4 Living Situations Where You Can Avoid Rent Altogether

Before we jump into this list, note that these living situations may be temporary. Still, they’ll show you that it is possible to live rent-free, while also opening your eyes to new experiences.

Do a Cultural Exchange

If you’re really adventurous and aren’t tied down to any one location, you could do a cultural exchange. It’s where you travel around and get free accommodation in places in exchange for work.

For instance, you could go to a farm or tourist resort in South America, live there for free, and do some chores to avoid paying rent.

While this obviously isn’t for everyone, it’s a cool way to see the world without paying any rent at all. You can check out such opportunities on HelpX.

Get a Job With Discounted or Free Housing

Some jobs will offer discounted or free housing as a perk. For instance, you could become a property manager and live on-location so you can always be available, if needed. Or you could be an on-call maintenance technician who lives on the property at no cost.

You could work as a bar manager, living on-site, or work in a security role at a place that needs constant supervision.

Regardless of the job, this may be a route worth looking into if you don’t want to pay any rent and don’t mind doing some work in exchange for that privilege.

Try House Sitting

You can kill two birds with one stone with this gig. First, you can eliminate rent by watching people’s homes and pets when they’re away. Second, you can travel the country by house sitting without breaking the bank.

Such a gig serves a single person or couple better than someone with a family. But if you can swing it, house sitting is a great way to eliminate rent while adding adventure and new experiences to your life.

TrustedHousesitters is one site where you can find these interesting gigs. You’d be surprised at how nice some of the houses are, allowing you to stay in places that you may not have been able to afford.

Who knows? You may hit it off with a home’s owner so much that they let you turn your short house-sitting gig into a long-term one, allowing you to avoid rent altogether so you can save serious cash.

Live With Friends or Family

We all hit rough patches, and it’s during these times that we hopefully have friends and family we can rely on.

If you’re in between jobs, are broke, or just need a break from paying rent you can’t afford, moving in with friends or family can provide some much-needed relief. Instead of chipping in with the rent, you could offer to do chores. Just don’t expect a completely free ride in terms of time and money, or you could wear out your welcome quite quickly.