This story is part of CNBC Make It’s Millennial Money series, which details how people around the world earn, spend and save their money.

Jewells Chambers doesn’t look like a typical Icelander. In a country where 94% of people identify as native Icelandic, Chambers, a Black American woman, is among the other 6%.

She doesn’t sound like one either. Over the eight years Chambers has lived in Reykjavik, she’s developed a conversational level of Icelandic. “I still fumble on things, though,” she says.

Nevertheless, the native New Yorker has never been surer that this is the exact place where she always needed to be.

“It felt as if there was something magnetic that has been pulling me in this direction, and I still haven’t been able to put my finger on it exactly. But I know it has something to do with the nature, because that has been and continues to be such a rejuvenating piece for me,” Chambers says. “Every time I’m out on a hike or even just a regular walk, getting a little bit out of the city, I just feel really grounded.”

It’s a feeling she wants to share with the world. Since 2018, Chambers has run All Things Iceland, a podcast, YouTube channel and social media brand that explores Iceland’s nature, history and culture through the lens of an expat.

Running the show, which has more than 50,000 YouTube subscribers and 30,000 monthly podcast listeners, has been Chambers’ full-time job since 2020. The company is on track to earn the equivalent of $100,000 this year, from which Chambers will pay herself roughly $73,000 before money is taken out for taxes and contributions to a pension.

That’s not a fortune — especially in famously pricey Reykjavik — but it’s enough to fund the sort of life Chambers, 38, dreamt about in her youth.

“Being here, I feel safe. I feel at home. I’m really happy,” she says. “And that has transformed into something that continues to keep me here.”

Chambers says her dreams of living abroad began in high school in Brooklyn during economics class.

“While the professor was talking about U.S. economics and politics, something in my brain was just like, ‘I don’t think I’m meant to live in the U.S.,’” she says.

She’d have to wait for her wanderlust to take hold, however. Chambers hoped to study abroad while attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, but things didn’t work out. “This was something that would hopefully, in the future, become a possibility for me. But it didn’t seem like I knew exactly the direct way that it would happen or how it could happen.”

In the meantime, adult life began. Chambers graduated from college in 2008 with a degree in engineering and about $60,000 in student debt. She moved back to New York City and took a fellowship doing digital marketing for a diversity and inclusion nonprofit, but was barely getting by.

Chambers eventually upgraded to a full-time gig, which helped alleviate some of the financial pressure, but still describes that period as “a limbo state,” “this jumble of trying to figure out my life, trying to make some money, trying to create a career path that made sense for me.”

One thing she had figured out at the time: her love life. In 2013, she reconnected with and began dating an Icelandic man she’d met in college and in two years, the pair were married. By 2016, he told Chambers he intended to move back to Iceland, and she agreed to follow him — on one condition.

“I am not moving unless I find a job that utilizes my skills,” Chambers recalls saying.

Luckily for Chambers, Iceland was in the midst of a huge tourism boom, and digital marketers were in high demand. “This was not a specialty that a lot of people in the country had, or even realized they needed,” she says.

After nailing down a job at a local tourism company, she embarked for Iceland in June 2016.

Working for that company proved to be a microcosm of Chambers’ conversion to a true-blue Icelander: challenging at first, but eventually eye-opening.

She recalls feeling like she’d never be able to remember her coworkers’ complicated names, let alone keep up with an office full of outdoorspeople.

“They were all mountaineers. They had climbed some of the highest peaks in the world,” Chambers says. “And coming from the concrete jungle it was like, I take the bus to work to get nature.”

But this was the job, she was told. If she was going to market nature hikes and kayaking trips and glacier climbs to potential customers, she had to get out there and do them for herself.  

DON’T MISS: How to be more successful with your money

Once Chambers began personally experiencing the adventures Iceland had to offer, “my life changed,” she says. “Everything became about nature and understanding, respecting and then being able to market that out to our potential customers. And I loved it.”

It helped that Chambers was never made to feel like an outsider because of her identity. Rather, she says, the Icelandic people embraced her in a way that felt untethered to the racial baggage people carried with them back home.

