‘I earn over £100k but travel the world on a shoestring – here's how'

Telegraph

6 days ago

With a six-figure salary and a three-bedroom London flat, Maria Lagutina seemingly has little need to be thrifty.
But the 43-year-old swears by travelling the world on a budget, using home swapping websites which allow her to stay in strangers' houses for free.
Maria, who works for NatWest, has travelled to Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Kent via home swapping agreements – and she claims to have saved as much as £15,000 in less than a year.
'I feel like we're holidaying now like people who have much higher salaries than us,' she says. 'We're being given an opportunity to holiday in a way that richer people don't think about.'
Maria is part of a growing generation of Henrys (high earner, not rich yet) who earn six-figure salaries, yet find their cash swallowed up by high living costs every month. Such workers, who were once known for their aspirational lifestyles, are increasingly looking to cut back – especially on luxuries such as travel.
Enter home swapping. The deal allows travellers to stay in someone else's property for free while also opening up their own, again for free.
The idea was popularised by the 2006 film, The Holiday, starring Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz as two characters who switch homes for Christmas. It has gained greater traction in recent years as families look to take more holidays per year while also grappling with the increasing cost of travel.
In the 12 months to August 2024, British holidaymakers took an average of 3.9 trips per person, according to ABTA, up from the 3.4 holidays taken the year before.
Meanwhile, a survey by consumer body, Which?, found the price of a package summer holiday in 2025 is now £50 per person more expensive than last year.
Home swapping has also been praised for minimising the effect on local communities as the home is already in use, so it doesn't lead to local anger linked to second homes.
But, for Maria, who originally hails from Russia, the biggest advantage is how much money she saves. She earns more than £100,000 a year, but still has a £400,000 mortgage on her £750,000 flat in Greenwich, south London.
She claims she and her partner, Oleksandr Chudinov, 41, have been able to take more lavish breaks by using the home swapping website, Kindred.
The site works on a 'credit' system. For every night a homeowner hosts a traveller in their property, they earn one credit, which allows them a onenight stay in somebody else's home. All properties hold the same value, regardless of whether it's a studio flat in London or a 10-bed villa in Mallorca.
Home swappers do not necessarily stay in each other's properties, like in The Holiday. Instead, owners put their properties on the website and choose for themselves where they want to visit. The couple typically let out Oleksandr's mortgaged townhouse in the Amsterdam suburbs while they are travelling.
They first began home swapping when Maria took part in the Chicago Marathon last year. The average cost for overnight accommodation in Chicago in September 2023 was $305 (£227), according to Statista. It meant that a week's hotel cost alone would have been $2,135 (£1,590) – and that may have been further inflated due to the popularity of the marathon.
Maria says: 'It was a flat, but it was downtown Chicago and the architectural style was that of older town houses with wooden staircases.
'There would have been no chance we could have rented that if it had been on the open market. It would have been too expensive.'
After a week, they flew to San Francisco where they also stayed in a home swap property, before renting a car and driving to Los Angeles with friends. In total, they spent 17 nights in the US and estimated it would have cost them a minimum of £12,000, excluding flights, had they not home swapped.
Over the last 10 months, they have taken seven trips totalling 43 nights. Their travels have included a staycation to Penshurst in Kent and a week-long stay in Majorca in a four-bed villa, which would have cost them at least £300 a night. The pair also went to Reynès in France this year too but paid for that holiday.
Oleksandr, who is on a break from a 15-year career in corporate banking, said: 'I feel like it gives us more opportunity to travel. If you are willing to open your house to other people, the world is much bigger to you.
'But in a way you are paying for it by hosting guests. You still have your own costs in terms of a mortgage. In the past, we'd have double costs – you'd pay a hotel and at the same time your house would be empty but you'd still be paying your rent.'
Home swappers should be aware of increasing regulatory red tape which means they could attract a bill from the taxman. Rules enshrined in the 2016 Budget by the then-Conservative government mean that non-monetary property income can still be taxed.
This means home swappers may be liable for a bill, depending on the estimated value of the stay they received in return for letting out their property.
Lindsey Wicks, of Tax Policy at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, says: 'Casual letting of property counts as a taxable property business. So even if a person doesn't receive money for letting out their property, they are taxable on the equivalent of the value received – in this case the value of staying in another property.
'If these home swapping transactions are done on a small scale, there may be no tax to pay.'
Homeowners can earn up to £1,000, or equivalent, tax-free from renting their property. Wicks recommends that anybody who thinks the value of their home swapping stays exceed £1,000 should contact HMRC.
She adds: 'Taxpayers should also be aware that online platforms have obligations to report details of goods and services to tax authorities where transactions exceed certain limits.'
A spokesman for Kindred said it encouraged home swappers to seek guidance from qualified tax advisers if they have questions about their situation.