Was it more or less expensive than living in the UK?

Let’s dive straight in!

I travel with my boyfriend Brett, so we split the cost of everything. We have found that renting Airbnb’s for 8 months in 3 different countries has been cheaper than renting our previous apartment in Portsmouth, England.

We both work teaching English online while we travel so that pays our bills.

For full transparency, in Portsmouth, we were paying £750/month for a 2 bedroom flat with 2 bathrooms. With bills and tax on top of this, our monthly cost was around £900.

While we were travelling, our aim was to be able to live more cheaply than we did in the UK.

While in Montenegro, we lived in 2 different towns (Herceg Novi and Kotor) for 1 month each.

Eating Out

During the first month in Herceg Novi, we ate at our favourite restaurant twice a week. In the second month in Kotor, we only ate out 5 times in total. An average meal for both of us with drinks included would come to around 30 euros.

Approximate total: 390 euros (£330.40)

Transport

Over the entire 2 months, we took 5 taxis which came to 42 euros (inc. our taxi to the airport when we left), 1 bus which cost 9 euros and short bus journeys to and from Kotor Old Town which cost 20 euros in total.

We also had to return to the UK for 3 days and the transport to the airport and back cost us 60 euros in total.

Approximate total: 131 euros (£111.52)

Tours

We went on 2 tours during our time in Montenegro with 360Monte. We visited the highest monastery in the world, the majestic Black Lake in the North, swam in the Cetinje River, tried a traditional Montenegrin breakfast and so much more!

Approximate total for 2 tours: 190 euros (£160.97)

Food Shopping

Unfortunately, food shops were more expensive than we’d hoped. The groceries weren’t cheaper than in the UK, but as we were saving money on the other factors we didn’t mind too much!

Approximate total for food shopping: 1,118.26 euros (£890.32)

Approx: £111/week

Approx: £15/day

Other

We also paid 35 euros each to go to the gym for a month in Herceg Novi.

Total: 70 euros (£59.31)

Rent

31 Nights in Herceg Novi: 765.40 euros (£648.57)

28 Nights in Kotor: 638.15 euros (£540.74)

Total rent cost: 1,403.19 euros (£1,189)

Grand Totals for 2 Months

Total for 2 people without rent: 1832.56 euros (£1,552.52)

Total for 1 person without rent: 865.28 euros (£776.26)

Total for 2 people with rent: 3,221.92 euros (£2741.52)

Total for 1 person with rent: 1610.96 euros (£1,370.76)

Verdict

Living in Montenegro for 2 months was cheaper than living in the UK. The rent prices were fantastic and all bills were included. The apartments we stayed in were lovely, the one in Herceg Novi even had a balcony!

The locations of both apartments were less than a 5-minute walk to the beach too. Both apartments had one bedroom and a living area so we had plenty of space for both of us to work.

In Comparison With The UK:

As a single person, the estimated cost of living per month in the UK is £651 without rent.

If we were living in the UK for 2 months we would’ve spent:

For one person: £651 x 2 months = £1,302 + £750 rent = £2,052

By living in Montenegro we saved £681.24 per person over 2 months.

The prices of food were still relatively high, I think this is due to most items being imported from neighbouring countries.

There are other costs to take into account, like travelling costs to get to the countries. However, because we travelled by coach through Croatia to get to Montenegro, it was much cheaper than flying.

Even if we broke even and didn’t save any money whilst living in Montenegro, I would still choose to do this over living in the UK because it was such a fantastic experience!

I hope this has given you an insight into a digital nomad’s cost of living in Montenegro.