I wouldn't think food would be required, but you could tell her to help herself to whatever you have - she can grocery shop if she wants other foods.

If she's treating it like a vacation, she would bring whatever she needs as far as toiletry items go.

If she has good manners, she will wash her sheets and towels before she leaves. Remake the bed, etc.

Wouldn't it be awful to come home to a messy bedroom and kitchen? Again, good manners. lol I suppose the tip could also be based on the condition she leaves the place.

DD2 pet sits regularly for a couple with cats, so she just has to go every other day. But she goes above and beyond what they ask her to do, and never cashes the check until the last day.

No pay is an unusual arrangement for a pet sitter, Pesky. Is this a friend or someone who doesn't do this for a living? I wonder why they need to get away from their own house so bad that they pet sit for free. Where did you learn of this sitter?

She's a single lady who works at my office. She actually lives nearby. She does this all the time for people, and comes highly recommended.

She has to take some vacation time, and she told me that since she wasn't planning to go anywhere, this is a perfect alternative. She's excited to stay at our place and relax. She lives in a condo and has a cat, but loves animals. Our place is huge compared to her place, and she's excited to sit out on the deck in the sun to read while the dogs are out playing. She's in her 50's, so not a kid. Just a simple, single gal, unencumbered and eager for a change of scenery for a while.

I've done a lot of pet sitting, for two days up to a year, for professors on sabbatical when I was in grad school.

I would never have asked for a cable channel, especially a pay channel, and certainly not for a single week. Same for the landline--both are a lot of work for you to set up for a week, and cost money. So I think her request for this has colored my thinking about your pet sitter. However, the cost for the cable channel and landline could be considered her fee for pet sitting. Certainly, if she were asking to be paid, I'd deduct the cost of those two things from her final payment.

In general, when I've moved into a house to care for the animals, I've brought my own toiletries. I would use the sheets and towels belonging to the home owners, and wash them on my last day.

Food--usually the homeowners would tell me to help myself to what's in the house. Otherwise, perishable food would go bad before they got back and just need to be thrown out. If there's something that you would prefer she didn't eat/drink, point that out. If you don't want your liquor cabinet raided, either lock it or hide the booze, or point out exactly what she can and can't have--beer's fine, but the 20 year old single malt scotch is not.

It is nice if there's enough in the house for the first meal or two. Nothing fancy, but some bread, peanut butter, cold cuts and cheese, milk and cereal--just enough to tide her over until she can get out to go shopping.

I always made sure to replace that sort of thing, as well. I figured people coming home from vacation and possibly getting in late would not want to have to rush right out and food shop, so I made sure that there were sandwich fixings and cereal and milk in the house before I left.

Same for anything else in the house. I've been asked not to use a given room (usually because of some fragile, easily damaged furnishings in the room, or because it is a private study and outsiders are simply not allowed), not to use the good china and crystal, not to use the swimming pool because of insurance/liability issues, that sort of thing. You are allowed to set boundaries.

The house was always clean when I left. There might have been a light coating of dust, if I'd had to dust and vacuum a few days before the owners got home, but it was clean--bathrooms and kitchen scrubbed, floors vacuumed and swept, trash taken out, any obvious signs of my stay removed completely. As much as possible, the house was the way the owners left it.

Although once, a hurricane came through three days before the owners got back and it took the power out, and with no power, there was no water, either. The power came back on three hours before they arrived home and I've never cleaned an house so fast in my entire life. The owners came home to a dishwasher that was still running and a damp kitchen floor and no fresh food in the house, but I had done the best I could do.

I house sit/pet sit for friends. Other than complete instructions for the care of the pets, emergency numbers and a bed to sleep in, I don't need anything else. I bring my own food, pillows, towels, computer with entertainment, toiletries, etc. I vacuum daily to keep the pet hair under control and pick up poop, but I don't do any other cleaning other than tidying up my use of the kitchen and bathroom. I don't eat any of their food, drink any of their drinks, watch their television, etc. I don't get paid as it is a favor for my friends.

