35-year-old American lives in Eastern Europe on less than $2,000 a month: 'I hope to make this a home permanently'

Growing up in Massachusetts, Angela Blair Cadet was surrounded by books. The novels that filled her childhood home provided her a gateway to the wider world — allowing her to imagine the life she could one day create for herself far beyond the United States. 

"I knew from a young age that I wanted to live abroad. I wanted to have a big, beautiful, amazing life," the 35-year-old tells CNBC Make It. "Since then, I've been planning an exit to live abroad. I didn't know where, but I knew to have this life that I wanted, what I saw in books and dreamed of, was going to be outside of the U.S."

Her first taste of that life came in high school, when a study abroad trip took her to Greece, Italy and France. Once Cadet saw that the world she dreamed of was real and within reach, it fueled her to keep seeking opportunities abroad, she says. 

That dream eventually brought her to Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, where she's lived since 2022. There, she works as a relocation consultant, networking professional and digital content creator, typically earning between $1,000 and $2,000 a month.

Cadet's basic living expenses — excluding costs like dining out and entertainment — come out to around $930 a month, including $583 in rent, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.

With her current income and budget in Belgrade, Cadet is living her "dream expat life," she says.

After high school, Cadet's international aspirations took her around the world. She spent a summer abroad in Quebec, Canada, while earning her bachelor's degree, earned her master's degree in Israel, then lived and worked across Asia — including China, Thailand and Kazakhstan — before spending time in Turkey, the U.S. and France. 

By early 2022, Cadet had been living in Paris for nearly half a year, and although she was happy with many aspects of her life in the city, there were too many barriers to getting her business off the ground in France. So, she turned back to the map, brainstorming where else in Europe she could put down roots.

That's when she first came across Belgrade — a city with an open market for her to grow her business and a seemingly "open-minded" nature, she says. 

Securing a one-way ticket online, Cadet packed up her belongings and boarded the plane to the Balkans, deciding she would give herself one month to decide if Serbia could be a good fit. She landed in her new home at 7 a.m. on June 1, 2022, she says, directly in Belgrade's historic Republic Square. 

After living in eight different countries, Cadet had already established a list of criteria that a city would need to satisfy in order to meet her long-term needs; it must be walkable and business-friendly, while also offering a local religious community and welcoming citizens who are open to English-speaking visitors. 

Belgrade checked every box within a week, she says, and she's been there ever since.

To afford her life in Belgrade, Cadet works around 50 hours a week, managing multiple income streams, which typically bring in between $1,000 to $2,000 a month.

Her main business is a relocation service that helps clients mainly from the U.S. and United Kingdom settle in Serbia. After finding so much joy in living abroad, Cadet wanted to help others experience an expat lifestyle, too.

"Many people do want to live the expat life and they just don't know how," she says. 

Cadet earns additional income from digital content creation, consulting for other businesses and providing referrals for landlords and property managers.

Her longest-running entrepreneurial project is her women's networking business, Ladies Afternoon Tea Network, which she has brought with her across the many countries she's called home. The events are held twice a year, bringing together local and expat women in business over tea.

Cadet also received between $500 to $1,000 a month from her sister between June 2024 and January 2025 and in April 2025, she says, which helped her continue to afford Belgrade as the cost of living increased.

Cadet's cost of living in Serbia — which, including rent, is around 47% lower than in the U.S. on average, per Serbian database Numbeo — gives her flexibility with how she spends her time, she says. 

Her two bedroom, one-and-a-half bathroom apartment costs $583 a month. She also spends around $58 a week on groceries, she says, and uses Belgrade's free public transportation system to get around.

One of the ways Cadet likes to "live large" after saving money on food, rent and transportation is by enjoying the nightlife in Belgrade, which she describes as the "best in Europe." In addition to offering venues for all budgets and tastes, the city feels safe at night, she says.

"The nightlife here has taught me that I can leave at three in the morning and no one's going to bother me," Cadet says. "It is so safe to walk around. There is no such thing as catcalling or people harassing you."

Cadet has built a circle of local and expat friends, attends ballet and Pilates classes and plays patel, a tennis-squash hybrid gaining popularity in Serbia.

"A lot of people are really, really friendly. Many people come up to me, even until this day, asking like, 'Where are you from?'" she says. "I really fell in love with the people." 

The sense of safety Cadet feels as a Black and Jewish woman is one of the main reasons she chose to stay, she says.

"It's so nice to exist in a place where I'm an American first, I'm a woman and then I just so happen to be Black," she says. "I feel very safe, I feel very comfortable … it's really the people that are really kind and friendly that see me as a human being first."

While Cadet hopes to continue growing her businesses and potentially experiment with other international markets, she feels a sense of home in Belgrade that provides her with the wonder and adventure she longed for as a kid, and the security she sought as an adult.

"The future is really unpredictable, I have to say. Eleven years living abroad, I did not imagine myself living in Serbia — but here I am. I do hope to make this a home permanently," she says. 

"I do have aspirations to have residencies in other countries. I definitely want to go back to Thailand, I want to go back to Kazakhstan. I have some other big plans for the African continent," she says. "But here, I hope Belgrade [will] be my home base."

Conversions from euros to USD were done using the OANDA conversion rate of 1 euro to 1.17 USD and 1 Serbian dinar to 0.0094 USD on Aug. 8, 2025. All amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.

Want to stand out, grow your network, and get more job opportunities? Sign up for Smarter by CNBC Make It's new online course, How to Build a Standout Personal Brand: Online, In Person, and At Work. Learn from three expert instructors how to showcase your skills, build a stellar reputation, and create a digital presence that AI can't replicate. Sign up today with coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off the regular course price of $67 (plus tax). Offer valid July 22, 2025, through September 2, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It's newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life, and request to join our exclusive community on LinkedIn to connect with experts and peers.