'm pretty adventurous.
"I wanted to leave my hometown - that's when Dominique suggested we do the travelling life."
Dominique added: "At the start I didn’t think Jesse would drop everything to travel with me, but he did."
They bought a van in July 2021 and began their journey from Port Macquarie, in New South Wales, and headed north.
The couple's routine involves working full-time for a few months to save up, then quitting their jobs and travelling in their van until they run out of funds, then repeating the process.
Some of Dominique's jobs include marketing, a barista, waitressing, bartending, solar farming, agricultural work, tractor driving, retail, admin work and housekeeping.
Some of Jesse's have been working at a door manufacturing warehouse and at an air conditioning company.
Currently, Dominique is juggling hospitality and admin jobs, while Jesse is currently working as a process technician at an industrial waste facility.
Since last September they have been working 60-hour weeks to squirrel away their pay-checks - so next year they can complete their lap of Australia.
And after five months - having taken one month off for a trip to Bali before jumping back to the grind - they have $50,000 in the bank.
They have a goal of $200,000 to hit before they set off next year.
Dominique said: "We are paid weekly and put $3k into our joint account each week.
"Since doing the van life we’re both good at living off a budget - one-dollar meals.
"We love living cheap, living simply, just saving all our money and not spending on unnecessary things."
Currently, their van life is on hold as Dominque's admin job comes with accommodation for a small weekly fee, and her food is covered by her work too.
Jesse works outside all day as a labourer in the blistering heat of the Pilbara, which is a remote dry mining town.
It is thinly populated due to its conditions, meaning wages are higher and their only main expenditure is food for Jesse.
They have a whiteboard in their bedroom which they use to visually track their savings and monitor when they hit saving milestones.
Dominque said: "We want to complete our lap of Australia then do southeast Asia.
"We also want to go to Europe at some point.
"But we'll always use Australia as our base - and I'm in the process of applying for permanent residency.
"Being out here and doing what we do, it doesn’t feel like real life.
"It's too good to be true."
相關影片推薦
- 1:55手術必備輸液"嚴重缺貨" 台大醫院"訂10箱只到2箱"民視影音7,198 次觀看・16 小時前
- 2:05中橫墜崖後火燒車 男失蹤2個月尋獲陳屍車旁華視影音33,218 次觀看・22 小時前
- 1:48詭! 女子90度低頭「呆站不動」目擊民眾:她眼睜好大東森新聞影音106,330 次觀看・2 天前
- 1:44史上最小米其林餐廳 墨西哥塔可店「沒有祕訣」專注品質 成功摘星Yahoo奇摩(國際通)9,318 次觀看・1 天前
- 2:27唐綺陽運勢 / 本週星座運勢:5/20~5/26一周星象預報!迎來難得的平靜時期,盡情享受小確幸!唐綺陽談星室71,566 次觀看・1 天前
- 1:52「永豐化工」遭勒令停工! 「生理食鹽水、葡萄糖」爆缺藥東森新聞影音6,035 次觀看・13 小時前
- 2:03518國際博物館日 故宮"免費逛"湧入大批民眾民視影音1,816 次觀看・21 小時前
- 1:40聘看護照顧癌父住院 家屬控「完全沒做事」|#鏡新聞鏡新聞15,932 次觀看・16 小時前
- 2:21波士尼亞森林藏巨型「神祕石球」如童話森林仙境 年吸數千遊客Yahoo奇摩(國際通)3,824 次觀看・1 天前
- 1:07庾澄慶伊能靜美國重聚 共慶兒子恩利順利畢業娛樂星聞424 次觀看・8 小時前
熱門必看
- 1:03湯唯與孔劉劇照曝光 兩人笑臉盈盈好養眼娛樂星聞42,320 次觀看・4 天前
- 3:01甜點、便當通通只要日幣XXX元! 網友實測LAWSON 100有多好逛Yahoo創作摩人33,056 次觀看・1 週前
- 12:47【不夠善良的我們】大結局解析+討論 照顧情敵的原因?何瑞之到底愛不愛老婆?許瑋甯也太會演了吧!Ki笑人生81,400 次觀看・1 週前
- 12:582024買不起房,都是自己害的?近30年台灣房價都不會下跌,未來房子只會越來越小 ft.游庭皓SHIN LI69,255 次觀看・1 週前
- 9:14【爆球連發】" OS特化扳機 !! " OS-109 獨角獸 開箱測試雷達之星13,960 次觀看・4 天前