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Ah… the wonderful time of vacation. You’ve taken the time off work, cashed in your frequent flyers in order to buy your ticket and yet you still have the expense of the hotels left. Staying at a hotel is certainly one of the most expensive parts of any vacation, but there are some new alternatives that can drastically cut the cost. Mint.com recently released five new ways to lodge in style without breaking the bank.  A little while back we wrote about becoming a caretaker for someone’s vacation home and these options also give you great digs at a discount.

•    House swapping is a popular tool for people to open their home to travelers for free in exchange for staying in someone else’s home. HomeExchange.com has been hooking travelers up for fourteen years and offers low membership costs ($9.95 per month for a one year unlimited membership or $15.95 per month for a three-month trial). Besides paying for the membership there are no additional costs, which can add up to some hefty savings if you travel a lot. HomeExchange reports that they have never had a case of vandalism reported but they still suggest that for those involved, they communicate with their exchange family as much as possible.

•    If you don’t feel comfortable swapping houses you can always arrange to rent a vacation home. HomeAway.com and vrbo.com are two sites that offer users a chance to stay in some very attractive vacation homes. Vacation home owners or a property manager post a profile on the websites and you can directly message and negotiate with the owners. By taking advantage of this deal you can save serious money on meals because most homes come with a kitchen stocked with supplies for home cooking.

•    Private homes are also rented out for people who are willing to live with their hosts, who are generally quite interested in travel themselves. Couchsurfing.org is a unique site that allows travelers to stay on the couch of a host at no charge whatsoever. Users are able search for a host and optionally donate money for verification of hosts’ information. Users can browse through hosts narrowing by gender and age and reading “reviews” left by former surfers. Other similar sites include Airbnb.com, Crashpadder.com, iStopOver.com, though these sites do require a fee that is determined between host and user.

•    For international travelers hostels offer private rooms that are cheaper than hotels but cleaner than the typical bunk-style accommodations. Hostelling International offers these private rooms that can cut costs in half. But generally users still have to share the bathroom with other guests.

•    Finally, depending on the length of your stay in any given place you can look at subletting a space from a local. While it can be touch-and-go finding a legitimate sublet, browsing craigslist in the “vacation rentals” section has proven to save people some serious money.

So have no fear as your vacation rolls around. Don’t get bogged down by spending too much money on a hotel room and let your money pay for a cool souvenir or excursion instead.