When their $700‑a‑week Erskineville rental was put up for sale, Sydney couple Sam Savage and Jess Jacobs didn’t scramble for another lease – they hit the road, built a home on wheels and came back with a plan to buy land and build container homes in Western Australia.
Savage, 33, a stonemason originally from England who moved to Australia over a decade ago, told Yahoo Finance the vanlife idea went from “bucket list” dream to reality after their landlord decided to sell.
“We mentioned it to each other before and always thought it’d be a bucket list thing, but never actually thought we’d do it,” he said.
Faced with soaring rental costs, the pair “bit the bullet”.
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Sydney couple Sam Savage and Jess Jacobs recently returned from a 10-month trip across Australia. Source: Supplied/Yahoo News
They bought a $20,000 bus and converted it into a mobile home, moving into a small studio in Alexandria for $500 per week while they did the build.
The renovation cost $30,000 and to fund it, they used savings and investments.
Savage had been using micro‑investing app Raiz’s “round‑up” feature to automatically invest spare change, then ramped up his contributions when they started saving seriously – “a minimum of $50 per week or whatever spare change” he had.
By year’s end, he’d saved around $12,000.
Couple embarks on a trip of a lifetime
In February, they set off on a 10‑month lap of the country.
They spent a combined $32,000 on the trip, mainly from savings.
Savage picked up stonemason jobs along the way and Jacobs, a personal trainer, kept a few online clients.
The couple bought the bus for $20,000 and spent $30,000 renovating it. Source: Supplied/Yahoo News
“We traded our scotch fillet steaks for mince. We were definitely mindful of what we were buying. We were trying to save as much money as possible,” he said.
Looking beyond ‘insane’ Sydney to buy cheaper land
Back in Sydney in December, the couple are saving for their first home – but not in Sydney, where Jacobs is from.
“It’s just insane. The amount of money you need to have, and then you need to pay off. That’s it, it’s game over, you’re stuck,” Savage said.
“You’re locked in for 30 years, and me and Jess definitely don’t want that. We want more freedom and we want to create a passive income.”
On their travels they fell for Esperance in WA and now want to buy there, building a container‑style home.
They are now selling the bus to buy land in WA. Source: Supplied/Yahoo News
“When we looked at land, we realised it was actually very affordable. That’s what’s setting in motion next,” Savage said, with plots he’s eyeing currently going for $200,000.
Ideally, he’d buy two plots and build two container homes – turn one into an Airbnb and sell the other.
To help fund the plan, they’ve listed the bus for sale and hope to get between $80,000 and $90,000 for it.
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