Jul 21, 2025
After 10 years of working 70-hour weeks in reality TV production in New York City, Alesse Lightyear says she could feel her youth draining away.
“I felt like a 50-year-old woman, I was exhausted,” she confessed to CNBC Make It in a video published July 3. The financial compensation for this immense sacrifice was woefully inadequate.
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“I was living check-to-check, which sucked!” she exclaimed.
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In 2019, Lightyear decided to make a change, not just in her career but also where she lived. She moved to China — first to Beijing, then eventually to Chengdu — where she now works at a university teaching English essay writing.
Although her income took a dip — she currently earns a salary of $30,000 — Lightyear says her expenses dipped even further because China is such an affordable place to live.
“Thirty-thousand U.S. dollars a year is poverty in America,” she explained. “But in China, I’m living large. I am upper-middle class.”
Lightyear says she works just four days a week for a total of 18 hours. She pays 28 cents for her round-trip commute on the subway. She also rents a furnished three-bedroom apartment downtown for $556 per month — half of which is covered by the university as an employee benefit. Her grocery costs are an estimated $75 per month, while meals at local restaurants cost just a few dollars.
This drastic lifestyle change allowed Lightyear to pay off much of her student loans and start saving roughly $1,000 a month. Her story highlights how big an impact moving to a location with a relatively low cost of living can help unlock financial security. If you’re planning a similar move, here are four underrated cities that should be on your watch list.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Malaysia may not be on the top of a typical expat’s list, but its safe cities and low cost of living make it a “dramatically underrated” place to move, according to consultancy firm Nomad Capitalist.
A family can expect to spend roughly $2,800 a month living in Malaysia’s largest city, Kuala Lumpur, according to Nomads.com. With its relatively modern infrastructure, delicious food and fantastic beaches, consider putting Malaysia on your list of potential relocation destinations.
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Seoul, South Korea
South Korea typically isn’t on the average American expat’s radar. However, according to Nomad Capitalist, Korea offers special immigration programs for foreign investors and an expat tax scheme that could lower your tax liabilities.
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A family can expect to pay around $3,700 a month to live in Seoul, according to Nomads.com, which isn’t necessarily cheap but considerably lower than many comparable cities in the developed world.
Mexico City, Mexico
With its vibrant culture, growing economy and skyscrapers, Mexico City has been described as the “New York of Latin America” according to Nomad Capitalist.
However, the cost to live in Mexico City is considerably lower than that of the Big Apple. A typical family’s monthly budget could be just $3,000, according to Nomads.com.
Tbilisi, Georgia
Georgia, the country not the U.S. state, is located between Turkey and Russia and is often overlooked as an expat destination. Personal income taxes are a flat 20%, while small business owners and independent entrepreneurs can achieve an effective tax rate as low as 0% under specific conditions, according to Nomad Capitalist.
The monthly budget for a family to live in Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital, is just $3,500 according to Nomads.com.
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Vishesh Raisinghani is a financial journalist covering personal finance, investing and the global economy. He's also the founder of Sharpe Ascension Inc., a content marketing agency focused on investment firms. His work has appeared in Moneywise, Yahoo Finance!, Motley Fool, Seeking Alpha, Mergers & Acquisitions Magazine and Piggybank.