Camlan gave some great advice. Another thing is to hide any personal paper's you have, including bills, letters, etc. Many people are snoops and no one would ever know it. If there are any narcotics in the medicine cabinet, hide them also. We just never know how people really are behind closed doors.

If it were me, I'd buy some snack foods for the first day or two. Definitely have bread and coldcuts as Cam said.

I'm curious as to what it will cost you to install a landline? That's big bucks (installation fee, etc.). Unless you planned on getting one anyway. But to do that for just a week? I'm assuming she doesn't have a cellphone? Maybe it would be cheaper to buy one of those disposable cell phones.

I was going to get a pre-paid cell phone for her, but coincidentally, the cable company called me with an offer of an upgrade to include a land line, and an upgraded package (which includes that channel) for less than what we pay now, plus a 30 day free trial. Installing the land line is just a simple fix, we can do it. So it's not really going to cost me anything to do that. And it's peace of mind for me. She didn't ask for them, just asked if we had them-and since she's not asking for pay, I thought I'd do it for her as a thank you. But now that I can do it free, well, it's pretty much a given,

I planned to put anything very personal away in a hidden spot and in the safe. We are pretty transparent, but there are always things you just don't want other people to see or know that you have.

Good to know about the cold cuts. I've got plenty of coffee on hand (I know she drinks that) and I know she's a teetotaller, so that's not an issue. I think I'll make sure we have some treats, like cookies or muffins on hand.

This is also inspiring DH and I to do some home improvement things we've been putting off. We're going to install a grab bar in the shower (I've been wanting that for a long time) and a new kitchen door. He's replacing some outdoor light bulbs too. Hmmm, maybe we should plan to go on vacation more often?

lol Always nice to have a motivated DH.

I also do some pet sitting for free. I have a wonderful home but now that I'm retired, it's really hard to relax! Some chore is always nagging at me (whether I do it or not)...oh, look at the dust, I better weed that garden bed, oh, time to blah, blah, blah. But it is like a vacation to stay in someone else's home and none of those thing nag me. I also decided to remain pet free after my last geriatric cat died, so I LOVE getting kitty time (I don't do dogs).

One year I wanted to visit a friend in NC in over the holidays, but she had no guest room. So I looked on CL for house sitting jobs, but that didn't pan out. I mentioned to a friend who happened to have a friend in the same city I was going to. That friend (who also knew me) put on her neighborhood list serve that I wanted a house sitting job. I had about 3 offers in an hour! I stayed in the home of someone who had never met me and cared for their wonderful cats. Plus, I had my own place so my friend didn't have to entertain me for the 10 days I was there. Win, win.

We always have a pet & house sitter who stays here when we go on a trip. Same gal, who's actually a neighbor down the street. She's in her mid-30's and lives in her parent's guest house on their property, to help them out with strenuous chores, cooking, etc. (they're elderly and need her help). We pay her $50/day. She walks the dogs 3 times a day, feeds and plays with them; waters all the plants and makes sure the drip irrigation is working on the outside ones; refills the birdbaths and feeders and hummingbird feeders; picks up the mail and newspapers. Most of all, though, she keeps my sweet furkids from getting lonely while keeping them in their own environment. And our house isn't sitting empty waiting for some burglar while we're away.
I don't ask her to clean anything, just pick up after herself and the dogs. I tell her to help herself to any of the food in the fridge, including pop, fruit, juice, etc. and to help herself to any snacks we have, but I don't buy her extra food, as she walks down to her family home and cooks meals for her parents and herself there.
Lynn

Olychick: what a great idea you had! I'm glad it worked out so well for you.
Lynn

I am reading this with interest, having never heard of most of these arrangements. When I read the OP I thought it was very, very strange and suspicious that someone would pet sit for free and consider it a vacation. But after reading on, it's obviously a fairly common situation. I still think the cable channel thing is extra weird. Maybe you should install a video camera to keep an electronic eye on things while you are gone, lol!