39-year-old moved to Paris after going bankrupt in the U.S.—now he's a French citizen, owns a business and lives rent-free

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.

When he moved to Paris in 2017, Jay Swanson "was in dire straits," he says.

The now 39-year-old was drowning in around $86,500 of debt from projects like publishing novels and investing in a tech startup. He was putting about $2,100 a month toward the minimum payments on his credit cards and loans while earning not much more than that as a tour guide his first summer in Paris.

"I was only really eating whatever I got tipped," Swanson says. "It was a very hungry summer."

Nearly eight years later, things have changed. Swanson is a content creator and the founder of Paris in My Pocket, a digital guide to the city, and has over 103,000 followers on his YouTube channels. Between his Patreon subscribers, YouTube ads and guide downloads, he brought in around $96,000 in 2024. He also officially became a French citizen.

Despite Swanson's upward trajectory since he landed in Paris, last year was particularly difficult for his business. He brought in $156,490 in 2023 — his best year by far — but the Paris Olympics disrupted the city's tourism industry in 2024, cutting into his revenue.

After covering expenses, including payroll and business loans, Swanson paid himself a salary of $15,500 last year. While it's not much, his lifestyle is bolstered by a few unique circumstances: many of his expenses, such as dining out, are often covered by the business, and a friend's mother generously lets him live in the servant's quarters of her apartment rent-free.

Still, he's proud of the way he and his team were able to adjust their plans and weather a tough year.

"I do feel like things are about to take off," he says. "I'm not very far from both recapturing the lifestyle that I had before things got really tight, but also advancing to that next level where maybe I start treating myself well."

'Work really hard and then throw it all away'

Growing up in Pullman, Washington, Swanson was fascinated with the idea of France as a child, he says. As soon as he could start taking foreign language classes, he chose to study French, which he continued all the way through his undergraduate degree. 

He also developed a strong work ethic from a young age. His first job was selling newspaper subscriptions as a young teen, followed by working at an Arby's in high school. But, "I would just burn" the money he made, Swanson says.

He drove a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle that he "dumped" all his money into. When he was around 17, his parents helped him take out a line of credit worth about $16,000 to do body work on the car, he says. 

"Before I even hit 18, before I even took out a student loan, I was already in debt on something really stupid, a really, really bad investment," he says. "My early education in money was basically, 'Work really hard and then throw it all away.'"

Swanson's attitude toward money was, "future Jay will pay for this," he says. Putting money into his car felt like a good investment at the time, but Swanson would later understand depreciation and the fact that people who hold onto classic cars as assets aren't typically driving them around every day. 

'Bankruptcy is a tool'

Swanson went on to make similar financial missteps during college and in his 20s, including racking up credit card debt and pouring money into a tech startup with friends. He flew to Paris on miles he racked up traveling around as a consultant and declared bankruptcy soon after he arrived.

Though he was struggling financially for months, it took a while for Swanson to officially file for bankruptcy. Stigma around bankruptcy and growing up with the belief that "a real man pays his debts" had him hustling to stay on top of what he owed.

"But when you look at the math, there was no way I was ever going to dig myself out of that hole short of winning the lottery," he says.

Declaring bankruptcy allowed Swanson to walk away from most of his debt with full protection from his creditors. He had no assets to sell and gave it his best effort to pay back the debts, which helped him qualify for Chapter 7 "liquidation" bankruptcy rather than Chapter 11 "rehabilitation" bankruptcy.

With a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, businesses or individuals are put on a reorganization plan to continue operating while repaying the debt. In general, it's costlier and more complicated than a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Looking back, Swanson isn't ashamed to have gone through a bankruptcy. It saved him from a very turbulent financial situation and allowed him to actually start living his life rather than struggling just to survive.

"Bankruptcy is a tool in the toolbox that a lot of people use," he says. "A lot of very wealthy people use it all the time to discharge all kinds of really bad debt or bad broken businesses. It's there for you to use. And I'm really, really glad I did."

'Berets, baguettes and people smoking on bicycles'

Swanson first visited France when he was in high school, spending time in Nice where, at first, he thought maybe it was just his imagination that made France so alluring. But then he went to Paris and "immediately fell in love with this city," he says.

He came back to Paris in 2012 on an English teaching visa, and made it his goal that the next time he returned he would stay for good.

Before returning in 2017, Swanson wrote a blog post about struggling to find a place to live in Paris. A friend's mother-in-law found out and offered to let him stay in what was previously the maid's chambers of her apartment — rent-free. He took her up on the offer and by the end of the year, she welcomed Swanson to stay in the apartment for as long as he needed. He still lives there to this day.

