Don’t tell me what you value, show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value.
– Joe Biden
With so much uncertainty surrounding global events, soaring gas prices and rising inflation, it can be overwhelming to create a year-long budget. I know, because that’s how I felt when confronted with 12 months, 52 weeks and 365 days on a blank sheet of paper. So as Robie and I celebrate surviving another Tax Day, we thought we’d share how we make a roving retirement work.
Last year we talked about the essential financial strategies for roving retirees. In January we explained how we lived on $53k in 2025 and mentioned that we planned to increase our spending for 2026. This caused one reader to ask how we came up with a budget.
How to budget for life in strange places with the travel required to get from one country to another? Did we know the kinds of food we’d find available to cook? Did we start from scratch every time we picked up and moved?
There were other questions too. Like how did we decide where to go and how to estimate how far the dollar might stretch – crucial factors that were moving targets at best. More to the point, the reader wanted to know how we could make plans to move every three months with so much chaos in the world.
“Who knows what the world might look like in a year – or even a month?”
Certainly not us, but that won’t stop us from living our best lives. Or being smart about how we approach our finances for whatever might come next.
Before we set out to see the world, I spent countless hours getting lost down internet rabbit holes until I finally realized I didn’t need to know how much a cup of coffee costs in Greece or decide in advance if the bus to Albania was better than a ferry. I only needed to break down what we felt comfortable spending – on average about $5k a month – with the biggest expenses going toward accommodations and travel.
These building blocks played a significant part in determining where we would go since any destinations that didn’t fit within our rental budget were automatically relegated to short visits rather than long-term stays. It’s why we often stay three months in smaller, lesser-known cities and travel to expensive capitals like Rome, Paris and London for short stays in the off-season when prices (and crowds) are more reasonable.
Outside our three months in North Africa, Robie and I have spent the better part of two years exploring Europe – not the most cost-effective region despite seven months in Albania that proved an exception. When we left the U.S., we knew our dollars would go further in Central America or Southeast Asia but still chose to ease into the nomadic life in a region we felt comfortable. That meant agreeing to spending more money early on while hoping to reduce our costs as we make our way around the globe. Or until we reach places where the cost of living is higher like Australia, New Zealand and Japan despite a currently weak yen.
After starting with rent and travel, we rounded out the four biggest expense categories by plugging in amounts for entertainment and groceries. In terms of cooking, we rarely know the food we’ll find before landing in a new destination but are working to build a repertoire of recipes made from staple ingredients like eggs and pasta augmented by fresh meat, fruits and vegetables. While moving to a new apartment often means starting over to build a pantry, we’ve made it a point to depart each country with a supply of their best food – olive oil from Spain, capers from Italy and spices from Morocco.
While our expenses vary by destination, we can easily predict the funds coming in. Before departing the U.S., Robie signed up for social security and received his first check the month we left Dallas. This showed us how much money we could expect to hit our bank account as a newly reduced, single-paycheck couple. To that, we added the previous year’s investment income to the kitty, money we made through interest – or as we think of it, our second income stream. For us, it’s critical to use last year’s earned interest because the money’s already in the bank, not speculative or nosediving every time the price of gas soars.
After Robie’s social security and our investments, a third source of income comes from the money we get back from our Capital One Quicksilver credit card, something we consider a lazy side hustle. There’s no annual fee, and we earn the maximum cash back on every purchase thanks to Robie’s excellent credit. So every year we sit back and let the funds accumulate before using the lump sum to pay off our December balance.
It’s not glamorous like the Chase Sapphire Reserve card preferred by many travelers. Then again, we aren’t interested in paying $795 a year to a credit card company or using Expedia’s booking platform. Despite the card’s impressive list of benefits, we have no need for a DoorDash subscription, OpenTable credits, Peloton membership or elite status with Southwest Airlines. After decades of stockpiling airline miles only to watch them devalue each year, we cashed them in and now take trains and ferries – because slow travel is about exploring a region, not hopscotching between continents. For longer trips, we book low-cost carriers far in advance ensuring we nab the cheapest fare.
Finally, when we talked about how to make a roving retirement a reality, Robie and I agreed to spend no more than $8-10k from our savings each year. This means adding $8,000 to the budget while leaving the last $2k untouched unless needed. So far, we haven’t had to dip into the extra funds, but it’s comforting to know the money’s there. Plus, if we don’t earn as much from our investments for a year or two, we’ll feel better about covering any shortfall.
So, here’s the Reid & Robie formula for a roving retirement budget:
Social Security + Last Year’s Investment Income + Credit Card Cash Back + $8-10k in Savings
It’s not overly complicated or particularly sexy, but this simple formula allows us to fund our roving lifestyle while leaving the bulk of our savings untouched. More importantly, with so much anxiety brought on by world events, we’re perfectly poised to pivot.
As permanent nomads, we can pack up and move far more easily and with a lot less risk than dealing with rising inflation on a fixed income or selling a house in a down market. If things suddenly go south due to war or another global recession, we can transition to a place that makes sense financially. Because the biggest advantage to being homeless is the ability to travel to places that work within our budget while still maintaining a comfortable standard of living.
If all goes well, in a few years Reid will be eligible for social security while Robie will be looking to take required minimum distributions from his untapped 401k. That may be the perfect time for us to think about putting down roots again. Until then we’ll keep traveling and have our eyes peeled for a forever home.
Are you a roving retiree with a different budget formula? We’d love to hear how you calculate your spending limit and possibly learn a trick or two. For anyone trying to figure out how to make a roving retirement work, ask us your questions in the comments below. We love sharing tips we find useful to make the dream a reality.
Reid & Robie 