How We Saved Over $10,000 in Hotels/Airbnbs By Using Home Exchange

That title may seem like click bait -- but it's absolutely true.

When we signed up for Home Exchange, it was just a way to continue to "rent" our house while we traveled without really renting it. A few years prior, we started to Airbnb our house when we were out of town, as a way to make a little extra income. However, Nashville really cracked down and started taxing everything, and it no longer became worth it for us.

Enter: Home Exchange.

While we didn't actually gain any income, we gain a lot in free travel perks! I wrote about Home Exchange before, and how it only costs $150 for the year and you have access to as many swaps as you want. And we made our money back 100x over. Not to mention, we were not taxed on any of these says, since no money changed hands. We get new requests almost daily from all over the world. We say no to 95% of the requests that come in - it just depends on timing, location, etc.

A little back story: In the last 18 months, there was a huge shift in Matt's line of work. With many North American oil fields closing, and many of his customers being connected with NA oil, he was losing customers & shipments left and right. While we are smart with our budget and knew we'd be fine, we thought of ways to cut down on costs for 2016 (after seeing the slow down in 2015). The biggest luxury in our budget is travel (something we budget for! and I should note our shopping/eating out budgets are much smaller so travel can be bigger), so I knew we could cut back on trips and still put the amount into savings we were hoping to do last year. 

What's amazing is that between home exchange & our Southwest companion pass, we spent almost NOTHING on travel. We paid for food and any activities of course, but these are the small potatoes on most of our trips. Airbnb/Hotel costs + flights are always the most expensive part of going anywhere. 

How exactly did we get over $10,000 in free lodging? Here's the breakdown.

March - Cabin in Virginia - $750 (3 nights, based on $250/night they rent out for cabin)
They requested a stay and Matt ended up using these three nights in a cabin for an awesome guys weekend. They only paid for food & gas and it was a cheap trip for everyone!

July - Crown Heights, Brooklyn - $6,200 (31 nights, based on $200/night they actually rent their house out for)
This was the money maker, so to speak. Now - you could definitely play devil's advocate here and say "would you ever really spend $6k to live in NYC for the month?" - and the answer would be no. However -- we got to do it. For free. Even if you weren't going to buy an ice cream, and someone gave you a coupon for it and you redeemed it, you still enjoyed the experience FOR FREE! It's kind of the best thing ever.

August - High Park, Toronto - $1,750 (7 nights, based on $250/night average in that area)
We had never been to Toronto before, and it was so much fun! The area we were in is considered High Park, but it was also close to cute spots called Bloor West and the Junction. We had so much fun hanging out in Toronto and absolutely loved this location.

November - Tamarindo, Costa Rica - $1,400 (7 nights, based on $200/night they rent out during November)
If you can get yourself to Tamarindo, GET THERE! We loved it here so much. The condo we stayed in had a killer pool, two balconies, and was just a few minutes walk to the beach (you can't build condos directly on the beach in this area, but we were as close as you could get). Not to mention with 5th floor views, we enjoyed every sunrise and sunset with a nice glass of vino.

Technically, we've also "earned" the following two locations during non-simultaneous swaps. They've already stayed at our house, and we are able to cash in on their houses when we can make the trip!

Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia - $1,500 (1 week at $150/night, average for the area)
We hosted these two Aussies in October 2016 and it was so much fun! Hosting is another option in home exchange, but not if you don't want to. We did FaceTime and emails in the 6 weeks before and got to know them a little more. We absolutely loved "hosting" and would do it again. They originally wanted to swap in October, but we knew it wasn't an option for us with only 6 weeks notice, so they suggested hosting. So we get to visit them next time.. hopefully soon!

March 2017 - TriBeCa, Manhattan, NYC - $1,400 (4 nights, based on the $350/night she rents it for)
We are cashing in on this in March for my birthday, but they already stayed at our house last April. We did a non-simultaneous and it worked out great for us!

Grand Total: $13,000

This is of course an estimate, but I estimated it mostly based on the price that these people rent their homes out for, or a median of similar homes in that area. 

What's most amazing about this is we thought we'd travel LESS in 2016 because of self imposed "budget cuts". However, we traveled MORE and spent less using Home Exchange! We got to stay in some really gorgeous places, and I can't wait to see where Home Exchange takes us this year! 