Though he struggled to make ends meet that first summer waiting for his teaching job to begin, Swanson believes Paris is a "very accessible" city. While certain parts of it are flush with designer brands and wealthy Parisians, there's plenty to do and see on a budget, including "amazing" coffee shops and a surplus of microbreweries, he says.

"I think people just try to pin like [Paris] is the Eiffel Tower, it's berets, it's baguettes and people smoking on bicycles, and that's just not the case," Swanson says. "It is those things, but it's so much more."

The culture of sitting outside enjoying coffee or wine with friends is part of what made Swanson fall in love with the city. At first, he struggled to sit through hours-long meals that are common in Parisian social culture, but now he says they're one of his favorite customs. 

"I learned to love it so much because [French people] take the time to enjoy what's in front of them, and the main thing they're going to enjoy is each other," he says.

How Swanson spends his money

Swanson's biggest financial advantage is that his friend's mother-in-law doesn't charge him for rent or utilities. Though he says the neighborhood isn't ideal for his age and social life, "I'm very, very grateful for [the apartment] and it's enabled me to invest a lot into my business over the years."

"If I lost this apartment today, it would immediately impact my business," he adds. "I would have to reduce my spending … I basically spend everything that I have as an investment in the business."

He took a small salary of of around $15,500 in 2024. But many of his expenses, especially for dining out, are considered business expenses, since he's usually filming content or reviewing a business for his vlog and travel guide. The French tax system is more generous than in the U.S., allowing business owners like Swanson to count more purchases as business expenses than he could in the States, he says.

Here's how Swanson spent his money in December 2024:

• Business expenses: $6,493 on payroll, subscriptions, taxes, fees and business loan payments
• Food: $885 on groceries and dining out
• Debt repayment: $739 toward credit card debt and student loans
• Utilities: $115 for Wi-Fi and his phone plan
• Discretionary: $488 on travel and pet care
• Metro: $95
• Subscriptions and memberships: $67 for a gym membership, P.O. box, Spotify and YouTube Premium
• Unexpected expenses: $41 on a parking ticket received while traveling
• Renters insurance: $17

Swanson took a road trip to The Netherlands in December that brought his expenses a little higher than normal with costs for a rental car, Airbnb and more. 

His food spending fluctuates according to his content filming schedule. In a typical month at home, he'll spend 60 to 70 euros a week on groceries, which is about $72. But if he has a lot of exploring and shooting to do, he'll rely more on meals out, which can run him around 1,000 euros a month, or $1,042.

He plans to keep his living situation the same for the foreseeable future, but "I do feel like I'm missing out on that experience of stepping out my front door and having everything that I want and enjoy right there for me," he says.

Swanson's neighborhood is quiet and mainly populated with older Parisians. When he tells people where he lives, "they immediately think of little old ladies with tiny dogs," he says. It's a little bit of a hike to get to where his friends live and the restaurants and cafes he likes, but he's grateful to have the opportunity to live rent-free in a charming place.

'I'm free'

Swanson doesn't recommend coming to Paris like he did, without a guaranteed visa or strong financial safety net. While he was able to work through that first "hungry summer" and other downturns, he strongly recommends anyone looking to leave the U.S. do so with "some form of financial security."

"Coming here and starting over has been hard," he says. "I wouldn't recommend my route for most people because it has definitely been brutal. But for me, it was the cost of freedom."

He's looking forward to getting the business back up to its normal success this year and hopes to continue growing, giving himself a bigger financial cushion to save and invest, and even potentially move to a better area in Paris.

But for now, "I'm really, really, really happy with my life because I'm free," he says.

He could be potentially make more money doing similar work in the U.S., he says, but he would have a completely different lifestyle due to the higher cost of living and more frenzied pace of life.

"I really would not be opposed to making more money," he says. "But at the same time, I'm really, really fortunate to be where I'm at and I have so much of what I could ever want right here."

Conversions from euros to USD were done using the OANDA conversion rate of 1 euro to 1.04 USD on Dec. 31, 2024. All amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar. Revenue for 2023 used the exchange rate of 1 euro to 1.10 USD on Dec. 31, 2023.

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

Want to up your AI skills and be more productive? Take CNBC's new online course How to Use AI to Be More Successful at Work. Expert instructors will teach you how to get started, practical uses, tips for effective prompt-writing, and mistakes to avoid.