Totally OT--regarding house-sitters

16 years ago

We are going on vacation this spring and will be gone for a week. (Well, DH and SS will be gone for a week, DD and I are staying on longer with my family.)

We were going to board the dog and pay my friend $30 to drop in every other day and feed the cat, scoop the litter, etc.

BUT...I talked with the kennel today and by the time I'd reserved a cage, and upgraded for daily playtime, and a daily walk...it is going to be over $250 to board her.

DH & I were taling and he suggested asking my cousin to housesit/petsit. She has babysat for us in the past, and the kids love her. Not that she'd be babysitting this time, but my point is, we really trust her. She is 23, has a 3 year old, and is really responsible--works full time, and she's a junior in college. Non-smoker, non-drinker.

So--how much do you think we should offer to pay her? It would only be 6 nights that we'd need her to actually stay at our house. She lives at home with her parents and I gotta believe that it might be a "break" for her to be at our house.

I was thinking we'd offer $100 for the week...is that too little, though? I know our house is closer to her work than her house, but she might have to drive out of her way to take her son to his preschool. So I guess gas would be a consideration.

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Comments (11)

silversword
16 years ago
Are you leaving food? That might be a nice "incentive/bonus". How long do you think it would take a person to do the "chores" associated with the pets?

Here's some math for you:

$100 / 6 days = $16.67 per day.
$30 / 6 = $5.00 per day (for the cat, per what you would pay your friend)
so, 16.67 - 5.00 = 11.67 per day (for the dog)

Do you think the walking and feeding of the dog is worth $11.67 per day, and do you think it would take longer than one hour?

I'd personally bump it to $150, and I'd buy some groceries for her (milk, meat, snacks). Consider the fact that you will get someone physically in your home (what if a pipe bursts?) and the value of her presence as well as an animal sitter, and the comfort the animals will have being in their own home.
lovehadley
Original Author
16 years ago
I think $150 sounds good, silver!
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ilovepink - how was the party? I hope you had fun and that no one showed up with uninvited kids. I have only 1 child (18 yrs old now), but DH and have always attended adult events/parties when she was younger. It was never been a problem to get a sitter with some notice. That said, we also had a group of friends with kids similar in age to DD so we did host and attend to "kid friendly" parties as well. The kid friendly parties were usually spontaneous dinner parties on short notice or nights when our town celebrated fall festival or some similar occasion. Formal parties never included the little ones. I really enjoyed an adults only night out. Being a stay at home mom for many years, it was a real treat to get out for an evening with DH alone. I didn't feel guilty in the least. Each year I contacted our district high school childcare program director. Our high school childcare program provides daycare for working moms, and has an entire curriculum teaching students how to care for small children. They are certified in CPR, etc. The director would give me 3 or 4 names (prescreened by the school). I would interview them and then have them interact with DD for awhile while I was making dinner. I would keep an ear for what was going on and it was a great way to find a sitter for the year. I usually chose a senior that drove, so I paid a bit more. I would always pick a girl who actually played with my daughter. I liked the idea that in the event of an emergency in my absence, there was a licensed driver caring for my child. I will also tell you that when we would vacation with friends with the kids, we took the babysitter as well. It was money very well spent. Everyone would contribute toward the week/weekend fee, and even though we really didn't need a "sitter" every night, it was great having an extra set of hands with an early dinner and bath time for several kids. It also would free up a couple of moms who were starting to prep our late dinner as well. Being at the beach was also nicer if the adults wanted to stay a bit longer, the sitter would take the little ones back to the house and start the process of getting the kids going in the outside shower. The kids loved it, the parents loved it, win win for everyone. We even took the sitter on weekend trips to the beach. The friends who hosted at their beach house had high school age kids and the sitter always got a night out to hit the boards or whatever our hosts' kids were doing she was included. In our part of the country, people usually have 1 or 2 "regular" sitters whom they pay well and count on to entertain their kids until it is time for bed. They don't just put the kids in front of the tv and talk on the phone. My DD never really did much babysitting, but the friends of hers that did, made at least $50-75 for a Saturday nite. IMHO money well spent for parents in need of a reliable sitter. I always overpaid our sitters, but in return I never had a worry when I went out for an evening. The next morning my DD would be going on and on about how much fun she had the night before:).
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lamom
16 years ago
lovehadley,

