![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0c18eacbe0e51a9dc2675d1aa46677407e-my2cents.rsquare.w400.jpg\")
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My Two Cents<\/a><\/p>\n \n Personal-finance columnist Charlotte Cowles asks the nosy, revealing, sometimes uncomfortable questions about money so you don\u2019t have to.\n <\/p>\n \n Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photos: Getty Images\n <\/p>\n Alanna Parrish<\/a>, 33, quit her corporate job three years ago to travel the world, living off her savings to do so. When her money ran low, she started exploring ways to travel more affordably, house-sitting and pet-sitting in exchange for a place to stay. That led her to New York, where she\u2019s lived rent-free for the past seven months, often getting paid to care for people\u2019s homes and pets while they\u2019re on vacation. Recently, she got a remote corporate job, but she still isn\u2019t interested in settling down anywhere. Here, she talks about the logistics of moving so often, the downsides to a nomadic life, and how much she makes during the holiday season.<\/p>\n What were you doing before you became a full-time house sitter?\u00a0 My money went much further than I thought it would. It\u2019s a lot cheaper to travel in Asia and Europe than it is to live in California. My sister came with me for the first part of the trip, and we rented a flat in Florence, Italy, for two months. Then I did the same thing in Croatia.<\/p>\n Do you have a home base? Where did you keep your stuff during that time? During the first two years of travel, I was back and forth a fair amount. I\u2019d come home for a little bit, and then I\u2019d be ready for another trip. The longer I traveled, the more I wanted to travel. Then I got to the point where I had spent about $40,000 of my savings and I wanted to make some of it back. I also wanted to look into other ways to travel affordably and make my money last. That\u2019s when I started looking into house-sitting and pet-sitting.<\/p>\n How did you get started? I imagine that you need references and people to vouch for you. The very first house-sit I did was in Helsinki, Finland, through a Facebook group that I joined. A girl posted that she was leaving her flat for three weeks to travel, and she was looking for someone to stay there. I was back home in California at the time, and I was like, Oh, I\u2019ve heard good things about Helsinki. Let me just send her a message, see if she replies. And she did. We FaceTimed twice. She had done this a few times in the past, which was good because it was new to me, so I took her lead. I sent her all my travel information once I booked my flight, and then I met up with her for the key handoff when I got there. I stayed for a few weeks, and it was great. After that, I tried it a few more times, and everyone was so kind and generous and super welcoming. It\u2019s almost like getting an Airbnb, except it\u2019s free. If anything, it\u2019s even better, because there\u2019s a lot of mutual trust. You\u2019re getting to know the person who lives there; it\u2019s not just about picking up the key from a lockbox.<\/p>\n How do you get people to pay you to stay in their homes? The majority of my house-sits are just an exchange \u2014\u00a0they\u2019re not paying me, but I\u2019m getting a place to stay and watering their plants and looking after their home. Probably 20 percent of my stays are paid. And the majority of them are during holidays. That\u2019s just the busier season.<\/p>\n How much do you charge? How are you doing now, financially? A few months ago, I did get a full-time remote telehealth job. I don\u2019t necessarily need it, and it took a while to find, but it\u2019s cool to have. I got it partly because I wanted to make a little money, have some routine, and be a functioning member of society. There was also probably some pressure to live a little bit more traditionally. That said, I could see myself taking time off again. It\u2019s nice to build up that financial security so that I can do either. I work West Coast hours, but I can work from anywhere, which allows me to keep house-sitting and moving around when I want to.<\/p>\n What brought you to New York?\u00a0 I\u2019ve been in New York since April. I recently did the math, and I think I\u2019m on my 25th house-sit since I\u2019ve been here. I\u2019ve done a few short ones, maybe two days to fill in a gap, and then I\u2019ve had a couple that have been a month long. I tend to be in Brooklyn a lot. I love Fort Greene and Greenpoint. I\u2019d like to do more in Manhattan, but those are harder to find. I wanted to see how long I could be here, and so far, it\u2019s worked out.