Can you really live rent-free? How pet sitting saved me thousands!

Imagine swapping your rent bill for a poolside view. Your weekly commute for countryside dog walks. Sounds like a dream, doesn't it? Well, that dream has a name... pet sitting.

Yes, this pool is at someone's home in the UK!!!

Most of the UK is forking out an average of £1,223 per month. With London having the highest average at £2,121 (According to zoopla)! And we all know how expensive bills have become.

But what if you could avoid this altogether? Is it even possible?

Let me introduce you to the magical world of pet sitting. A way of living a rent free life, going on free holidays and sometimes even being paid to stay!!

You might say house sitting is an extreme way to live just to save money but its quite an extraordinary lifestyle. If you're not ready to give up your full-time digs, it can also be a great way to holiday without paying for accommodation. I purposely choose the most glamours house sits I can find because I love to live a boujee life, like I am on holiday, I love luxury and if I'm house sitting for free (like I often do) I feel like a bit of luxury is my payment for looking after their pets.

I'm currently writing this poolside in the sunshine in Leicestershire!

I've discovered a few extra money-saving benefits from pet sitting too. I no longer have to buy toilet roll, laundry detergent, or cleaning products and I often get left food in the fridge to use up while the owners are away, saving on my food shopping bill. I do however miss out on saving money by making things from scratch. I love kimchi and it's inexpensive to make, however it needs to be left in a cupboard for a while meaning I have to buy it from the supermarket which becomes pricy.

I probably spend more money than most on petrol because I travel all over the country, however, I work remotely meaning there's no daily commute.

My top expenses are food, transport (my car mainly) and eating out. I often stay with friends between sits/ while I'm travelling around the country so I treat them to a nice meal as a way to say thanks.

Out of all the pets and places, a few stand out as absolute gems.

My top 3 house sits

I've had some truly incredible experiences house sitting. I've looked after the usual, cats, dogs and rabbits. There have also been some more unusual pets like sheep and pigs!  

in 3rd place

Pig sitting in Ross-on-Wye. I looked after 3 pigs and one cat in a beautiful old mill.

2nd place goes to

Sheep in The Cotswolds. I looked after 3 sheep and a cat (there seems to be a theme here). The sheep are pet sheep and a small French breed called Ouessant.

The sheep dentist had to come around for Shaun the sheep and pull a tooth. Seeing him after the anasthetic was hilarious!

Shawn the Sheep

Coming in at number one, 3 weeks in Horsham (with a pool!!!) This particular house sit took place in September 2023. I'm not sure if you remember but we were just getting ready for Autumn when we had this glorious bout of weather. I stayed in a massive house with loads of land. I was looking after 4 dogs for the first week and just two for the remaining 2 weeks.

 Where can you find a house sit?

There are a many ways to do this and I'm going to share with you the 3 that I have done successfully.

Facebook

There are loads of Facebook groups for pet sitters where pet owners will post that they need a pet sitter and pet sitters can reply.

Pros: 

• You can charge for your services if you want to

• You can post the dates that you are going to be in that area

Cons:

• I've noticed the standard of accommodation is lower on Facebook

• You have no reviews to gage how good or bad the house/ pets are

• If the house sit was a bad experience, you cant rate them.

Word of mouth - tell everyone what you are up to

Pros:

• Again you can charge if you like

• People instantly trust that you're good if someone tells them you are

• Its easier because there is less competition this way. This is how I got my first couple of paid house sits.

Cons:

• Its usually locally that this happens. If you're looking to go to exciting places you may need to look online.

• There's no reviews however because you have been recommended there is usually some mutual understanding as they don’t want you reporting back to the person that recommended you how bad the experience was.

Trusted House Sitters

There are other pet sitting sites but this is the only one I've tried so far.

Pros:

• They have a great map feature where you can choose a location and a date and it will show you all the sits available in that area (globally)

• You can look at reviews from past sitters

• There is a standard. They give you a guide that has all the information about the pet and the area.

• There is a safety element that comes with it being an organised site.

• You can rate each other meaning both parties do their best to make it a good experience.

Cons:

• You don’t get paid

• You have to pay a yearly fee to be on this site

• It can be hard to get your first sit

• There is a lot of competition

If you do fancy giving Trusted House sitters a go either to get someone to look after your pets or to become a pet sitter, get a 25% discount by using this link:

https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/refer/RAF589443/?utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=refer-a-friend&utm_campaign=refer-a-friend

(disclaimer I will get 2 months free if you use this link and you'll also get a discount)

My little bonus for you - you could even turn this into a business. Make money, expense your travel, and have free accommodation. Win win! Check out Rebel Business School for their FREE course that can help you set up your own pet sitting side hustle.

