ONE woman made the move to a paradise island where she managed to halve her living costs while living 10 minutes away from the beach.
Mum-of-three Tiffany Grant, 33, swapped her North Carolina lifestyle for island bliss in Jamaica where she lives happily without hot water.
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The HR specialist and businesswoman moved in May after falling in love with the country in 2021 when she visited while pregnant with her third child.
She told CNBC: “I fell in love with everything about it: sights, smells, weather, people, food. I didn’t want to leave”.
She was swayed by the sense of community, fresh fruit, chance for her kids to play outside and the unprocessed food often cooked in the wild.
Despite living on the cliff side of the town of Negril – one of the most expensive areas – she only spends around $1,900 a month to maintain her lifestyle.
This total compares to a whopping $3,000 for the same things back home. It goes towards rent, utilities, childcare, food, school fees and home maintenance.
She likes to feast on the “incredible” and “not ultra-processed” produce, ranging from fresh fish to Jamaican patties – widely available from street vendors.
Tiffany explained that many locals engage in bush cooking – a natural method of preparing food outside.
Her three-bed home with a garden boasting mango and moringa trees is just a 10 minute drive from the beach.
Other fruits grown in her idyllic garden include local fruits naseberry, and ackee and she enjoys the “incredible scenery” when working from home.
Tiffany says the slower pace of life compared to the US means her neighbours in Jamaica – her dad’s homeland – check up on her more regularly.
She said: ” We don’t have hot water, which I surprisingly don’t miss. We wash our clothes by hand and hang them out on the line. I love it.
“This is what life was like for my grandparents and their parents, and now we get to be a part of it.”
The mum moved over with her two youngest kids, aged one and 10 – letting her eldest son complete high school in the US.
She likes that her children get to play outside in nature all day rather than being glued to their screens like they would back home.
Her favourite restaurant – where she can jump off the cliffs into the ocean – is just a two minute walk away.
Tiffany enjoys nighttime crab hunting at the beach and fishing without rods with her family – unimaginable in her native USA.
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