“Living in Iceland has 1,000% had an amazing impact on my mental health,” she says. “The nature aspect has helped me in so many ways, [as has] shedding this idea that it always has to be about my skin color.”

By 2017, Chambers was settled in, and passing the winter days with limited daylight listening to podcasts. At the same time, seemingly everyone from her life back home was asking her about Iceland. Something clicked.

“It dawned on me, and I was like, well, I love listening to podcasts. I’m going to look up and see if anyone else is doing a podcast about Iceland,” she says. “I didn’t see any active ones, so I was like, you know what? I’m going to make a podcast.”

Chambers launched All Things Iceland in 2018, with a plan to make it at least a year airing one episode per week. “I didn’t have any expectations,” she says. “I didn’t know what people were going to say or think.”

When she began to receive positive messages and comments from listeners and YouTube viewers, she knew she had something real on her hands.

“At first, it was people reaching out to say, ‘Thank you, this was so helpful,’” Chambers says.

Then came the sponsors. “These Icelandic companies wanted to work with me, and it was like, ‘Oh, there’s money to be made.’”

By day, Chambers was still doing digital marketing, and in 2019, took a job as chief digital strategy officer at an advertising agency. It was a well-paid, demanding gig that Chambers says jeopardized her ability to work on All Things Iceland.

Between her job, her passion project and her marriage, “it was a big juggle,” Chambers says. “It wasn’t easy, and I didn’t love what I was doing enough for it to keep me going.”

By the time the Covid-19 pandemic struck, Chambers was already feeling burnt out and soon scaled down her hours. By the following August, she felt confident enough in the trajectory of All Things Iceland to quit her day job altogether.

These days, things are flourishing. Chambers’ one-woman company brings in money from ad sales, sponsorships and affiliate marketing. She also sells maps, travel consultations and private tours, all while working behind the scenes with corporate clients producing online and social media content.

All told, the company brought in about $50,000 in the first half of the year, out of which Chambers pays herself about $6,000 a month in total compensation.

This isn’t the first time Chambers as been a one-woman show financially. She shouldered much of the financial load for herself and her now ex-husband from 2016 through 2020 while he built a psychological practice. The pair separated in 2022 and divorced in 2023.

Chambers has a boyfriend who she began dating earlier this year, though the two don’t currently comingle their finances.

Here’s how Chambers spent her money in June. Virtually all of her financial life is conducted in Icelandic krona, converted here to dollars.

Conversions from ISK to USD were done using the OANDA conversion rate of 1 USD to 139.085 ISK on June 30, 2024. All amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.

• Housing: $2,031 for rent, phone and Wi-Fi
• Groceries: $545
• Cash savings: $428
• Discretionary: $423 on household items, house and car cleanings, wellness and entertainment
• Travel: $368 on an upcoming trip to Amsterdam with a friend
• Fitness: $352 on a gym membership and personal trainer
• Dining out: $321
• Life insurance: $73
• Gas: $65
• Unexpected expenses: $61 on an emergency visit and medication for a case of strep throat

Chambers’ biggest monthly expense is rent, about $1,941 per month for a 1-bedroom, 1-bathroom apartment in downtown Reykjavik, with a storage area and an indoor parking spot — a key feature for Icelandic winters.

She also spent more than $850 feeding herself in June, evidence that food, especially at restaurants, can get very pricey very quickly. Chambers estimates that an entrée at a restaurant in Iceland will typically run you $25 to $30, and you can expect to pay $7.50 or $8 for a cup of coffee in a downtown café.

A few major expenses you tend to see in American budgets are conspicuously absent from Chambers’ spending. Some of it has to do with her job. Because she has a brand partnership with a rental car company, she gets a company car on the house; she just has to pay for gas.

Other omissions are idiosyncratic to where she lives. Health insurance premiums? Not a thing in Iceland, which has heavily subsidized universal health care. Chambers did shell out $61 to treat a case of strep throat in June, though she could have paid less had she gone to her neighborhood health center rather than the emergency room, she says.

