A few weeks ago, I was visiting one of the most financially savvy friends I have up in Vermont and during our conversations, she told me about easily a half dozen side hustles she did growing up long before learning the word side hustle.

But my favorite story was this one – she used to house sit while she was in college.

Not only did she get away from her dorm room, get to use a real kitchen, play with someone’s pets and sleep in a far comfier bed, she got paid to do it. Best of all, the gig came with free laundry and no weirdo boys moving your underwear!

Want to know more? Check out this interview with Iris the Hustler, one of the hardest working and responsible women I know.

How did you get started house sitting?

So the first house sitting gig – I was not actively looking for it. A family in my church had horses and needed someone comfortable and familiar around horses/large animals and so they asked me to house sit. While I was doing that gig, I was in college and working for the college, so just through chatting they found out I was house sitting and word got around that I was willing to house sit, good with animals of all shapes and sizes and was trustworthy (wouldn’t have a party, etc.)

What sort of duties were involved in house sitting?

Some houses it was just check on and feed the cats once a day. Those gigs made about $15 a day. There were no other chores than feeding the cat and making sure the house wasn’t freezing or any other obvious issues.

Mostly I stayed at the houses though. I would average $20-30 a day for all that depending on how far of a drive it was to school or work and how many animals there were.

There were typically no chores other than making sure the house wasn’t freezing and sometimes watering the plants. I always made sure to leave the house cleaner than when I got there (dishes done and put away, washed the sheets and towels I used, etc.).

Do you have a house sitting fail story?

A financial fail for me was not discussing payment with someone upfront. It was friend of my mother’s who thought I was just doing it out of the kindness of my heart. She gave me $20 for 4 days with 2 dogs and called every frickin day to check on the animals. That was one of my big pet peeves – if you trust me enough to leave your home and animals with me – then trust me, don’t call every day to check on them. If there’s an issue, I’ll call you.
So setting expectations on contacting the homeowner and payment upfront is important.

Sitting for friends is rarely as lucrative. I find it tougher to negotiate a higher rate and they figure they’ve known me since I was in diapers and drove me to piano lessons. However, right now I’m working for a friend’s parents and I’m pet sitting their dog for $25 a day and their dog stays at my house. Very easy money.

There are pet sitting side jobs you can have too. My friend Helen is earning extra money in Boston right now doing it. You can check out www.rover.com to learn more about your area, in mine you can get around $35 a night.

Have you ever house sat or pet sat before? How did you grow your contacts? Do you have a house sitting fail story?