I Live Rent Free in NYC by Pet Sitting Full Time

I moved to New York with a dream, one suitcase, and not that much money.

I had just visited a friend there, but something felt different this time. I felt like I belonged. Like the streets were whispering to me, it’s time.

While I was there, I met up with another friend who had just moved from Dallas. He told me there was an extra room available at the place he had found. I thought, if it’s meant to be, it will align.

I went back to Texas and decided to take the chance. I wanted to challenge myself, take my comedy to another level, and fine-tune my craft. So I sold my expensive camera, made and sold friendship bracelets, and, with help from my comedian friends, saved enough for a deposit and a couple of months’ rent.

I made the jump. I was full of excitement and hope for this new chapter, until I actually started living in my new room and realized I had no peace.

I looked into pet sitting

My room was basically in the kitchen, between the bathroom and living room. My landlord lived with us and worked from the living room, so there was almost always noise around me. On weekends, just when I thought I’d finally get some peace and quiet, I’d hear my other roommate fighting through the wall.

At first, I kept telling myself it’s OK; this is normal in New York. But I was getting more and more stressed, and I didn’t have enough money to get another place. Moving back to Texas wasn’t a choice because it was gonna look like I’d scammed everyone! “Hi guys, I’m back!! Thank you for funding my two-week New York vacation!”

Then I remembered my comedian friend Kirstie had told me about a pet-sitting app and how she was doing it full time in Austin.

At first, I didn’t even think about doing it full time. I just wanted a getaway. A break.

I started pet sitting full time

I found a weeklong sit for a beautiful goldendoodle on the Upper West Side. It was honestly the best first sit I could have had. The dog was so sweet and loving, and the apartment was quiet and comfortable.

The first couple of days, I just slept a lot. I hadn’t realized how exhausted I was.

Once I finally felt rested, I started browsing the website and saw how many other sites were available. Then it hit me: Why not just do this full time?

It wasn’t paid, but it gave me peace, a comfortable place to stay, and cute furry company.

So I did it. I moved out of my room, left the furniture for my landlord, and he was kind enough to give me my deposit back.

I started booking sits one after another, and for a while everything felt perfect. I had so much more peace and energy to do comedy and be creative again.

Cancellations can be stressful

Then I had a last-minute cancellation and suddenly had nowhere to stay for three days. On my birthday, it hit me: I am homeless in New York. One of my old roommates helped me out and let me crash in his car.

That was when I realized there was another side to this lifestyle. I had to start thinking about cancellations and gap days between sits.

I hated asking friends if I could stay with them and always worried about being an inconvenience, so I bought flight passes that let me fly back home cheaply whenever I had a gap longer than a couple of days.

That became my backup plan.

A couple of months into pet sitting, I met my boyfriend, who is also a comedian. Since he had roommates, he started spending a lot of time with me at the sits. I didn’t want him to be a secret, so I added him to my account, and eventually we started doing the sits together full time.

My boyfriend and I live rent-free

My first winter in New York didn’t feel as cold because of him. From one sit to another, everything would change, but he was there by my side. He was the reason the sits started to feel like home.

Eventually, he gave up his place and fully joined me in this rent-free lifestyle.

It definitely hasn’t always been easy. We cared for a dog who almost died after having a bad reaction to a new medication, and my pet-parent instincts kicked in as we helped nurse him back to health.

We also had an owner who was supposed to be gone for a week but kept extending the trip until it became almost a month. When we couldn’t keep extending the sit, we ended up getting our only one-star review.

We’ve also stayed in homes with anxious owners and multiple cameras, which can make it hard to ever fully relax.

Living this way definitely comes with trade-offs. You’re constantly moving, finding new gyms, grocery stores, and delis, and trying to build routines around completely different pets and schedules. And because pet sitting is an exchange of services, not a paid job, you still have to find another way to make money while giving the pets the time and attention they need.

For someone with a flexible schedule or who works remotely, I think pet sitting can be an amazing way to live for a while.

For me, it gave me something I really needed in New York: enough peace, flexibility, and freedom to keep choosing comedy.