Washington-born couple Cassandra Tresl, 33, and her husband, Alex Ninman, 34, were living in the Czech Republic with her grandfather when their daughter was born in 2020. They faced a crossroads: move back to the United States or stay abroad?

The couple had moved in with Tresl’s grandfather around March of that year after learning they were expecting, using her grandfather’s place as their home base while traveling around Europe before Tresl was due to give birth.

Tresl says they had told friends they’d move back to the U.S. after their daughter was born, but when they started looking at how expensive it would be to buy a house and pay for childcare, they decided to look to Italy instead. 

“I really thought that if I had a kid, I would go back to the States,” Tresl says. “And then it ended up not happening, because I realized how much more expensive it would be if we did go back.”

They decided to explore options in Italy after Tresl remembered seeing stories about towns across the country selling one-euro homes in order to attract foreign investors to buy the houses, rehab them and drive up the dwindling population numbers.

Tresl first wanted to determine the actual cost of purchasing one of those homes to see if it was an option for the couple, since they didn’t want to spend more than 20,000 euros, or about $23,627 USD, on the purchase.

Many of the one-euro properties come with a catch. In some towns, the one-euro purchase is symbolic and the real prices are in the thousands. In others, the bids start at a single euro, but the final price is usually higher. And once buyers get their properties, they generally have to complete the renovations within a certain timeframe.

“I started to look online for houses for sale in Italy. Since we were in Europe and we’ve been to Italy, it wasn’t a problem to go there and check out some of these houses. I’m also not the type of person that would have ever done anything like this sight unseen,” Tresl tells CNBC Make It.

In 2021, the couple went on a house-hunting tour in Italy and viewed 15 homes across Abruzzo and Tuscany. They ended up purchasing a two-floor, two-bedroom house just under 1,076 square feet, with a third bedroom in the basement and an attic, in Abruzzo.

They knew renovations would be costly, so Tresl says they picked their home largely based on the price — and the fact that the terrace has a view.

“I’m a spreadsheet type of person, so I had all the pros and cons of all these houses and it came down to Abruzzo being a much better value in general,” she says. “In hindsight, there are a lot of other reasons why I’m glad that we landed here, but at that point in time, I knew nothing else besides the price and that I wanted the best deal.”

The couple closed on the house in February 2022 in an all-cash deal for 11,500 euros, or $13,150 at the time, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.

“I loved the price and the terrace,” Tresl says. “People think that it’s super easy to just throw a rock in any direction and find a house with a garden in Italy, but it’s just not the case. We do have a terrace, and we have a really nice view, and that was a nonnegotiable for me.”

The price also allowed the couple to buy the property outright, which “alleviated a lot of stress in multiple areas of my life,” Tresl says. “If my income fluctuates or money gets tight, at least we don’t have a mortgage and our family has a secure roof over our heads. This financial freedom was actually one of the main factors that made this move and decision possible.”

Tresl, Ninman and their daughter briefly returned to the Czech Republic to develop a plan for where to live, since their Italy house wasn’t habitable at the time — it needed a lot of work since it had been empty for 30 years, Tresl says. They decided to rent an Airbnb in a nearby town in Abruzzo for a little over a month while their house was renovated.

Because the house had been empty for decades, the walls needed resurfacing, some electrical work needed to be redone, the windows and doors needed redoing and the bathroom and kitchen needed to be gutted. Ninman did most of the work himself, but the couple hired out to do the plumbing, Tresl says.

In total, the couple spent around 12,000 to 15,000 euros, or $14,207 to $17,758, to renovate the home, they estimate.

As part of the renovation, the couple made the terrace bigger, added a bathroom downstairs and turned the basement into a proper guest suite. They finished most of the renovation in the fall of 2022, but redid the basement and attic in 2023.

Tresl says she wanted the house to have an eclectic design, so she visited thrift stores and flea markets to source vintage pieces.

“I wanted natural materials and to combine both warm and cold. I have a lot of color in the house in terms of paint because I felt like the house was small, so I wanted to make it a happy house,” Tresl says. “Everything I picked out, I have a reason for it. I wanted to set a goal for myself that everything I look at reminds me of where I got it from.”

Although the couple doesn’t have a mortgage, the house isn’t completely free to live in. Here’s a breakdown of the couple’s house-related expenses, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. All expenses are rounded.

• Internet: 12 euros (about $14) per month
• Property taxes: 61 euros (about $72) annually
• Water: 91 euros (about $108) every two months
• Electricity: 217 euros (about $256) every two months
• Garbage: 286 euros (about $338) annually

The couple also has a pellet stove that they use in the winter. It can cost an additional 42 euros a week, or about $200 a month, for heating, Tresl says.

