A woman from Tameside who moved to Australia has managed to save $50,000 (£27,151.50) in five months alongside her partner by living off $1 meals. The couple have been travelling the country since July 2021 after buying a van together for $15,000 (£8,145.51).
Dominique Nuttall upped sticks when she was 18. She made the move Down Under alone after finishing college and its there that she met Aussie native Jesse Coleman, 30.
READ MORE: 'I told 40,000 people not to move to Manchester city centre'
The pair are currently based in Pilbara, Western Australia but have travelled up the east coast, along the entire north of Australia and down the west coast.
Over the last two years, the 23-year-old and and Jessie have been 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 (£27,151.50) by since they started saving in October 2022 - and have a saving goal of $200k (£108,614.46).
Dominique, originally from Stalybridge, works an admin role and a hospitality role, at $35 (£19.01) per hour and $37 (£20.09) per hour respectively, while Jesse works as a labourer earning $36.50 (£19.82) per hour.
Both working 60 hour weeks, this allows them each to put away $1,500 (£814.62) a week in savings to work towards their goal.
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."
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. Jesse's include working at a door manufacturing warehouse and at an air conditioning company.
Currently, Dominique is juggling hospitality and admin jobs, while Jesse is 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.
Dominique 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."
You can see more of Dominique's travels via her Instagram.
READ NEXT:
- Fashion and Beauty fans rush to ASOS as £180 items are reduced to £35 in wake of Amazon Spring sale
- Primark's £9 Summer sandals look a lot like designer £365 Chloé mules, apparently
- ASDA's new Easter-themed pizza has shoppers confused
- Sir David Jason united with daughter, 52, he didn't know existed
- 'Very young, very stupid' teens who terrorised suburbia and stole luxury cars avoid jail
