American couple moves to Italy, spends only about $1,246 per month

In 2020, Cassandra Trestle, 33, and her husband Alex Ninman, 34, who were living with their grandfather in the Czech Republic, learned that they were pregnant with their first child.

After welcoming their baby girl, the couple considered returning to the United States. But when she started thinking about how much money it would cost to buy a house and pay child support, she decided to look to Italy instead. Trestle had read that towns across the country were selling houses for 1 euro.

“I really thought I was going to move back to the United States after I had kids. … And in the end, that didn’t happen because I realized how much it would cost if I did go back,” Trestle told CNBC Make It.

Before moving to the Czech Republic, the couple lived in New York City, where Trestle worked in operations for a technology company and Ninman worked as a butcher at Whole Foods. Living in the Big Apple was a dream of the couple, but Trestle said the city’s hustle and bustle made her realize that her career was not the most important thing to her.

“If I’m going to stay in New York, I have to continue to grow my career,” Trestle says. However, although she enjoyed her job, “It wasn’t something I thought about in my free time. Working at a tech company, I saw people around me getting into networking, and I didn’t really care about that either.”

“I started to question everything that was important to other people and why it wasn’t important to me. I didn’t think it was the right environment for me,” she added. This realization led her to ask to work remotely, allowing the couple to move abroad.

Trestle and Ninman aren’t alone in their desire to live outside the U.S. About one in five Americans say they want to leave the country permanently, according to a 2025 Gallup poll. And in Italy in particular, the cost of living is 9.5% lower than in the United States, according to Numbeo, which tracks global cost of living data.

In the late 2010s, towns across Italy made headlines by selling off dilapidated properties for €1 (about US$1.05 at the time), with the aim of attracting foreign investors to buy and renovate homes to feed dwindling populations. Hundreds of homes have been sold since dozens of towns announced such plans, the Guardian reports.

Trestle said she started looking for a home in Italy after seeing stories of people buying up these homes.

Tresl’s first step was to determine the actual cost of purchasing a 1 euro home, since they did not intend to spend more than 20,000 euros (approximately $23,627 USD) on the purchase price. Despite marketing, most of the properties were dilapidated or abandoned for years, and buyers typically needed thousands of dollars or euros on hand for renovations.

In October 2021, the couple went on a house-hunting trip to Italy, looking at around 15 homes in Abruzzo and Tuscany.

“I’m a spreadsheet person, so I knew all the pros and cons of all these homes, but in the end I came to the conclusion that Abruzzo was a much better value overall,” Trestle says.

Given their limited budget and the fact that Trestle knew renovations would require more cash on hand, the couple settled on a two-story, two-bedroom home that was just under 1,076 square feet. Tresl says he chose this place because of the price and the view of the terrace.

The couple closed on the home in February 2022 for an all-cash price of 11,500 euros (about $13,150 at the time), according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. They moved into the home in July 2022 and completed most of the renovations in the fall. They spent about $18,000 on renovations.

The purchase price allowed the couple to purchase the property outright and “relieved them of a lot of stress in many aspects of their lives,” Trestle says. “Even if income fluctuates or money gets tight, at least we don’t have a mortgage and our family has a safe roof over our heads. In fact, this financial freedom was one of the main factors that made this action and decision possible.”

That financial freedom allowed Trestle to leave “a career that I was never really passionate about in the first place,” she says. Since moving permanently to Italy, Tresl quit her tech job and started creating content for travel blogs and newsletters. She also works as an operations manager at another travel blogger.

“I got a little ‘reckless’ in a good way and started exploring my own business, giving me the opportunity to create multiple streams of income that were completely mine,” she says.

Trestle said that since moving, the couple has significantly reduced the amount of time they spend each day. This is partly because they live in small towns rather than big cities.

“We really want to respect the economic habits of those around us,” she says. “We don’t want to inflate our spending, especially when salaries here are relatively low. That’s why we keep prices down. We feel it’s important to keep that in mind and maintain some level of responsibility.”

In 2024, Trestle and Nimman acquired a second property in Italy, which they rented out on Airbnb for up to 85 euros (about $101) per night. Ninman quit his job as a butcher when the couple left the United States and now manages Airbnb properties.

Located in the countryside of their town, this one-story home has two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a private garden. The couple bought the car for 17,000 euros (about $20,083), according to documents seen by CNBC Make It. Mr Tresl said he estimated an additional €10,000 was spent during the renovation.

In Italy, a married couple spends only about $1,246 a month, including utilities and living expenses. Here’s a breakdown of their monthly expenses, according to documents seen by CNBC Make It: All numbers are rounded.

Groceries: 480 euros (about $567) per month Electricity: 217 euros (about $256) every 2 months Trestle gym membership: 115 euros (about $136) every 3 months Water: 91 euros (about $108) every 2 months Daughter’s gymnastics: 50 euros (about $59) a month Airbnb Equipment: 50 euros (about $59) per month) Daughter’s kindergarten: 40 euros (about $47) per month Internet: 12 euros (about $14) per month per child

In winter, a household can pay up to 200 euros a month, or about $237, for heating. The couple pays 286 euros (about $338) per house each year for trash pickup and about 61 euros (about $72) per house in property taxes.

Trestle said the couple’s rental properties generate an annual income of between 8,000 and 10,000 euros, or between $9,486 and $12,000.

“We can make the most money from it when someone decides to stay long-term. This happens a lot. Couples or small families end up working remotely and renting a home for three to six weeks at a time,” she added.

Trestle said that because they clean and maintain their rental properties themselves, their only monthly expenses with Airbnb are utilities such as electricity, Wi-Fi, and heating in the winter. You will also be responsible for property taxes and garbage collection each year.

Instead of being surrounded by the hustle and bustle of New York City, Trestle’s life in Italy includes driving her daughter to school and working from home. She goes to the gym in the afternoon. On Friday, Trestle and her daughter go to archery class. On weekends, the family likes to do what Trestle calls “urban hikes” and explore different towns around Tuscany.

“Here in Italy, the mindset is very different, because work is not really the most important thing,” she says. “People have taught me that it’s okay to slow down, and that’s something I’m still trying to adjust to.”

Conversion from EUR to USD was performed using the OANDA exchange rate of 1 EUR to 1.18 USD on February 17, 2026. All amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.

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