Since moving to Italy permanently, Tresl left her tech job and started creating content for her travel blog and newsletter. She also works for another travel blogger as an operations manager. Ninman left his job as a butcher when the couple moved out of the U.S. and now manages a second property the couple owns and rents out on Airbnb.

In addition to their primary residence, Tresl and Ninman acquired a second property in Italy in 2024, which they rent on Airbnb for up to 85 euros, or about $101, per night.

Located in the countryside of their town, the single-story two-bedroom, one-bathroom house sits on its own land and has a private garden. The couple bought it for 17,000 euros, or about $20,083.

Tresl says she’s been asked before why the couple doesn’t make it their primary residence, but she says she loves being in the center of her town. “It’s really nice just to be able to walk anywhere from our house,” she adds.

Now that the couple has two properties in Italy, they say they are staying put — most likely until they are empty nesters.

“My husband and I have talked about probably moving out of Italy once we know what our daughter is doing and if she decides to go to school somewhere else,” Tresl says. “It will free us up to do whatever, but that’s not something we’re thinking about for at least another 10 years because I want my daughter to have stability.”

They visit the U.S. about once a year, and although it will always be home, Tresl says it feels more foreign each time she returns. 

“I feel like an outdoor cat having to go back in or vice versa … It just feels odd. I grew up in the ’90s and I feel like my childhood was so different compared to what I witnessed on my last visit. It’s a huge part of why I love being in Italy right now, because my daughter, I feel, is getting a much more wholesome experience and a genuine childhood,” she says.

Conversions from euros to USD were done using the OANDA conversion rate of 1 euro to $1.18 USD on Feb. 9, 2026. All amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.

Want to get ahead at work with AI? Sign up for CNBC’s new online course, Beyond the Basics: How to Use AI to Supercharge Your Work. Learn advanced AI skills like building custom GPTs and using AI agents to boost your productivity today.

It’s an age-old financial fantasy: What would you do if money wasn’t an issue?

Yiyi Zhang says she was forced — and privileged enough — to grapple with that question, at least for the short term, after being laid off in October from her job as a community and PR manager at a game studio.

To do so, she compiled what she calls a silver linings list that helped her deal with her job loss more constructively and look beyond the downsides of the situation to ask, “What are the advantages to getting laid off?”

Thanks to some savings, severance and unemployment benefits, Zhang says she is fortunate that she didn’t need to return to full-time work immediately. And in making the list, she says, she realized her layoff was “actually not necessarily the worst thing that could happen to me.”

Zhang says she saw the writing on the wall several months before her layoff happened.

Her philosophy: “Okay, if I get laid off, that means I get unemployment, which means I will have a period of time to explore and say yes to a lot of the things that I was previously not saying yes to because I was employed full-time.”

So started drafting a list. She told herself there were “no bad ideas” when she first started putting pen to paper, she adds. In the end, Zhang had 20-something items on her list, a mix of bright sides, aspirations and to-dos.

Some were career-related, like go back to school to study digital marketing or AI and business analytics, “become a crypto bro day trader,” and “learn how to influencer, actually.”

Others were personal. “Free time for travel/fun!” “Mental health…” (By that, she says she meant take time to feel her feelings where she used to “deflect or distract myself with work.”) And once in a while: “Do nothing.”

Even though she saw the cuts coming, Zhang first had a “dark night of the soul moment” when she was laid off, she says. “I was … wallowing because I really did enjoy my job.”

Though it was a blow to be laid off, Zhang says, over time she figured feeling upset “is not going to get me anywhere and it’s getting kind of boring to feel this sad so let’s try to think about more exciting, engaging things.”

In digging up her silver linings list, she thought, “This is a good time for me to invest more time and my own resources and skills into some of the things that I have not really had much time to focus on over the years.”

Several months after her layoff, Zhang says she’s made progress on several items from her list. With more free time now, she’s going to the gym more regularly and meal prepping. (No. 3 on her list was “Get super in shape.”)

Looking back, she realizes, “I was really putting aside a lot of my personal physical needs in favor of, ‘Oh I can work out tomorrow, but this deadline needs to happen now.’”

She’s now on the board of four nonprofits and does contract and freelance work, including marketing for a digital design agency and an indie game studio.