The other major difference is the way Chambers (and all Icelanders) are compensated. The number that actually hits Chambers’ bank account is net of taxes and a contribution toward her eventual income in retirement. Every company in Iceland contributes 6.35% of payroll to the Icelandic equivalent of Social Security and 11.5% to one of 21 pension funds, with each employee contributing at least 4% of pay.

For Chambers, navigating the complexities of being both employer and employee in a foreign country “has been a huge learning curve,” she says. “Getting an accountant to help me with that has been so crucial.”

In addition to her government mandated savings, Chambers stashes away a chunk of her income – usually 10% of her take-home pay — each month in a savings account. Eventually, she says, she’d like to explore the feasibility of opening a brokerage account, too, to boost her retirement savings.

In the shorter term, though, she’s saving to buy a house with her boyfriend.

She’s hopes to continue to grow All Things Iceland as a brand and a business. As the business continues to expand, Chambers hopes to hire people to help with the nitty gritty of the job so she can focus on being more creative.

Eventually, she says, she’d love to have her own travel show — based out of Iceland, of course.

“When I made that decision and stepped my foot down that day when I came to the country full time, it just felt right and it has continued to feel that way,” Chambers says. “So for the foreseeable future, Iceland is my home.”

 What’s your budget breakdown? Share your story with us for a chance to be featured in a future installment.

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In 2020, Kristina Knighten, 38, and her husband, Paul Cordier, 46, closed on their dream home in Lago d’Iseo, Italy.

They bought the two-bedroom house for 23,000 euros, or $24,973, at the time.

“It looked like a house you drew when you were a kid with the pitched roof, the door in the center, and the two windows upstairs,” Knighten tells CNBC Make It. “It was really cute and just steps away from the train, steps away from the lake. It felt too good to be true.”

The couple started renovations on the home in March of this year — it needed a new roof, for example — and estimated the renovations would cost about 100,000 euros or $108,578.

“It was going well, and we were making good progress but unfortunately, the costs increased by 25%,” Knighten says.

The couple decided to go the DIY route: “When we looked at the invoices, labor is the biggest cost, so if my husband can provide the labor, then maybe we’ll get this over the line.”

At the start of renovations, the couple was living in a nearby rental apartment and had hoped they’d be ready to move into their new home by the time the lease had come to an end. Unfortunately, that was not a possibility and the couple had to work fast to secure new housing.

At the same time, Cordier’s sister was getting ready to close on a home in Italy of her own.

“She wants to eventually relocate here as well, so we had been keeping an eye on properties for her,” Knighten says.

“Luckily, she liked this apartment, which happens to be across the street from our house.”

Cordier’s sister lives in Bangkok and never saw the apartment in person. Cordier acted as her power of attorney in Italy to help her close on the property. She bought it in an all-cash deal for 39,000 euros, or $42,604 and the couple moved in.

The apartment hadn’t been lived in full-time since 2002. The previous owners, who inherited the property, occasionally used it as a vacation house.

Some of the things the couple found inside were a calendar from 2006, a chest of drawers from the 1920s, old photographs of a competition the town used to host, and old bowls with recipes hand-painted on them.

“It was absolutely covered in dust and smelled very musty. It needed a lot of paint and the plaster was crumbling off the walls,” Knighten says. “Even after we had the electricity turned on, we had to make sure it was safe because it’s a very old building.”

The apartment’s layout is quirky, Knighten says. For example, the bathroom is an outhouse, with a toilet, shower, and tile.“We jokingly refer to it as glamping.”

The ground floor has an open living room and kitchen, but to access the two bedrooms, you have to go up an external staircase to the second floor. The bedrooms are railroad-style, so the couple has to pass through one room to get to the other and back out to the common areas.

One thing this apartment has that the couple’s house doesn’t is a backyard overlooking the lake.

“If this had been on the market when we bought our place, we would have bought this instead,” Knighten says. “We don’t have any outside space at our house and since we’ve been here, we go out and have a glass of wine. It’s just really nice.”

