Editor’s Note: After a busy summer in London – our intrepid American Expat Blogger, Kat, has returned to a regular posting schedule. Welcome back Kat! We look forward to reading about your fall adventures in London!

I’ve been quite a lazy blogger, but not a lazy resident of London this summer and am sad to say goodbye to picnics and lidos but am welcoming to Fashion Week sales and the start of Apple season. Hello fall, I mean, autumn (as the Brits say)!

One way that I’ve been extending my love to Americans in London lately has been to “rent” out my futon in my little 1-bedroom flat to a variety of Americans coming through town. I started with Holly at the start of the summer, an effervescent Texan living in DC who was en route to Oxford for a masters program (ahem, programme) and spent an evening dancing with me at Kensington Roof Gardens. Next there was Ryan, a concert enthusiast who came to London for three days and somehow saw: Jay Z, Coldplay, Girls Aloud, White Stripes, Massive Attack, Pete Doherty, and an Arsenal game. His stamina was intense!

And today I got a booking for a couple who come early tomorrow morning. Renting a couch can cost you anywhere from free to £20 and a spare private room £25-50.

How do you find these people with spare couches? There was the time when a girl asked me in an internet café and I let her stay at mine for two days. I swear I’m a wanderer trapped in a corporate lawyer.

If you wanted crash out on someone’s couch in London, there’s a few websites that can help you out. Remember to speak to the people on the phone, get some details (passports), pay in person or through a third party server, and ask for references of people who have stayed previously!

Couchsurfing.com – the oldest online and cheapest means (free!) of crashing at someone’s house.

Craigslist House Wanted Ads – Craigslist London house wanted section

Couches on Gumtree – couches north of the river on this traditionally antipodeans website

I Stop Over – a site that acts as a go-between in the exchange between seeker and host.

With the average hotel room costing £99 a night in London, just crashing out and having use of wi-fi and a kitchen can be a good deal. And for someone like me, hosting is a nice way to meet new people and get some extra cash to put towards those pesky American student loans that didn’t disappear, sadly, when I left America.

Author Info -  Late 20-something Bostonian study abroad junkie turned English lawyer who lives, works, and dares to cycle in London. Read more from this author

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