Zhang says she’s still figuring out when she may return to looking for full-time work. She wants to give herself six months from her layoff to keep exploring these different areas but says it may not be sustainable long-term, in terms of both finances and bandwidth.

At least for now, she says, “I’m really having a good time doing what I’m doing.”

She particularly likes designing her own game. It’s a simulation resource management game, she says; think The Oregon Trail meets Stardew Valley. Spending time on this project, she says, is “nourishment for the soul.”

“I’ve been in the games industry for five some years, but I never really had a project to call my own,” Zhang says. “I was helping other people realize their dreams but now it’s like, hey, I have time for mine.”

Want to improve your communication, confidence and success at work? Take CNBC’s new online course, Master Your Body Language To Boost Your Influence. Register now and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 20% off. Offer valid from Feb. 9 to Feb. 23, 2026. Terms apply.

In Pixar’s forthcoming film “Toy Story 5,” the toys have a new problem to solve: technology.

After their kid, Bonnie, receives a new Tablet-like toy, Jessie, Rex, Forky and the rest of the gang must fight to keep her playing.

“It’s not even really about a battle so much as the realization of an existential problem: that nobody’s really playing with toys anymore,” director Andrew Stanton told Empire Magazine in November 2025. “Technology has changed everybody’s lives, but we’re asking what that means for us — and to our kids.”

“Pixar is naming something that parents feel but struggle to articulate,” says child psychiatrist and author of “Why We Suffer and How We Heal” Suzan Song, “that kids aren’t meant to grow up primarily inside an algorithmic world.”

So, could “Toy Story 5,” out June 19, ultimately help parents steer their kids away from spending too much time on their screens?

That depends on its framing, says Nir Eyal, author of “Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life” and former lecturer at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

“Telling kids that screens are bad doesn’t make screens less appealing,” he says. “If anything, it makes them more appealing.” Instead, if the film explores the loss of free play and an unmet need for genuine connection with other kids, it could be a good conversation starter, he says.

“Children are more cooperative when they understand what the purpose is,” says Song. “Explain to kids that their brains need practice being bored, awkward, and figuring things out, just like muscles need exercise.” 

In terms of the best way to incorporate screen time into kids’ lives, parents should avoid thinking about technology as something that needs to be eliminated and start thinking about it as something that needs to be scheduled, says Eyal.

“There’s a real difference between a movie that’s a planned family event and a screen that’s just running in the background because no one decided otherwise,” he says. One makes it an active choice, the other makes it the default mode for a moment of boredom.

“Sit down together, watch it together, talk about it,” he says. “That’s screen time serving a human purpose.”

Want to improve your communication, confidence and success at work? Take CNBC’s new online course, Master Your Body Language To Boost Your Influence. Register now and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 20% off. Offer valid from Feb. 9 to Feb. 23, 2026. Terms apply.

I’ve spent more than 12 years studying happiness and human nature, and I’ve found that money is one of the most complex and fascinating contributors to a happy life.

While it’s true that money alone can’t buy happiness, our spending decisions can certainly contribute or detract from it. This insight led me to design a rule that adds more clarity, energy and freedom to my life: Take a no-spend month.

A no-spend month is exactly what it sounds like: a full month of avoiding non-essential purchases. With a no-spend month, you still pay rent, utilities, bills and other necessary expenses. But discretionary spending — like buying new gadgets, books, or restaurant takeout — is off the table.

A no-spend month breaks the dopamine loop of impulse buying. Research shows that although impulse buys give us a brief dopamine spike, the pleasure fades quickly. It’s also true that often, when we don’t feed our cravings, they don’t build up; instead, they fade away.

You’ll also gain more self-knowledge. If you’re like me, you may find yourself spending money without really thinking about it: a coffee here, a new shirt there, a subscription you haven’t cancelled but rarely use. Without the ability to “swipe away” stress or boredom, we become more aware of our spending habits.

A brief period of deprivation prompts us to answer the question: Are we spending our resources purposefully, in a way that reflects our values and supports our long-term happiness?

1. Identify your ‘why’

Clarify what you hope to gain from the experience. Whether it’s saving for a bigger investment, reducing clutter, or aligning your behavior with your values, understanding your “why” behind this experiment will help you stick to it. A reason that’s connected to something you want is more powerful than something you just think you “should” do.

2. Set a timeline

If a whole month seems daunting, try one week or one day per week. What feels realistic given your lifestyle and financial circumstances? Your approach doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

3. Define your essentials

Your “essentials” category can include more than just basic necessities like bills and groceries. For instance, you might want to include things that are important in your life, like social activities with friends. During my own “No-Spend February,” I buy only necessary household items — and also gifts.

