In some aspects of house sitting, there are no accepted rules. Nothing is stated or agreed to. The homeowners expect the house sitters to act reasonably without providing any guidelines or telling the house sitters what they think is reasonable. The one area which seems to us to be potentially the most troublesome is the question of what in the house the house sitter is free to use and consume.
We have done house sits for homeowners who at the outset told us we could eat any food we found in their refrigerator. We did one (regrettable) house sit at which we arrived to find a sign on the refrigerator door instructing us not to eat anything inside. What if the homeowner says nothing about the food in their kitchen? What’s reasonable and appropriate?
On the first day of every house sit, we go grocery shopping. It’s part of the fun of house sitting. We’re in a new town. We get to hunt for the town’s grocery stores and try them out. Always something new. Always something different. And no one thinks that the homeowners should buy food for or feed the house sitters. It’s the house sitters’ responsibility to shop for and feed themselves.
But are there any exceptions? Times when it’s reasonable and appropriate for the house sitter to eat the homeowners’ food? We think there are. We travel with our own salt and pepper and the spices Kim needs when she cooks her favorite recipes. But what if she needs a small amount of a spice we don’t have for something new she wants to try, and the homeowners have it? Take it? What about condiments? Condiments which require refrigeration after opening? Should we be able to use the homeowners’ mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, and soy sauce? These are things that if we bought them we would have to throw them away at the end of every house sit and purchase them again at the next sit.
Starting with spices and condiments, you can begin to move along a spectrum that includes just about everything in the homeowners’ kitchen. We travel with our own olive oil. An open bottle does not require refrigeration. But what about the house sitter who arrives without olive oil? Should they feel free to help themselves to the homeowners’ olive oil? A few pieces of bread? Tortilla chips? Bottled water? Whoa. How far can a house sitter go?
It’s easy to identify what’s at the other end of this spectrum — the things no house sitter should even touch: The homeowners’ wine, beer, and liquor. Steaks. Seafood. Anything in an unopened bottle, jar, can, box, or package. But where along the line from salt and pepper to an expensive bottle of tequila do you find the red line?
For us that red line can depend on our relationship with the homeowner. We’ve done house sits for some homeowners as many as six times. We feel we know them well and they think of us as close friends. In their houses, it would be easy to say: “Oh, they wouldn’t mind if we take a bottle of water.” But, if we’re house sitting for someone for the first time, we wouldn’t dare take that bottle.
Every homeowner expects their house sitters to use the homeowners’ paper towels, paper napkins, facial tissue, and toilet paper. The same goes for the homeowners’ hand soap, dishwasher detergent, laundry detergent, and household cleaning supplies. But what if the homeowner has left a bottle of shampoo in the shower? Help yourself? We wouldn’t, but would you?
Beyond the homeowner’s food, paper products, and cleaning supplies, what else is appropriate for a house sitter to take or use? Can you print a few things on the homeowners’ paper using their printer? Not without their permission. Can you take a battery if one of yours runs out? Once when we were looking for replacement batteries for the homeowners’ remote control, we opened a drawer and found a large supply of condoms. No. Definitely don’t use the homeowners’ condoms.
