cesta, pet sitters still have to pay rent somewhere.

Plan to pay her at least $20/day which is what it would cost (minimum) to board the cats. That along with the housesitting, bringing in mail, watering plants etc. is worth at least that amount, especially since it will mean you won't have to feel so much pressure about bringing a gift back if it was to be considered payment.
Sometimes I've also given gift certificates to a favourite shop or restaurant in addition to the payment.

Whenever we took a trip, we always left a written permission slip to "authorize" up to $300 vet bills per cat in case of an emergency. Fortunately, the situation has never come up.

As someone who's frequently cat sit for a coworker of mine, $30/day is too much!

I did it for free. It was a favor, afterall. Didn't have to stay overnight, but they said I could if I'd wanted. I checked in twice a day.

That said, this fall we're vacationing in Hawaii and my brother in law has said he could dog sit for us. We'd want him to stay overnight. We don't plan to pay him (my husband doesn't think it's necessary) but I offered $20/day, with stocked kitchen (he likes to cook), and Netflix galore (he doesn't own a TV).

What all these various replies are showing (in my opinion) are you really need to ask your house-sitter what she wants!

I haven't had a friend housesit, but I have had them feed my pet 1x a day and I usually pay about 10 bucks a day, since they know I am on a budget.

I agree with Suze: ask her what she wants. In my little world there are many, many young people who are delighted to get away from their roommates and stay in a (nicer than their) home with some free food and nice tv, etc. Also, there are usually lower paid assistants, receptionists, etc. who appreciate a bit of extra $$ - and a chance to live in a diffent environment. For them I usually pay $25 or so.

Wow--thanks for all the input! She told me she I didn't need to pay her anything, but I agree, the piece of mind she giving us while we're gone is priceless. Plus, we travel alot and if this works out, I'd love to use her again. I will definitely ask her what she would like to have the house stocked with and have planned to do the Netflix thing. I'm planning on $300 for the 2 weeks. Maybe I'm still being cheap, but if some of you are paying $40 a day for a housesitter, how can you afford to go to Europe?

Tamiandtoto - I don't think $300 is cheap at all for 2 weeks. Especially when you add in the stocked fridge, movies, etc. I'll add that because my housesitter doesn't eat my food (I've offered and bought stuff she likes, but she doesn't - most likely she feels uncomfortable), I give her the money in cash before I leave. That way she's got money for delivery, etc. if she would like. I also leave a credit card with a limit of $300 for pet emergencies.

Hi, We live in rural Pennsylvania. For the last two years, we have been paying $50.00 per day for a stay in guy to watch the house and take care of the animals. We stock the frig and buy whatever he wants to eat and drink. He works but comes straight home to the house and stays all night. He also talks to the animals and plays with them. Prior to him we paid $40.00 per night and that guy quit because he said it wasn't enough money. We live in a nice house with wireless, tvs throughout the house and plenty of conveniences.

We just hired a new pet sitter who is probably a bargain. She came once a day and fed 2 cats. The cats come and go via their own entrance/exit so no cat box is involved in their care. She raised and lowered the shades, watered the plants , took the garbage cans out to the street and back and brought in our mail. We paid her $20/day. It would be the same should the cats need meds or such. I was afforded GREAT peace of mind knowing my "boys" were being watched over and the house kept an eye on.

I must be really cheap or our house sitter really likes staying at our house.
I pay her $10/day, she gets to drive our newish car (her's always breaks down and has no a/c - a must in Tx), she can drink our wine/beer/vodka, I stock up the fridge and pantry with her fave foods, order her must-see dvds...and she gets away from her roommates.

$10. a day and all the booze she can handle what happens if she passes out on the kitty or forgets to turn the burners off? Yes, you do get what you pay for.

Boy... some people are sting/cheap. The person who pays the widow and says he doesn't leave any food, and the other person who said I just let them stay at their home and eat their food(big deal) and you don't pay a thing and they're happy with that(are you saying they don't like living their own home so being at your house is worth it including taking care of your pet?). Even if you are friends it would be considerate to kick down some cash since you would have to pay a business if you had no one else to do it so you can go on vacation. All I can say cheap cheap and inconsiderate.

Lastly if the person who's sitting doesn't need the money of course its ok, but nowadays more people could use some extra cash. So keep that on mind.

Uh, I think this has been long settled as the original post is from 2006.