4. Use a wish list

When you’re tempted to click “buy now” or hand over your credit card, add the item to your wish list instead. Delaying purchases until after your no-spend month can help clarify what you really want.

5. Set up safeguards

For instance, if you tend to shop when you’re bored, decide in advance on some alternate activities you can use to combat boredom.

6. Find a purpose for the savings

Where will the money you save during your no-spend month go? Will you create an emergency fund? Pay off debt? Make an investment? Save for future travel? Instead of feeling like you’re depriving yourself, you feel like you’re gaining something bigger.

7. Shop what you have

When you feel the urge to buy something new, try hunting for items within your own home. For example, books you’ve been meaning to read or forgotten supplies. You can also “shop your pantry” and use up items that have been collecting dust on the shelves.

A month of mindful spending shifts the focus from buying solutions to solving problems. Ultimately, less time browsing means more time to invest in the relationships, activities, and things that matter most.

Gretchen Rubin is one of today’s most influential observers of happiness and human nature. She’s the author of many books, including the bestseller ”The Happiness Project.” Her books have sold more than 3.5 million copies worldwide. She also hosts the award-winning podcast Happier with Gretchen Rubin, where she explores practical solutions for living a happier life. Her new book is ”Secrets of Adulthood.”

Want to improve your communication, confidence and success at work? Take CNBC’s new online course, Master Your Body Language To Boost Your Influence. Register now and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 20% off. Offer valid from Feb. 9 to Feb. 23, 2026. Terms apply.

Being easy to talk to may seem like a fixed personality trait. But it’s actually something that anyone can easily learn to do: saying things that help people feel included.

Beyond simple politeness, being easy to talk to happens to be a powerful social and career advantage. It strengthens relationships and makes collaboration easier, especially if you hope to manage teams, lead projects, or work closely with clients.

As a speech coach, I frequently tell clients that what you don’t say often has more impact than what you do say. Here are seven phrases that easy-to-talk-to people never use.

Few phrases shut down a conversation faster. It shows a lack of respect and empathy. It also escalates tension, damages trust, offends people and leaves them less likely to share concerns in the future — including valuable workplace information you’re going to want to know.

A similar phrase to avoid: “Don’t you think you’re overreacting?”

Mentioning this to a family member might be an act of loving concern. But in professional or casual settings it often lands as invasive and demeaning.

You never know what someone may be dealing with outside of work; maybe they have a very good reason to be tired. Moreover, unsolicited comments about appearance rarely invite a productive response. If the remark doesn’t add value, it’s better left unsaid.

Most people share information for a reason. It might not always be perfectly clear, but if you want to get the best out of people and encourage them to flourish, you must practice patience and neutrality.

A more approachable response shows curiosity and openness, such as: “What are you most worried about? Tell me what you’re focusing on so I can understand.” Was that so hard?

This phrase is typically dismissive, condescending, and a little bit haughty, even when intended as humor. It signals judgment rather than interest, putting a damper on a conversation. Think of it this way: What information or meaning would be lost if people didn’t say this? None at all.

A related phrase to avoid: “Good luck with that.”

This one’s right out of Therapy 101: Absolutes have a magical way of turning small disagreements into personal attacks.

These phrases shift the focus from a specific issue to someone’s character, which almost guarantees defensiveness. It’s far more productive to discuss concrete behaviors, specific moments, or how something made you feel.

This phrase, along with variations like “I’m just being honest,” almost always precedes something unnecessary, unkind, or downright obnoxious.

If you can sense or predict that a comment may be offensive, that’s your cue to pause and reframe it constructively. Choosing a better approach in that moment is one of the clearest signals of emotional intelligence.

This statement, usually accompanied by a heaved sigh, minimizes the other person’s concern and asserts dominance in the conversation. It essentially says, “I outrank you, and don’t you forget it.”

It also suggests that their perspective isn’t worth your time, which discourages openness and honesty. Over time, people learn to avoid sharing ideas or problems with anyone who treats them this way.”

As you watch what you say and gain skill at minding your verbal manners, you’ll quickly notice that others seem more eager to collaborate and share information with you than your peers who remain grouchy, snarky or competitive in their speech habits.

John Bowe is a speech trainer, award-winning journalist, and author of “I Have Something to Say: Mastering the Art of Public Speaking in an Age of Disconnection.” He has contributed to The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, This American Life, and many others. Visit his website here.

Want to be a successful, confident communicator? Take CNBC’s 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.