Cordier’s sister is saving up to renovate the old apartment and doesn’t plan on moving to Italy for another two years. She isn’t charging the couple any rent, and in return, they are fixing up the property as much as they can.

“We cleaned up the backyard, we cleaned all the furniture, we painted the walls and just trying to make it nicer while we are here,” Knighten says.

Knighten and Cordier hope to be moved into their house by Christmas but are thankful to have this current space just in case that doesn’t happen.

“We’re in a very fortunate situation where we can stay here kind of as long as we need for free,” Knighten says. “It’s not ideal. I don’t want to be having to go outside to pee in the middle of winter but we will do it.”

Conversions to USD were done on August 13, 2024, using OANDA conversion rates of 1 euro to 1.09 USD. All amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.

Want to be more successful and confident with your money? Take CNBC Make It’s new online course. Our expert instructors will help you master your money and discover practical strategies to boost your savings, reduce debt and grow your wealth — in a way that works best for you. Enroll in ”Achieve Financial Wellness: Be Happier, Wealthier & More Financially Secure″ to start your journey to financial freedom today! Get a 30% discount with the coupon code EARLYBIRD until September 2, 2024.

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Have you ever sat in a meeting and wondered why it feels like only two or three people dominate the entire conversation? These louder colleagues usually speak up first, share their two cents, and take up most of the meeting time. Before you know it, the meeting is over and you never said a thing.

As a global communications expert, I work with a lot of smart and talented people. Even among these skilled and capable professionals, the biggest frustration I hear goes something like this: “I work hard and deliver, but I still don’t feel like I get noticed for my efforts, let alone rewarded with promotions or other opportunities. Why?!”

In my new book, “Smart, Not Loud: How to Get Noticed at Work for All the Right Reasons,” I teach professionals how to unlock bigger opportunities by leveling-up this one skill: communication. It’s not about being assertive, dominant, or aggressive if that’s not your style. It’s about being intentional and smart so that when you do chime in, people listen.

Here are five phrases the most successful people use every day to help them get noticed and get ahead. 

Brilliant communicators know that in order for people to listen to them and their ideas, they have to make other people feel heard first. 

If you’re in a meeting and you want to jump in, instead of just quickly saying what’s on your mind, potentially cutting people off, listen carefully and wait for them to finish speaking.

DON’T MISS: The ultimate guide to becoming a master communicator and public speaker

Then preface your comments with, “I hear what you’re saying.” 

These words will show the person that you’re acknowledging them and their thoughts, even if you have an opposing point of view. You don’t want the other person getting defensive, which can prevent them from considering what you have to say. 

Humans make decisions using both logic and emotions. However, people are far more likely to remember and be persuaded by stories than by facts alone. As the saying goes, they’re more likely to remember how you made them feel than what you said. 

To be a smart communicator, leverage emotion and incorporate stories in your speaking. This means using words like “excited” and “thrilled” to drum up support. Smile when you’re speaking or raise your eyebrows to magnify the impact. When signalizing urgency, use words like “worried” and “concerned” in a downward pitch to project gravitas.

Help people feel what you feel, leveraging your words, body language, and tone of voice. If you have a relevant story — an anecdote about how your product is being used out in the real world, for example, or from your past experience on a similar project  — share it. 

One of the most important things you can do at work is to ask for what you want. Another is to nudge strategically to ensure you get a response. 

Instead of just saying, “Hi, following up here,” which can feel pushy and ineffective, preface your follow-up with a new piece of information. For example, you might say, “Since our last conversation where I pitched X project, I found some interesting data that supports my hypothesis about Y. Here’s what’s new ….”

This strategy can take away some of the awkwardness you may feel, make your ask seem timely and fresh, and move the conversation forward. Getting the answers you’re looking for can help you accomplish more — and do it more easily.  

I’ve discovered — firsthand, and sometimes the hard way — that just because you’re talented, it doesn’t mean people will notice. Working hard and doing great work doesn’t automatically mean you’ll get, or even be considered for, a plum project or raise. 

