Fun ways to save money for the adventurous contractor

Contractors can often travel both incredible distances and in high volume depending on the contract undertaken. Soon, travel & subsistence and salary sacrifice legislation will reduce the benefits that, for example, contractors operating under umbrella will receive from claiming expenses.

This article is for the more adventurous contractor looking to save money on travel expenses through some of the more adventurous methods. From more of a personal perspective, this article uses experiences from my wife and I (who travelled across 4 continents over 6 months), my older brother (who is one year in to a 5 year around the world trip), my twin (who is 4 months in to a 2 year world trip) and my parents (who are 1 year in to a UK and France home sitting experience while running their telemarketing business).

I’ve collated a few useful and realistic (and some perhaps more interesting than realistic) ways contractors can save money on their expenses. So in no particular order…

Airbnb

Becoming quite well known, Airbnb is a great way to save money on hotel stays by renting a bed or a house from ordinary people looking to make a bit of extra money. Personally, I found this exceptionally useful when accidently planning to work in Aberdeen while ‘oil week’ was on a few years ago. However, while the cheapest 2 star hotel had reached a whopping £300 per night, Airbnb was offering 2 bedroom apartments for half the price.

This is definitely not a last minute option as you need to allow time for responses, but with spaces now in 190 countries and 34,000 cities this is a definitely a great way to save money.

Trustedhousesitters

Like Trusted House Sitters, there are many house sitting websites that allow both paid for and unpaid house sitting. House sitting allows you to look after someone’s home for them, sometimes their pets to while enjoying the luxury of free accommodation; and sometimes it’s even paid. I have a close connection with house sitting as my parents run a telemarketing business while travelling the UK and France for the past 12 months.

EasyCar club

Often contractors can be out of the country for some time which means if they have a car it sits on the drive doing nothing, earning nothing. Companies like EasyCar Club allow you to rent your car out when you’re not using it so you can earn some extra cash while you’re away.

Personally, the idea of renting my car out makes me nervous, but with full insurance and breakdown cover it could be an interesting option. However, I wouldn’t have a problem saving money by renting someone else’s car so for the brave it could be lucrative.

From here on in it gets interesting but it’s not for the feint hearted!

Couchsurfing

When I heard this, the first images that popped into my head were of me standing on a sofa, pretending to dramatically ride the waves. In reality couchsurfing.com is almost as exciting. Couchsurfing is staying on the couch (or spare bed) of complete strangers absolutely free. So, what’s the catch I hear you say? Well, this option is mainly used by travellers who are looking to visit the world on a budget, in return the host is often interested in learning new languages or hearing stories of culture, therefore some interaction is required.

This one I’ve used myself in Japan and in LA, both of which were great ‘surfs’.

Campinmygarden.com

Much in the same way as couch surfing, but a little more adventurous, campinmygarden.com allows for its namesake, camping in strangers gardens. Particular useful for stays further outside of the city this allows for garden camping with use of facilities.

Borrowmybike.org

‘Borris’ bikes have proved a huge success in London, however for an alternative being offered far further afield there’s borrowmybike.org. Although similar to easycar club this requires far more trust and integrity where the only security is user ratings and reviews.

So, here’s the big question, would you use any of these too?