Silvers's arithmatic is great...$150 tops if you are going to stock the fridge with goodies. (not to mention the bar) And you ARE giving her a vacation from her parents home. I've had different young relatives housesit and petsit for me especially when I was single. I basically traded the use of my home and car (which a couple of them loved driving my car vs. their own beaten up bucket vehicles) and a fridge of goodies, bar with liquor for house and dogsitting. I don't remember even paying money since they got the car, the house, the food and the booze. My dog of course, had no complaints! They rode her around, she stayed at home and everyone was happy.

She's getting a good deal, you should feel relieved and the animals too.
finedreams
16 years ago
150 plus food sounds reasonable.
silversword
16 years ago
I'd lock the bar.
silversword
16 years ago
Lock the bar.... AND....

Maybe leave her a nice bottle of wine (not expensive... nice!) and a note telling her how much you appreciate having someone you trust in your home while you are gone; something to the effect that you will be able to relax knowing she's there.

(showing trust and verbalizing it in the beginning makes people want to show you how trustworthy they can be)

I know you say you can trust her, and I'm sure she's lovely. But she's young too... and we've all made poor judgment calls.

A small something when you return would be gracious too. A box of chocolates or something. Under $15.00, but something to show you were thinking of her and appreciate her. A trustworthy house-sitter is hard to find, and family is forever. I'd keep the wheels greased.
lamom
16 years ago
LOL, I guess Silver is right. I didn't lock the bar and no incidents but safe is better than sorry. Trustworthy, reliable house-pet sitters are hard to find for sure. Grease those wheels!
lovehadley
Original Author
16 years ago
LOL about the bar stuff! We don't really have alcohol in the house, occasionally, DH will have a pack of Coronas, but that's about it...

As far as housesitter...she REALLY doesn't drink. She is a health-nut and thinks alcohol is poison to the body. LOL, not in those terms, but she's pretty much said as much without calling it poison.

I REALLY have no worries about her. She is a sweetheart and honestly, I WISH she would loosen up at times! She is a single mom and all she does is work, go to school and be with her son. I asked her when the last time she had a night out was and she said since before her son (3) was born!!! EEEK.

On second thought...maybe I should leave a bottle of wine! :)

JK.
lamom
16 years ago
Well....at least 1 bottle of vino...just for respect and wheel greasing. If you're worried, leave the bottle of wine prominently in the fridge but hide the corkscrew heh heh :)
catlettuce
16 years ago
I think that sounds extremely reasonable. I trade dog sitting with one of my girlfriends she has a ginormous lab & I have a small dog, a big dog & two cats. So to board costs me a fortune. I usually take longer trips than her so in addition to keeping her dog I throw her some bucks to bring her dog over here & stay with my FurKids, plus I stock the fridge, leave a CC in case of Vet emergencies, etc. We use the same Vet so that helps.

I'm giving her $200 for 10 days (plus I usually get her a little gift from where ever I'm traveling), and I'm thinking thats cheap, and I'm staying at her house on the lake (sweet!) for 3 days on May. I'll bring my pups and leave the cats with 2 litter boxes and have the neighbor check them.

I think $150 is reasonable/a steal for you as you wont have to worry, your pets at home and you can enjoy your time away. When you totally trust someone with your pets like that keep them happy forever!

Priceless in my opinion! Yea- to the wine, it's good for the heart after all!

One thing I would suggest is looking into a carecredit credit card. It's geared towards Vets/Medical, the interest is high except they offer 0% finance charges for a set time frame depending on how much. I've had to use it twice once for $200 & the second time for $150 and had 3 months interest free so that was nice. I always leave it here for her so I know that won't be an issue if she's unable to reach me and something happens. (and I can always use it for a facelift interest free if I feel the need-Ha)

~Cat
maime
16 years ago
It was going to cost $250 to board the dog, I would pay her that because she is doing a lot more than the kennel would have done. You will be free of worry about your home and pets. I would discuss company with her, no parties, etc..

Totally OT--regarding house-sitters

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silversword

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Totally OT--regarding house-sitters

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lovehadleyOriginal Author

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