Talking about your accomplishments can unlock more opportunities. But how do you do that without feeling like you’re bragging? 

Use the power of contrast to highlight the progress you’ve made and the impact you’ve had. For example, you might say, “The design changes we made to streamline the site made it so much easier to navigate. Now we’re seeing the average consumer complete the purchase process in under a minute, but back then it took twice as long.”

When someone helps you at work — endorses you for a project, lends a helping hand, makes an introduction — you might express your gratitude by saying, “Thank you.” But smart communicators know it’s not just about saying those two words; it’s about saying what you’re thankful for and why. 

Being specific can magnify your appreciation, make our gratitude feel more authentic, and lift the other person up. It leaves a positive impression and can make them feel more inclined to repeat that helpful action. 

As you think about using these five phrases at work, you might, for example: 

• Change up the rate of your words, sometimes speeding up when speaking, but then slowing down when you’re trying to drive a point home. 
• Use your hands. For example, lift them up and show your palms to signal trust or use your fingers to signal the numbers you’re talking about to give your words structure and emphasis. 

It may feel unnatural at first to incorporate these phrases and techniques, but they can help you highlight your brilliance. Because you can stand out in the workplace and get ahead in your career — even if being loud, brazen, and assertive isn’t your style.

Jessica Chen is a global communications expert, keynote speaker, and a former Emmy-Award Winning TV journalist. Her new book “Smart, Not Loud: How to Get Noticed at Work for All the Right Reasons” teaches smart professionals how to develop workplace confidence and build a career they love using strategic communications skills to stand out. Connect with Jessica on LinkedIn and Instagram. 

Want to be a successful, confident communicator? Take CNBC’s new online course Become an Effective Communicator: Master Public Speaking. We’ll teach you how to speak clearly and confidently, calm your nerves, what to say and not say, and body language techniques to make a great first impression. Get started today.

I’m from Loma Linda, California, a small city known as the only Blue Zone in America. Studies have shown that residents live up to around a decade longer than the rest of the United States. 

Today, much of my work is informed by my upbringing, and the strong emphasis my community in Loma Linda put on on health and nutrition.

Based on principles of longevity and research from Blue Zones, I encourage my clients to focus on balanced nutrition, regular joyful movement, developing healthy coping mechanisms for stress management and adequate sleep. 

My ultimate goal is to encourage my clients to pay attention to the foods that give them energy — and help them avoid foods that are ultra-processed and lack key nutrients.

Energy drinks have become popularized through social media over the years. They’re often marketed as quick solutions for boosting energy, fueling during a pre-workout and enhancing alertness. 

As a dietitian, though, here’s why I advise caution:

1. Energy drinks can disrupt your sleep and your appetite

One of the main ingredients in many energy drinks is caffeine. While it can improve alertness and concentration, excessive consumption of it can lead to adverse effects such as increased heart rate, high blood pressure and anxiety. 

It can disrupt sleep patterns, which can lead to fatigue and further reliance on these beverages. 

Caffeine is known to have appetite-suppressing properties. Many of my clients have reported a reduced desire for meals after consuming caffeinated drinks. 

While an energy drink may provide temporary fullness, it is not a meal and should not be used as a replacement for one.

2. Energy drinks can spike blood sugar and increase inflammation

A typical can of an energy drink often contains up to 30 grams of sugar per serving. Too much sugar can contribute to various health issues, including increased inflammation and dental problems. 

In addition to caffeine and sugar, energy drinks may include other stimulants such as guarana and taurine. While these ingredients are generally recognized as safe, their combined effects with caffeine are not as well-researched and may pose additional health risks. 

3. Energy drinks can affect your physical and mental health

Frequent consumption of energy drinks is associated with increased symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress, studies have shown, and with a substantial increase in norepinephrine, a stress hormone that could potentially lead to increased heart rate and blood pressure.

Individual responses to energy drinks can vary significantly. Factors such as age, medication use and underlying health conditions can influence how your body reacts to these beverages. 

