A self-made millionaire has shared the shocking lifestyle change that helped him become effortlessly wealthy.
Writer and entrepreneur Steve Adcock, 42, traveled the road to financial success in an RV.
He and his wife Courtney quit their jobs and sold their 1,600-square-foot Arizona home and moved into a 200-square-foot Airstream RV with their two dogs.
In a CNBC story, Steve wrote: ‘Looking back, that was one of the key reasons why I was able to build wealth.’
Steve grew tired of his mundane day-to-day working 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 job and sold their house to live in an RV for three years, which is how Steve said he became a millionaire
The couple had about $900,000 in savings at this point, giving them ‘some breathing room’ 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: ‘Over that three year period, living cheaply in our Airstream allowed our net worth to climb while we drove, even though we no longer worked full-time jobs.’
Steve said the hardest part of downsizing was sorting through all the stuff he and Courtney had.
He wrote: ‘We unloaded some things on friends and family members. 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 physical photographs.’
Only keeping what was absolutely necessary made Steve and Courtney realize how little they really needed to live a comfortable life. Steve described having fewer things as ‘quite freeing.’
Another downside was the lack of electricity, water and sewer hook-ups.
They made a few hundred dollars each month from YouTube videos and about $1,000 per month from a blog Steve wrote about early retirement. They also had stocks that were mainly left alone.
They’re overall expenses each month were give or take $3,500. Overall, Steve said this was a much cheaper life than the one he was previously living.
The only expense that increased was their grocery bill – by 25 percent – because they had to shop in local stores more often.
They camped in about half of the states and kept living costs low by staying on Bureau of Land Management land, which is free for RVs for two weeks at a time.
The couple traveled to about half the states and increased their net worth by about $150,000 during the three years
Factoring in all the expenses that came along with on-the-road living, the adventurous pair walked away with a net worth $150,000 higher than when they started – officially making them millionaires.
He wrote in the CNBC story: ‘Not bad for never setting foot in an office!’
Steve’s website is dedicated to sharing financial tips that can help anyone increase their net worth.
Since their three exciting years seeing the country and saving money, it appears that the both have returned to the working world.
Courtney is a realtor and software engineering consultant, according to her LinkedIn. Steve wrote a book called ‘Millionaire Habits’ that was published in January.