So... have you signed up for Home Exchange yet?
xo

The Best Free or Cheap Things to do in NYC

New York can be an expensive city -- but it's also jam packed with free or very cheap activities! There are a lot of obvious "sight seeing" opportunities, like Rockefeller Center, Central Park, and Times Square, but there are a lot of things you can actually DO! Here are some of my favorites.

Visit the Cloisters
The Cloisters are run by the MET and therefore are by donation only. Our friend who lives in NYC says the MET has enough money, so we paid $5 per couple :) There are beautiful gardens, free tours every half hour, and lots of gorgeous art! Almost the entire thing has been pieced together by the Rockefeller family from monasteries or castles in Europe. It has such interesting history and is a great reprieve from the city if you feel like you need to "escape". More info here.

Be Part of a Live Studio Audience
There are SO many opportunities to be a part of a studio audience in NYC -- we were able to be on the Daily Show with Trevor Noah which was so fun! Many of these are based on a raffle, so you don't have a ton of choice in your date, but it could be a fun thing to plan your New York trip around.

Check Out the Local Events
The NYC Parks website has SO much great information on free/cheap events going on in the city. I'd check it out. I found so many different things to do when we were in New York in July, although it would be quite different in the winter. I did Broadway in the Park, attended workout classes, movies on rooftops, and live music all over the city! The city does a great job of hosting these events, you just have to see what's happening. 

Roosevelt Island Tram
The Roosevelt Island Tram is so fun! Roosevelt Island is in between Manhattan & Queens that just has some housing and parks. It's really cute and feels removed from the city somehow. You can take a subway train there (only one line stops there) OR you could take this fun tram! It's like a gondola you'd take up to go snowboarding. It gives you a great view of the river and 3 boros. You pay with your MTA ticket, so it costs no more than a subway ride (or is free if you have a week/month pass).

Find Some Elevation
There are so many gorgeous rooftop bars. We loved finding rooftop spots at sunset to catch views like this one! Find a list of rooftop bars here. The photo below was taken at Roof at Park South in Kip's Bay/Gramercy Park. 

Pizza by the Slice

As if you needed an excuse? Pick up some pizza by the slice for a cheap dinner on the go. It was something we liked to do if we wanted to eat in the park or on the water. Joe's Pizza is one of the best and is easily located in the East Village at 14th St E & 3rd Avenue, or Greenwich Village on Carmine St. & 6th Avenue. PS - I absolutely love the East Village AND Greenwich/West Village. Two of my favorite areas in Manhattan!

Governor's Island
If you want to visit Governor's Island I hope you've been saving up.... it's $2 round trip and you have to pay up front :) The ferry ride is short and leave every 30 minutes. It provides great views of the city and is a great place to spend the day outside! You can take long walks, enjoy the fun slides and hammocks, or rent bikes. There's also some fun art and cute food trucks. We brought a picnic and some wine and made an afternoon of it. I loved it and would highly suggest it if you're visiting with good weather.

Coney Island
Talk about cheap thrills - Coney Island is #1 on this list! You can take the subway out there, and then you don't have to spend any money if you don't want to. Matt wanted to try a Nathan's Hot Dog (this is where they do the hot dog eating contest every year) so we spent a few bucks. :) It's got an old carnival feel but is a lot of fun.

Rush Tickets
There are several ways to see broadway shows on the cheap or even for free. You can sign up each day to win a number of raffles (almost every show does it, but each show has different rules, so check with them directly) and I've had a lot of friends win these free tickets! The thing is they are for that day only, so make sure you're free. Or you can often find severely discounted tickets day of but in limited quantity. Another great way to get tickets around $25-50 is downloading the TODAY TIX app. We saw Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime AND Les Miserables for $29pp. Yes, we sat in the back row but it was awesome and saved us a TON! Sign up using my link and take $10 off your first show!

Brooklyn Brewery Tour

They only offer tours on the weekends as far as I know, but it's a lot of fun and it's free. I'd suggest going early as they fill up quickly! They also have a tasting room with pretty cheap beers and some of these brews are harder to find so it can be a bit of a treat! 

These were some of my favorite activities and I will repeat a lot of them! This is a great list to keep on hand when you're trying to have a cheap weekend but still enjoy some local color and have a great time.

What are your favorite freebies in NYC?
xo