Knowing that, it is important to consult with a physician before consuming energy drinks regularly, especially if you have any pre-existing health concerns.

For my clients, I always recommend water, green tea, herbal teas, coconut water and kombucha as great alternatives for energy drinks.

If you find yourself constantly needing energy boosts, my best advice is to consider discussing your lifestyle and eating patterns with a registered dietitian. That can help you identify a healthier and more sustainable relationship with food and your body. 

Eliza Cheng is a dietitian and nutritionist based in California. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics at Loma Linda University, and has experience working in eating disorder treatment, including partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient hospitalization for children, teens and adults. Follow her on Instagram @ournourishedbodies and find out more at Our Nourished Bodies.

Want to be more successful and confident with your money? Take CNBC Make It’s new online course. Our expert instructors will help you master your money and discover practical strategies to boost your savings, reduce debt, and grow your wealth—in a way that works best for you. Enroll in ”Achieve Financial Wellness: Be Happier, Wealthier & More Financially Secure″ to start your journey to financial freedom today! Get a 30% discount with the coupon code EARLYBIRD until September 2, 2024.

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian has a simple piece of advice for anyone looking to get ahead in their career: Focus on acing your current responsibilities, without thinking too much about your next promotion or job.

Bastian, 67, credits his own professional success — growing from an auditor at PwC to an executive at companies like PepsiCo, Acuity Brands and Delta — to that simple mindset.

″Do a great job with what you have,” he recently told LinkedIn’s “This Is Working” podcast. “The job that you have, I learned early in my career, is the most important job to you at that time. And do a great job at that.”

Ambition is a desirable trait in employees, Bastian added — but sometimes, being eager to climb the corporate ladder can cause people to “take their eyes off the job at hand.” To your boss, you may appear distracted or uninterested in your current role, making you a worse candidate for career advancement.

Bastian’s advice stems from personal experience: Doing his best in each job he held, and focusing only on the opportunities immediately ahead of him, ultimately led him to his current position, he said. If he had a dream job early in his career, it certainly wasn’t running Delta, he noted.

“I’m the last person that thought I’d be sitting in this seat,” said Bastian. “I did not set my aspirations to be the CEO of an airline … I’d never been on an airplane [until] I was 25.”

Ultimately, Bastian’s advice boils down to a single word: effort. The effort you put into your role determines what you get out of it, he said.

Good bosses notice effort, said Bastian. Bad ones might not, or worse: They could consider you so irreplaceable that they won’t promote you out of your current position. If you’re in that situation, you can reach back and develop your fellow colleagues — or, if applicable, even interns — so your boss eventually recognizes them as able to fill your shoes, author and leadership expert Jo Miller recommended in a 2015 LinkedIn post.

“Don’t be that individual who climbs the ladder, kicks the ladder away, and lets it land on everyone else,” Miller wrote.

Bastian isn’t the only successful executive to preach effort. Billionaire entrepreneur and investor Mark Cuban, for example, recommends taking initiative to solve problems, even when you aren’t asked to — exhausting every possible option to find answers.

“The one thing in life you can control is your effort,” he said last year in a LinkedIn video post published by entrepreneur and VC investor Randall Kaplan. “And being willing to do so is a huge competitive advantage, because most people don’t.”

For Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, the key is jumping at opportunities to learn how to do your job better. “You have to be ravenous and hungry to find ways to learn,” he said last month, in a video posted by Amazon.

However you embody it, effort can set you apart from your colleagues and make you a stronger candidate for raises or promotions down the line, said Bastian.

“Do a great job and I guarantee, I know at Delta, you’ll be seen, you’ll be heard and people will take notice,” he said.

Want to be more successful and confident with your money? Take CNBC Make It’s new online course. Our expert instructors will help you master your money and discover practical strategies to boost your savings, reduce debt and grow your wealth — in a way that works best for you. Enroll in ”Achieve Financial Wellness: Be Happier, Wealthier & More Financially Secure″ to start your journey to financial freedom today! Get a 30% discount with the coupon code EARLYBIRD until September 2, 2024.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.