A self-made millionaire has shared the shocking lifestyle change that helped him become wealthy effortlessly.
Writer and entrepreneur Steve Adcock, 42, navigated his way to financial success in a motorhome.
He and his wife Courtney quit their jobs and sold their 1,600-square-foot home in Arizona and moved into a 200-square-foot Airstream trailer with their two dogs.
In a CNBC In his story, Steve wrote: ‘Looking back, that was one of the key reasons I was able to build wealth.’
Steve grew tired of his daily work routine as a software developer, so he quit his job when he and Courtney made the big move in 2016. Courtney followed suit in 2017, leaving her days as a rocket scientist behind.
Steve and Courtney Adcock quit their jobs and sold their home to live in a mobile home for three years, and that’s how Steve said he became a millionaire.
At the time, the couple had about $900,000 saved up, giving them “some leeway” to explore their new life.
They spent the next three years touring the country, documenting their journey on YouTube and writing about it.
Steve wrote: ‘During that three-year period, living cheaply in our Airstream allowed our net worth to grow as we drove, even though we were no longer working full-time jobs.’
Steve said the hardest part of downsizing was sorting through all the stuff he and Courtney owned.
She wrote: “We gave some things to friends and family. We donated a lot to Goodwill, probably enough to fill an entire store. We held garage sales over several weekends and digitized thousands of photos onto CDs instead of keeping the physical photographs.”
By keeping only the bare essentials, Steve and Courtney realized how little they really needed to live a comfortable life. Steve described having less stuff as “quite liberating.”
Another disadvantage was the lack of electricity, water and sewage connections.
They made a few hundred dollars a month from YouTube videos and about $1,000 a month from a blog Steve wrote about early retirement. They also owned stocks that were not traded.
His total monthly expenses were about $3,500. Overall, Steve said this was a much cheaper life than the one he had been living before.
The only expense that increased was the grocery bill (by 25 percent) because they had to shop more frequently at local stores.
They camped in about half the states and kept living costs down by staying on Bureau of Land Management land, which is free for RVs for two weeks.
The couple traveled to about half the states and increased their net worth by about $150,000 over the three years.
Taking into account all the expenses that come with living on the road, the adventurous couple ended up with a net worth that was $150,000 higher than when they started, officially making them millionaires.
In the CNBC story he wrote: ‘Not bad for never having set foot in an office!’
Steve’s website is dedicated to sharing financial advice that can help anyone increase their net worth.
After three exciting years getting to know the country and saving money, it seems that both have returned to the working world.
Courtney is a real estate agent and software engineering consultant, according to her LinkedIn profile. Steve wrote a book titled “Millionaire Habits” that was published in January.