How to Easily Cut Your Adult Gap Year Costs
Inside: How to cut travel costs by housesitting
I logged into my savings account (again), saw the numbers dwindling, and wondered how long I could keep this going. You see, I leapt into my adult gap year without a budget, without any idea of how to keep the costs down, but now with regrets.
Once again, I'm here to tell y'all to make better choices than I did.
We can't talk about adult gap years without talking about money, and today we're talking about one way to reduce one of the most significant expenses for adult gap year travelers.
HOUSESITTING
Let's get real, housing is one of life's most significant expenses, whether you are chilling at home, or a 7-day vacation, or planning a year abroad to live your best life. So if you're gonna go on an adult gap year, let's do what we can to reduce that expense.
Housesitting is one way to get the costs down, with little to no commitment. And an empty home to take care of appeals more more to me than couch surfing - I don't want to see anyone in the morning.
With housesitting, you sign up through a service (check out TrustedHousesitters), and you can find people with empty homes in cities you want to go to and watch their home while they are gone.
Some of these homes might have pets, and some people don't want their home to sit empty. Housesitting is an excellent way to secure housing, with little to no financial outlay (there's sometimes an application or membership fee.
So let's talk about the drawbacks. This isn't gonna work for you if you want to stay in the streets. And I'm not talking about a day trip here or there, but if you're looking for a home base to travel from, cross housesitting off your list. The homeowners are going to expect you to sleep in their place every night, and you can't leave Rover for days to go down to the beach.
But, if saving money is your priority, and you have a city you would love to live in, learn more about, and experience to the fullest, housesitting might fit you.
Consider housesitting when planning your adult gap year. It's one way to avoid checking your savings account way too frequently and wondering when the good times are going to end.
