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Home / Travel

Retired on $10k a year. See the life this couple built in Greece

By Aliki Kraterou
news.com.au·
9 Mar, 2020 03:09 AM8 mins to read

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The "best decision" they've made: Steph and Mat didn't wait to follow their Greek dream. Photo / Supplied, Instagram, @Sidestepping_Normal

The "best decision" they've made: Steph and Mat didn't wait to follow their Greek dream. Photo / Supplied, Instagram, @Sidestepping_Normal

A young couple have revealed how they managed to live out their retirement dreams 30 years early – by ditching their jobs and moving to a idyllic Greek island where they live on $10,000 a year.

Steph, 30 and Mat Trott, 34, from Sussex, UK, decided to leave their businesses as dog walkers in August 2018 and move to the small village Houmeri on the Greek island of Crete.

After getting fed up of living with Steph's parents – they even lived in a caravan while they scraped together money for a deposit to get on the property ladder – they decided to skip ahead 30 years and move to the Greek village they'd dreamt of retiring to.

The pair spent about $99,000 of their savings to buy a two-bedroom villa in the quiet village, surrounded by olive trees, and say it was the "best decision" they've made.

View this post on Instagram

We've finally started the renovation of Walnut Cottage! There's a long way to go, but we know we can do it😁 We've been clearing the big piles of rubble from the garden so that we have a blank canvas (and a clearer mind) to work. Lessons learnt so far: a) Many hands make light work. My sister and her boyfriend have been helping us this week, and it's amazing how much we accomplished with their help. b) Wheelbarrow's full of rubble are very heavy. c) Lemon trees are very spiky. #lettherenovationsbegin #renovatingaruin #greekruins #greekhouse #greeklife #removingrubble #teabreaksoon #winterissorted #welikeachallenge #wehaveavision #trustus #youllseesoon

A post shared by Steph and Matt, Crete (@sidestepping_normal) on Oct 25, 2019 at 12:05am PDT

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The eco-conscious couple said they tried to lead a sustainable lifestyle by using a solar oven for cooking, maintaining their own vegetable garden, installing a water system that filtered their water, using a composting toilet and only using electricity when necessary.

The couple have even bought a $50,000 stone ruin, named the "Walnut Cottage", which they are renovating and plan to rent out on Airbnb next year.

View this post on Instagram

Who knows what we'll be doing on tonight's episode of 'My new Greek life.' Did you enjoy last weeks episode? We've been cracking walnuts and soothing ant bites ever since! 😂 Tune in with us this evening to find out what we're up to...actually it's a bit late for us to stay up here, you go ahead and we'll catch up in the morning 😉

A post shared by Steph and Matt, Crete (@sidestepping_normal) on Feb 25, 2020 at 4:01am PST

Ms Trott said the couple couldn't afford the lifestyle they wanted in the UK and found the "extortionate" property prices in Sussex were especially out of their reach.

"Our whole aim was to create a life with less outgoings so we wouldn't have to work as much – now because we don't have a mortgage, we don't have to work near as much as we used to in the UK," she said.

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"We absolutely loved our jobs – a lot of people were asking us why we wanted to leave, as we had the best job in the world.

View this post on Instagram

After a slightly disastrous 30th Birthday a few weeks ago (it began with no electricity and progressively got worse) I decided to postpone my birthday (maybe a bit of denial involved?) and have it again...take two! This time around it was perfect. Not that perfect exists of course, but it was perfect to me. Mr Sidestepping Normal made me a beautiful breakfast, my sister and her boyfriend (over visiting) made me a delicious cake, and we started renovation work on our cottage. It was peaceful, celebratory and unassuming. I'm ready. The decade of being in my 30's has commenced😁 #30thbirthdaycake #30thbirthday #homemadecakesarethebest #birthdayingreece #greekbirthday #imreadyforanything #newlifeingreece #greeklife

A post shared by Steph and Matt, Crete (@sidestepping_normal) on Oct 23, 2019 at 6:49am PDT

"We could have stayed doing that for years we were living at my parent's house, we even rented a caravan for a while just so we could save some money but we couldn't really progress much further.

