Millennial couples earn $93,000 when traveling abroad

This story is part of CNBC’s Make It. Millennium money A series detailing how people around the world earn, spend, and save their money.

For a long time, Amber and Jaelyn Bush moved back and forth to where a Marine named Jaelyn was stationed. But eight years later, they were ready for a change.

“We didn’t know how long we’d be living in basic housing and homes that weren’t ours,” Amber, 30, told CNBC’s Make It. “I wanted to have something of ours that we could take with us wherever it took us.”

Growing up in a military family, Amber lived a nomadic lifestyle. Jaylene saw getting an RV as a way for them to keep their home while still having the freedom to easily relocate to whatever Navy station she was assigned to.

“It’s always been her dream,” says 28-year-old Jaline.

At first, however, she didn’t believe Jellin. His selling point: how much money you can save.

“Instead of $2,600 a month going into a house that we could never afford, $2,600 a month for a truck payment, an RV payment, our RV site, and then the rest goes into savings,” says Amber.

They started saving, and in November 2019, they bought their first RV for $26,000 with a $10,000 down payment.

Now, the couple makes about $93,000 a year and travels the country in their RV with their 1-year-old daughter, Journey, and their dog, Louie. Jaylene receives a pension from her medical discharge from the Navy, and Amber works remotely as a project analyst for a tech company.

The couple met in high school when Amber’s family moved to Virginia. In the year In 2012, after both graduated – Amber in 2010 and Jaelyn in 2011 – they started dating, eventually marrying in 2013.

Although Amber took a few classes on and off, none of the woods decided to go to college. “My family told me that if I wasn’t sure what I wanted to study, it was a waste of time,” she says.

Instead of college, Amber became a tutor for a military officer, while Jaylene joined the Navy and served as a weapons instructor at Camp Pendleton in San Onofre, California. Joining the military wasn’t his original plan, but he says it was a way to take care of himself and Amber.

The couple struggled at first. They lived with family members for 10 months. Until they can buy their own apartment.

“We ate upstairs because we didn’t have furniture,” Amber recalls. “We don’t have money to buy mattresses, so we sleep on hot air mattresses.”

In the year When they moved into their first RV in November 2019, they faced a new set of challenges. “We’ve never even been in an RV before. We’ve been scared to dump the tank or even truck the RV,” says Amber. “This was all new territory for us.”

But they got the hang of it. In the year In January 2021, the couple went big by selling their first RV, using the proceeds from the sale to spend $58,000, including a $10,000 down payment.

One of the biggest perks of living in an RV: the freedom to see the country without disturbing their son’s environment too much, Amber and Jaylene say.

Plus, Amber recently admitted that she has OCD, so having a smaller living space means less space for her to worry about staying organized.

Here’s how Amber and Jaylen spent their money in June 2022.

• Sensible. $3,460 in expenses including travel, tours, clothing, hardware store and gym passes
• Food: $2,868 for groceries and dining
• Transportation: $1,766 for truck payment and gas
• RV sites and parking; 1,694 dollars
• Investments $1,186 was paid into a shared savings account, a savings account for their daughter, an IRA and crypto investments.
• RV loan payment; 678 dollars
• Insurance: $296 for car, renters, home and phone insurance
• Facilities: $71 for Wi-Fi, heat and propane
• Phone: $95
• Registrations: $68 for chiropractor, cloud storage and their website domain

The couple also said they have spent about $20,000 on repairs and maintenance since 2020.

“After five months of driving and a flat tire, we blew an axle,” says Amber. Recently, they had to repair the air conditioner in the front of the RV after it tore off while trying to drive under a very low bridge.

Having insurance was key. Towing the RV after it broke down would have cost about $3,300, but with insurance, they only had to pay a $500 deductible.

In addition, Amber and Jaelyn currently have approximately $4,200 in credit card debt, which they are working to pay off. Combined, they have two credit cards, including the American Express Platinum Card, with an annual fee for military families.

As for savings, the couple has $11,200 in a joint savings account and $4,000 in a travel savings account.

In the future, Jeline plans to work on photography. He originally took it up as a hobby, but now he wants to go to school to hone his skills and make himself more competitive.

Amber claims to have earned about $400 from her blog, “Amber in Wanderland,” and hopes to make it a major source of income in the future.

Overall, though, the couple doesn’t plan on giving up the RV life anytime soon.

“In five to 10 years, I see myself still traveling,” says Amber. “Being in a military family, I’m used to a nomadic lifestyle, so I enjoy living on the road because my home is with me.”