Getting your first house sit

The hardest thing for me was getting my first house sit. It took much longer than I anticipated and when I was finally accepted for my first one a week later they reached to say their dog had sadly passed away and were no longer in need of a pet sitter. Understandably.

I want to help you get your first one as quickly as possible so here are my tips.

• Go for something local and short.A weekend in your hometown maybe. One night even. Just so you can get your first bit of feedback. It will be easier once you do.

• Apply for as many as possible. Don’t just apply for one and wait for their reply. I did this in the early days and got no where fast. Learn from my mistakes.

• Make it about them and not about you. Talk about how you can help them. Ask about their pet(s).

  
  

• Set your profile up properly

  Here's mine as an examle:

  

  

  

  
  

• Get a reference (ask a friend if you don’t have any)

  
  

• Offer a video call. This not only helps them, it also helps you judge weather it will be good for you. It’s a two way thing.

  
  

• Use my template that works for me

I used AI to help me come up with this template then I tested it and made a few tweaks. This one seems to be a winner as I've got pretty much all of the house sits I have applied for since using this template. Feel free to steal this and save it for when you apply for your next house sit. I keep mine in my notes folder on my phone for easy access.

Hi [pet owner name],

I would love to come and house sit for you and spend some quality time with [Pet name(s)]. Such a cutie! 

Having the opportunity to pet sit for you would be a genuine pleasure, and I would treat your [pet type/ pet name] and home with the utmost respect, love and care. Happy to have a video chat with you to ensure we are a great fit. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or require additional information.

Thank you for considering me for this house sitting opportunity, and I look forward to potentially working together to provide a stress-free experience during your time away.

Warm regards,

Laura x

I've only had one bad experience, which looking back is rather funny (though it really wasn't at the time). I will share with you for comedic value, and as a lesson to be picky and follow the rules (below) when choosing a house sit.

Not every housesit is glamorous, sometimes you get a pool... sometimes you get a murderous rabbit.

I was looking for a house sit in Perth, Western Australia so I could meet my cousin for the very first time. It's much harder to find a sit in Aus because there are way more house sitters than house sits registered on Trusted house sitters (the main app I used for finding sits). So I started to get desperate, red flag number 1. I found a nice looking house sit but... it had no feedback, red flag number two. I knew I had to act fast as there would be competition and finally, ladies and gents, we have red flag number 3. I was rushing so I didn’t scope out the area properly meaning I ended up miles away from anywhere.

I couldn’t wait to get out of there! And no, it wasn't because of the accommodation but because of a cute, fluffy bunny.

This little fella HATED me...

I survived by wearing my leggings underneath my only pair of trousers, tucked into the one pair of thicker socks I had, pulled right up with my trainers on at all times… at least when it bit me now it wasn’t drawing blood. What I really needed was a pair of wellies. None of this was ideal in the Australian sun!

Did you know that rabbits can growl? Yeah, me either till I met Alfie.

I was worried that the stress this Rabbit was feeling might actually kill it! Or I'd accidentally step on it and crush it! This was an awful experience for both of us. I'm in his space and he wants me gone. I cried several times in frustration. I can't walk from one side of the room to the other without being attacked. And I had 6 days of this shit!

He makes happy little bunny honking noises then goes for blood!

Am I being gas lit by this little fluffy thing? I considered watching fatal attraction on the giant TV to show this bunny its fate if it carried on. Show it who's boss… I felt that just thinking this made him more angry.

I tried moving the bunny barricade but he found a way around it and ran at me now even more angry than before. This rabbit hates me, he seriously hates me!

We both survived the ordeal, mainly by me spending as much time not in the house as possible! I learned a big lesson from this house sit. Not to rush into it and to check out the area first (it was also in the middle of nowhere and I didn’t have a car).

This Monty Python sketch depicts my situation well:

The RULES

I live by these rules to guarantee a good sit:

Have a chat with the owners before you commit to staying there, this gives you chance to ask any questions about the accommodation, area, how much attention the pets need, how much contact they want from you while you're there.

Choose pets based on the amount of time you have to care for them. Dogs need to go for long walks where as cats typically just need feeding a couple of times a day. Big gardens usually mean watering needs to be done in the summer.

Check for good feedback if using pet sitter websites.

Scope out the area on google if you’ve never been before.

Trust your gut. If you get a funny feeling, don’t do it. Its not worth it. 

Whether you're after free holidays, a new side hustle, or simply the joy of waking up somewhere different, pet sitting could be your ticket to living differently. And who knows, maybe your first sit will be by a pool too...