"We were dreaming of moving to Greece when we retired but eventually, we decided to do it earlier.

"My family was going to Greece every year for holidays so I have such fond memories and Matt came out for a year when he was 18 so when we met we had this common love."

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The couple now only works over the summer period, with Steph working part-time in a hotel and Mat, who works as an animal nurse assistant, travelling back in the UK for six weeks.

Although their salary in the UK was around $40,000 a year, the pair said their alternative lifestyle let them survive on no more than $10,000.

"We try to be as eco-friendly and go back to nature as much as possible, our whole aim is to be as environmentally friendly as we can," Ms Trott said.

"We are very frugal, we don't have any mortgage, our outgoings every month are minimal, we are vegetarians, we try to do everything to reduce our impact on the earth.

View this post on Instagram

For the last 6 months I've passed this stone ruin on my way to work. I always wonder how it became abandoned? What is the history behind it? Who lived there before? Maybe one day someone will renovate it and restore it back to life. As I cycled to work this morning (don't get impressed, I've never cycled before today) I passed it for the last time for a while. This morning was my last day working at the little hotel, so I am now free for the next 5 and a half months. I feel reflective on the summer that's just passed. As I wash the last cups and plates from breakfast, I'm struck by the stillness. The last guests are packing their bags, and the hot busy days of August feel distant. We have our own little ruin to renovate this winter...but it can wait for a few days longer. I'm going to indulge in sleep and long lazy breakfasts...It's my turn for once❤ #greekruins #stoneruins #touristseasonisover #lieintomorrow #havingthedayoff #breakfastinbedplease #renovationtimesoon #lettherenovationbegin #strivingforfinancialfreedom #financialindependencejourney

A post shared by Steph and Matt, Crete (@sidestepping_normal) on Oct 18, 2019 at 7:13am PDT

"We are cutting out chemicals so I have started to make my own beauty products, we try to reduce the amount of plastic we use too, we have re-usable items for everything.

"In the winter we cook on the log burner and in the summer, we use our solar ovens so we use as little electricity as possible.

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"When we were saving to come to Crete, we reached a point where we were saving about 90 per cent of our wage so we got so good at saving money, we know how to cut corners on everything.

View this post on Instagram

We're still using the solar oven in late October...This is why we've moved to Greece! We love our solar oven, whenever the sun is out (every day😉) we put something in to slowly cook all day. It's amazing how high the temperature gets. It's currently 26c outside, and the solar oven is reading 130c inside. Dinner tonight will be beans in some form😁 #solarcooking #sunoven #cookingwiththesun #chasingthesun #ecocooking #naturalcookingclub #ecolife #naturallife #simplepleasures #livingingreece #greeklife #beansfordinner

A post shared by Steph and Matt, Crete (@sidestepping_normal) on Oct 26, 2019 at 1:25am PDT

"Some might think we are lazy but our aim is to give back – we are raising money to neuter the stray cats, we are planting fruit trees up our lane for anyone in the village to come and pick the fruit, we are cleaning the beaches."

The couple said moving to Crete was "the best decision they could have made" and they weren't planning to return in the UK anytime soon.

View this post on Instagram

This morning we discovered that our back garden at Walnut Cottage is bed rock! We are so excited as it will look beautiful and natural. We were wondering what do do with the back garden, but mother nature has sorted it out for us 😁 #renovatingaruin #renovatingingreece #renovation #renovatingourhouse #ruin #greekruins #greekrenovation #greekruin #greeklifestyle #greeklife #livingincrete #livingingreece #newlifeinthesun

A post shared by Steph and Matt, Crete (@sidestepping_normal) on Nov 21, 2019 at 2:50am PST

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