<\/p>\n When you\u2019re staying in someone\u2019s apartment, do you ever look up how much it costs to rent or buy? Have you ever had people ask you to sign NDAs or be paranoid about privacy? Have you ever had to deal with a freaky pet or weird house situation? Do you ever worry about people leaving cameras in their homes? It seems like a dream to live in New York without paying rent. What\u2019s the catch? Are there downsides that people don\u2019t think about? I\u2019m a very clean person, and on a couple of occasions, especially when I first started, I would arrive and the home wasn\u2019t as clean as I would want it to be. So there were a few times when I did deep cleans when I arrived. It was kind of a win-win, because it would make me feel more comfortable, and the clients would come home to a really clean house. But now that I\u2019m more experienced, I make sure to vet that out. I let them know that I\u2019m a clean person and I want to leave the space cleaner than I found it. I always do FaceTimes with people, and during the walkthrough, I can usually tell pretty quickly if someone is taking care of their space. I always ask for them to show me where the vacuum and cleaning supplies are. And plenty of clients will have a cleaning service come in before I\u2019m there, or if I have a long stay, they\u2019ll come in while I\u2019m there too. That\u2019s probably my No. 1 thing at this point \u2014 the mutual respect of keeping a clean space.<\/p>\n Do you ever miss having your own home? Is it hard to date or keep up with friends? When you\u2019re staying in people\u2019s homes, do you usually stay in their beds?\u00a0 What else do you pack? What happens if people cancel? Email your money conundrums to\u00a0mytwocents@nymag.com<\/a> (and read our submission terms here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n
From 2014 to 2021, I worked in real estate for a company based in San Francisco, and I lived in the East Bay. A combination of the pandemic and not being able to go anywhere or do anything \u2014 that made me really want to travel. I had about $65,000 in savings, so in 2022, I quit my job and figured I\u2019d see how long I could live off of it. I didn\u2019t really have a set plan.<\/p>\n
My family lives in California, and I have some things stored at my parents\u2019 house. It\u2019s not much, though. I\u2019m a minimalist at this point. It\u2019s just some clothes, some personal items, and some kitchenware from my last place. Every time I go back, I get rid of more stuff. I\u2019m like, Oh, I didn\u2019t remember that I had that; I have no need for it.<\/p>\n
I signed up for Rover<\/a> and started doing local pet-sits while I was home in California, just to make some extra money. At the same time, I started looking into house-sitting via Facebook groups, and I realized there\u2019s a huge demand, especially abroad. Europeans tend to take really long trips; they have more vacation time than we do here. So I would see posts about people traveling for weeks at a time, and they were looking for house sitters. Almost all of it was unpaid, because you\u2019re doing an exchange \u2014\u00a0you get a place to stay for free, and they get someone to water their plants and take care of their home. So it\u2019s different from Rover, where someone is reaching out to you specifically for pet-sitting services and they\u2019re willing to pay you.<\/p>\n
When I\u2019m getting paid, it\u2019s usually to pet-sit. People reach out to me for my services during certain dates. So when that happens, if it\u2019s a place I want to visit and stay, then I\u2019ll talk to them and see if it will work. I\u2019ve definitely gotten pickier the longer I\u2019ve done it, because I have built up a reputation and have reviews and references. I\u2019m on House Sitters America<\/a>, Trusted House Sitters<\/a>, Rover, and then I get clients through word of mouth as well.<\/p>\n
Usually for overnight shifts, it\u2019s $75 a night when there\u2019s a pet. But I usually will do discounted sits for repeat clients who I want to keep, between $50 and $75 a night. And during the holidays, the rates are higher. Last year, I think I charged $75 to $125 a night for holidays. I already know I\u2019m being underpaid for some of these; a lot of other pet-sitters charge more. But to me, I\u2019m also getting value out of staying at these people\u2019s homes. I get paid through Venmo or Zelle, just to keep it simple.<\/p>\n
Pretty well. I made a goal to replenish my savings and get it back up to the $65,000 I started with, and I managed to do it. So that feels good. I\u2019ve always been good with my money and careful with savings. I also have a Roth account, which I started in my previous job and try to contribute to every year. Now that I\u2019ve mostly been in New York and not flying around, my travel expenses are really low. Otherwise, it\u2019s mostly just groceries, eating out. My phone bill. Just normal day-to-day stuff. I have a travel health insurance called SafetyWing, but luckily I haven\u2019t had to use it much. I can sustain myself pretty well.<\/p>\n
About a year ago, I started traveling more within the U.S. because I was thinking about where I wanted to end up. So I wrote a list of cities that I thought that I would want to visit and potentially live in, places like Nashville, Austin, Boston, New York. Then I started lining up house-sits for these places.<\/p>\n
