Money Moral Dilemma, should I pay for house/pet sitting?

Dizzycap

MorphandMindy said:

Kittymumof4 said:

We have a young family member and his girlfriend (not immediate family) coming to take care of the house, garden and pets while we are on holiday for 2 weeks later this month. 

They don't have their own home, they still live with parents. 

My son thinks we should pay them, I'm not sure. I planned for them to live rent free and leave food in the fridge and freezer for them to use freely, and was going to buy some alcoholic drinks that I know they like as a treat! They've told me that staying at ours doesn't increase travel costs to work and college for them or I would have covered that. Obviously I will leave enough of everything they need for the pets and essentials for the kitchen and bathroom etc. 

I did this in the past myself for a family friend, they didn't pay me, I was happy to have the house to myself for a couple of weeks for free! Maybe it's different now, I'm going back a fair few years!!! 

If I pay them I have no idea how much to offer. 

What should I do? 

I had a friend doing the same with me. I paid him 200 along with full freezer fridge and the rest.  We put our 2dogs into kennels last year aswell had to get the dogs vaccinations up to date and then pay for their board. We also took the food for the dogs to the kennels. So call your local kennels and you will get shock. Then decide what their worth..

That sound very reasonable to me & something I would be doing, as I know how expensive it is to board dogs from friends who have done it!  My friend went on holiday for 2 weeks and it cost her double the price of the holiday for kennel & board for her 2 dogs. She might as well bought them both a plane ticket and taken them with her! 

mlz1413

I pay my friends son £10 per day for a 1hour dog walk.
I pay this because I want him to take it seriously and commit to the responsibility.  I also know it's half the cost of a professional.

Re house sitting I'd try and have the conversation before you go and if they are expecting some sort of cash then you have the choice to leave less alcohol.

I would leave some cash in an envelope For Emergencies and just say you hope you have thought of everything,  but if you haven't and they need to spend from the envelope can they pop the receipt in so you remember for next time

JJAGSP

They're getting a free holiday in your home (away from their own families) so they so be paying you! And if they don't like cats and are just doing it to get away from home, then should they be doing at all?  By all means leave £20 for a take out, but this sounds like a mutual favour.

Emily_Joy

MorphandMindy said:

Kittymumof4 said:

We have a young family member and his girlfriend (not immediate family) coming to take care of the house, garden and pets while we are on holiday for 2 weeks later this month. 

They don't have their own home, they still live with parents. 

My son thinks we should pay them, I'm not sure. I planned for them to live rent free and leave food in the fridge and freezer for them to use freely, and was going to buy some alcoholic drinks that I know they like as a treat! They've told me that staying at ours doesn't increase travel costs to work and college for them or I would have covered that. Obviously I will leave enough of everything they need for the pets and essentials for the kitchen and bathroom etc. 

I did this in the past myself for a family friend, they didn't pay me, I was happy to have the house to myself for a couple of weeks for free! Maybe it's different now, I'm going back a fair few years!!! 

If I pay them I have no idea how much to offer. 

What should I do? 

I had a friend doing the same with me. I paid him 200 along with full freezer fridge and the rest.  We put our 2dogs into kennels last year aswell had to get the dogs vaccinations up to date and then pay for their board. We also took the food for the dogs to the kennels. So call your local kennels and you will get shock. Then decide what their worth..

How old is a friend? When I was 16 and had nothing better to do I would have done it for free. When I was 23 doing my PhD I did cat & house sitting, got rent-free accommodation for 3 months and paid the bills only. Now I am somewhere over 30, have my own house to look after, job that is quite demanding, parents to care for, and, last but not least, a husband. Occasionally our friends who live in London go away and we look after their cat for a week for free, if we are able to move there and consider it a city break.
But if the disruption to my routine would be serious, I would expect to be compensated for my time. 

Murphybear

Don’t forget to leave your vet’s details in case of emergencies.  

Olenna

mlz1413 said:

I pay my friends son £10 per day for a 1hour dog walk.
I pay this because I want him to take it seriously and commit to the responsibility.  I also know it's half the cost of a professional.

Re house sitting I'd try and have the conversation before you go and if they are expecting some sort of cash then you have the choice to leave less alcohol.

I would leave some cash in an envelope For Emergencies and just say you hope you have thought of everything,  but if you haven't and they need to spend from the envelope can they pop the receipt in so you remember for next time

Talk of leaving less alcohol and receipts looks like some kind of formal arrangement. 

It appears they're are doing a favour but doesn't mean OP can't be generous;  the other thing to consider is if they'd want a repeat in the future - be too mean and they might decline next time. 

sheramber

It is a personal  arrangement and up to the parties involved to agree on  any payment.
 

Some people will be happy to do it for free. Others will expect payment.

Neither option is right or wrong. 

katieort

When I go away my mum always looks after my 2 dogs for me, she would do it for nothing, but we make sure she's got food in the fridge and give her some money so she can have a bit of spending money whilst she's in the area, this is approx £10 a day, basically so she's not out of pocket, and can do something whilst she's here doing us a favour.
The very least you can do is stock the fridge, but a little extra to say thanks too would also be nice, you can always decide when you get back and give it to them as a sort of tip/thanks/job well done.
End of the day, they are not just looking after members of your family, they are looking after/keeping an eye on your house and doing you a favour, forget about whether its no inconvenience for them or not, its all irrelevant, they're helping you out and likely saving you money, as someone else has said, look up how much boarding at a kennel would be, let alone, boarding at someone's house or a professional house sitter.
Give them a few quid as a thanks, you'll have a house sitter whenever you need it in future if you treat them well!