Want to know how to live for under $500 a month? Here's my story of how I did it!

With the current state of the economy, it seems more than ever that there's a newfound interest in discovering how to live a good life for a more reasonable price. I've always been a bit crazy, but since I lost my job last year I've been put to the test countless amounts of times and I've been trying to figure out how to succeed in a rougher landscape.

I went from living in a wealthy community, to suddenly being broke and downsizing. I moved around multiple times and tried everything from browsing hours on Craigslist for small gigs, to applying for every job I could, to even starting my own marketing company and actually getting some clients.

In the end however, come September I had to move back in with my parents. It was absolutely crushing and I told myself that by my 5th move out, it would be the FINAL one. As a 13-14 year old I was making 4 figure monthly sums from the internet. By the time I was an adult I burned through all my money and was near losing it all, including my last inch of hope. I had a tiny social media following, so I decided to work with it and go full out. It was my last chance. There was also a strange seed of thought that was planted into my head, but it was quite crazy and I brushed it off quickly.

I would continue working each day with a heavy cloud of depression over me, until December rolled around. I was given an opportunity to go visit my family in Poland in time for the holidays. I took it up and it changed my life.

Right before the trip I decided to research the rates of rent and just general life. I was SHOCKED. Apartments for $200-300 a month? Was this for real? I used a handy tool to try to compare what future cities could be the most accommodating to a digital nomad. If you're interested, https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/ is a fantastic site (although sometimes the rates are off by a little, so give or take a bit). If you're a "local" of course prices will be lower.

I come from Chicago so I'm used to seeing 1 bedrooms go for $1,000+ and that's without utilities and all the other costs included. If you're trying to find something for lower, you just might but it's probably going to be in an area that you may feel uncomfortable wandering out too late at night in. Living frugally in a suburb of Chicago means you'll probably be going through at least $2,000 a month. Chicago IS a jobs city, however only certain fields are really booming and the expenses can pile on quickly.

Since I know polish fluently after years of going to secondary school, I didn't have to worry about getting ripped off whenever I went out. If you know the language of whatever country you're interested in visiting or living in, this is such a HUGE advantage! People will treat you differently as soon as they realize you're one of "them".

After only 2 days in the country I was already able to pickup a few girls and get a couple numbers. After going out for a night of fun, I was convinced that my earlier ideas weren't so crazy after all. I decided to plant a goal in my head. And now, here we are a few months later.

I arrived in Warsaw last week and am currently living in an apartment that's 1,000 zlotys. That's equivalent to about $250 or so. I have fast internet (250mb/s download) for around $20. I have 4G LTE service with 6GB each month for $5, and for only $5 more I can get an additional 6gb. Next month's looking like I'll spend close to $450, or even less. This is in the country's CAPITAL mind you.

If you wanted to live for less than $400 a month, you could either get a roommate or move to a cheaper city. I'm sure if you REALLY wanted to, you could even go as hard as $300 or less. If you're earning in USD online, Poland's the place for you! It's a cheap and beautiful country in Europe with lovely internet speeds. There's a company offering over 1GB download not far from my area.

The only things that are expensive here are certain foods, clothing and tech. But hey, that's the price you pay for foreign imported goods! And trust me, it's not THAT bad of a price either.. the cheap rent definitely makes up for it by FAR! So right before you move, stock up on cheap clothing and make sure you have everything you need with you (computer, phone, webcam, etc.).

What's free here if you become a Polish citizen? Healthcare. Yes, something that costs so many Americans their precious hard-earned bills to disappear for something that's not even fully worth it. What else? Education. If you have good grades, even if you come from abroad, you're able to study here for FREE. English classes cost money, but usually these costs are equal or LESS THAN community colleges would cost back in over in the USA.

So how did I go from having nothing in my bank account to currently having a couple hundred dollars in savings and 3 months of life paid for? I spent almost every waking hour I could hustling to grow my social media accounts and doing some freelancing gigs on the side. I'm not making much now (especially after the YouTube ad boycott), but since I'm trying to diversify a little bit I should be making a little over $550 each month come June/July. It's not much, but just enough that if I'm careful I'll be able to put a bit of money into my savings account each month. That helps so much with sleeping well at night.

Here's my actual view. In the distance you can see downtown Warsaw, it's about 8 km away, or 35 minutes via tram. Transportation costs for EVERYTHING in the entire city for 30 days costs just a little over $2 a day. This means you can ride the buses, trams, subways and trains everywhere you'd like without barely having to scrape your pocket. Don't want to buy a monthly pass? No problem, a 20 minute ticket costs a few cents.

I went from nothing and a severe depression to actually being on track for greatness. Poland gave me a chance to follow my dreams. I hope for those who are having financial troubles or would just like to save more of their money this has provided some motivation to go after some wild ideas. Most of my family is here in Poland, so if ever anything happens I'll have some people to turn to, but I actually feel safer here than in my old city. I mean, Chicago did have shootings every single week and 3 out of the past 5 governors were thrown in jail... oh, the good ol' Windy City!

Here is my room by the way with an epic view. I may not have palm trees or Mt. Fuji chilling out back, but it's enough for me.

If you're planning a move anytime soon, feel free to ask me for advice and I'll try to help out however I can. As to any questions that may be about working online and all of that, since I'm new here, don't worry! I've got plenty more content to share. I'm excited to go full out with Steemit and create lots of articles unique only for you guys.

So let's recap: If you're a responsible adult and you've done your research beforehand, this post is encouraging moving abroad, exploring new places and saving your hard earned dollars! If you'd choose Poland for example, maybe not everything is perfect, but you'll get fast and cheap internet, you won't have to spend much for rent and living costs, if you're a student you have cheap / free education, and healthcare is pennies compared to American plans. I currently have insurance for everything pretty much and it's only about $50, so I'm sure a smaller plan could be less than you'd pay for a used video game.

Plane tickets cost less than to Southeast Asia by the way. So if you come out here, go out and grab yourself a 50 cent beer! ;)

And did I mention that the girls were beautiful? Oh my.