Sometimes I look it up, because whenever I tell my family that I\u2019m staying in a new place, they always ask how much it costs to rent. I have stayed in some really nice apartments where I\u2019m like, Why did someone let me in here? But I love it. I am super appreciative that people trust me. I can tell when people put thought and care into their home, and I want to respect it and take good care of it. One of the nicer places I\u2019ve been to was in Nashville. It belonged to a touring musician. It was beautiful, and it was huge, like an estate, and I had the run of the land. But these places in New York and San Francisco are more just cool and charming. I love staying in brownstones.<\/p>\n
No, I have not. I also think a lot of super-wealthy or high-profile people who would want that kind of thing are probably not finding house sitters online. I\u2019m trying to figure out how to crack into that market, but I think it\u2019s probably more word of mouth. Or they have staff who manage their homes for them.<\/p>\n
I really haven\u2019t. I vet people really carefully. I don\u2019t want to waste people\u2019s time or have a bad experience. Anything that seems out of the norm or really particular is a red flag to me at this point. I can get a pretty good sense of the vibe over FaceTime. As for pets, I mostly just do cats. And if anyone has weird requests, I\u2019m usually just like, Okay, maybe this isn\u2019t the right fit for me. That said, I\u2019ve dealt with some cats that I wouldn\u2019t want to go back to. Not all cats are low-maintenance. Some people who pet-sit want to be out and about all day, doing stuff, but I spend time with the pets and make sure they aren\u2019t lonely.<\/p>\n
Yes, people do have cameras in their homes sometimes. To my knowledge, everyone has always given me a heads-up. Like, \u201cHey, we have cameras. This is where they are. Feel free to unplug them to have your privacy.\u201d Maybe there have been times when I didn\u2019t know, and I didn\u2019t think to ask, but I think usually people tell me.<\/p>\n
The main thing is not having a home base, and I think a lot of people would probably be uncomfortable with that. It\u2019s difficult to establish a routine when you\u2019re moving a lot. I\u2019m always trying to figure out a new grocery store, normal things like that. It does take a lot of planning, and I think it takes a certain type of person too. And it is work. I\u2019m taking really good care of people\u2019s homes and people\u2019s pets. I have heard stories of house sitters who just want a free place to stay and kind of neglect the house and the pets and just do their own thing. And I don\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n
No, I don\u2019t. I\u2019ve really enjoyed bouncing around. Every day is different \u2014\u00a0I get something to eat, try to get a workout in, do some housekeeping, explore a little bit, work, see friends if they\u2019re around, but it all depends on where I am. It keeps my mind stimulated going to new places and being in new surroundings. I lived in my previous home for a long time, and it all kind of blurs together\u00a0when you\u2019re doing the same routine and staring at the same walls. Traveling slowed down time for me a little bit. But I get that not everyone wants to do that.<\/p>\n
Sometimes. But I meet a lot of new people all the time. And I do date. My last relationship was here in New York, and it did end partially because of the instability of my life \u2014 I don\u2019t think he was super comfortable with that. I am a very independent person. I\u2019ve done a lot of solo travel, and sometimes it is really hard. Knowing a lot of people in New York has made it easier for me to stay here and be less lonely. I think it would be harder to do this full-time without having that sense of community. And I\u2019m really close with my family. They\u2019ve been super supportive of what I\u2019m doing. My sister travels a lot, too.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d say 90 percent of the time, I\u2019m sleeping in their beds. The other 10 percent, they\u2019ll have a bigger place and they\u2019ll have a guest room for me to stay in. Sometimes it takes me a few nights to get settled. I bring earplugs and an eye mask.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m wearing the same clothes all the time, but most people have laundry either in their unit or down the street. I have a couple jackets, a pair of jeans. Sometimes I\u2019ll buy something if I need it, but not very often. I\u2019ve never been a big fashion person. If I\u2019m not wearing something, I\u2019m getting rid of it. I want to feel good in what I\u2019m wearing, but I don\u2019t like to spend money on clothes. I fit all of my belongings in a carry-on bag.<\/p>\n
I think since I\u2019ve been doing this, it\u2019s maybe happened two or three times. People usually give me enough notice. I\u2019ve only had one case that wasn\u2019t handled well, when I was flying from Nashville to New York and going straight to my New York house, and the person canceled the night before. I got a hotel for the night and found another house the night after. But it doesn\u2019t happen too often, and when it does, I usually have enough time to figure out a new plan.<\/p>\n