Do House Sitters Pay Bills, Food, or Utilities?
Quick answer: No, mostly not.
Longer answer: Whilst you won’t be paying rent, utility bills, or council taxes, you will still have your own personal living expenses to cover, so it’s not quite “free living,” just a very good way to reduce your biggest monthly costs.
Welcome back to our mini housesitting blog series, where we tackle the questions we hear most often from newcomers and curious travellers alike. After spending four years house and pet sitting full-time, one of the questions that comes up again and again is: do house sitters actually pay for anything while they’re staying in someone else’s home?
The truth is, the answer is a little bit yes… and a little bit no.
What You Don’t Pay For
Let’s start with the biggest perks.
When you’re housesitting through an exchange based platform like Trusted Housesitter’s (what we do), the homeowner covers all the major household expenses. This means you don’t pay for:
Rent / accommodation
Utility bills (gas, electricity, water, heating)
Council tax
Wi-Fi
Some TV subscriptions (usually Netflix)
These are all taken care of while you’re staying in their home, which fundamentally changes how you experience day-to-day life compared to renting or owning your own place.
For us personally, this setup has meant saving over £1,500 a month compared to conventional living. That’s not just a small tweak to the budget — it’s a complete shift in lifestyle, giving us freedom to allocate our money elsewhere, travel more, and live with fewer financial constraints.
What You Do Pay For
It’s important to be realistic: housesitting isn’t “free living.” It’s better described as low-cost living, where you remove housing expenses but still manage your own day-to-day costs.
You are still responsible for:
Travel to and from your sits, including flights, trains, or fuel if driving
Daily living expenses, such as food, dining and drinking out
Car-related costs like insurance, fuel, and maintenance
Personal subscriptions, from gym memberships to streaming services like Prime, unless the homeowner already provides them
In other words, you’re not eliminating life’s expenses, you’re simply removing the often-huge cost of housing and bills from the equation.
What About Food?
Food is straightforward: you buy your own.
Most homeowners may leave out a few basics — oil, salt, spices, tea, or coffee — but they’re not providing a catering service. You live as you would anywhere else, preparing your own meals and shopping for what you need, but with one major expense gone: rent.
The Bigger Financial Picture
This is where housesitting starts to get powerful.
For example, we actually own a home of our own, which we rent out, helping to cover our mortgage. When we combine that income with the fact that we aren’t paying rent while we travel and house sit, our overall monthly expenses drop dramatically.
Of course, everyone’s situation is different. If you’re:
Currently renting
Between homes
Saving for a deposit on a house
Looking to reduce your expenses
…then just eliminating rent alone can create a significant positive impact on your finances.
Can You Actually Save Money?
Absolutely — and often quite a lot more than you might expect.
However, your savings will depend on a few key factors:
How frequently you secure sits
How far you need to travel between them
Your general lifestyle and spending habits
When done thoughtfully, housesitting is one of the most effective ways to lower your cost of living without compromising your quality of life, giving you more freedom to spend on experiences, travel, or savings.
Who This Lifestyle Works For
Over four years, we’ve seen housesitting work for a wide variety of people:
Travellers who want to slow down and stay in one place longer
Budget-conscious backpackers stretching their funds
Animal lovers seeking companionship while on the road
Grey nomads or retirees looking for flexibility
People saving for a home or other financial goals
Anyone in between homes or figuring out their next steps
Housesitting isn’t just about travel — it’s about rethinking the way you live and how you spend your money.
Final Thoughts
So, do house sitters pay rent or bills? No.
Do they still pay for their own life? Yes.
You remove one of life’s biggest expenses and, in return, take on a more self-directed lifestyle where your spending is flexible and intentional, and saving is guaranteed.
For us, the benefits have been enormous. After four years of full-time house and pet sitting, we’ve saved thousands of pounds, travelled extensively, and built a lifestyle that is both free and sustainable.
You’re not living for free.
You’re simply choosing which costs you eliminate, and that choice can change everything.
Got questions about housesitting costs or how to save money this way? Reach out to us on Instagram @hitchedhikingandhousesitting 🫶
Thinking about trying it yourself? Housesitting might just be one of the simplest, most effective ways to change how — and how much — you spend, while still living a full and adventurous life.