what would you think if one of your neighbours asked you if your teenager...

[hatwoman]

"would like to feed our cat while we're away". I meant in exchange for money. But I'm feeling worried that the mum thinks I meant as a favour - and that I have an odd way of asking for favours. I didn;t mention money explicitly - I was going to discuss it when they came round to sort details, but I'm worried she got the wrong end of the stick.

and second question - what would be a fair rate - once a day - put cat food out, check cat's still there. check gerbil has food and water, turn some lights on or off. we're talking about half an hour tops. for a week.

I'd say a tenner for the week too. Its a great earner for a teenager, I'd snap your hand off!

sorry if this is a really stupid question - do you mean £5 in total or £5 a day?

My neighbour gives my dd £20 for a week of popping in once a day to feed the fish! Far too much imo, but they insist!

£10.

But I wouldn't say 'i shall pay you £10'

I would just pass he an envelope with the tenner in and say 'just a little thankyou for helping me out'

When we minded rats for a week we got a gift from the holiday.

Are they going to let the cat in and out or just put food down? Lights on and off means in and out at least twice. They are saving you at least 8 pounds a day for a cattery.

I paid 25 pounds for a week - my offer. However they aren't next door, more like 5 minutes walk each way, it was to mind rabbits, who need food cut up twice a day, and I wanted to be sure they'd be keen to do it again.

re lights on and off - I didn;t mean morning and night, I just meant making some changes iyswim, so that it's not the same all week. no letting teh cat in and out - she's an indoor cat and there's no cat flap.

dh and were thinking £4 a day - (which is what she charges per hour for baby-sitting, and an hour seems like the minimum amount of time you can pay someone for) and we'd round it up to £30.

Depends on the age I think..

13-15 - £10
16-19 - £20

apologies for hijack, but I have to ask tatt - why do rabbits need their food chopped up? Genuinely puzzled, had one myself as a youngster and never chooped food for it

realises it's probably so they get a variety of food in own bowl rather than being handed an turnip, and leaves. ing

Oh, dear God, I can't even back out without typos.

I asked my neighbour if her teenage boys would shift a 4 peice suite out of my living room, down a flight of stairs onto the drive for the council to collect. Not for money. However they are our regular babysitters, I often look after her younger daughter, do various favours etc.

They also do holiday feeding of our cats (and dd's goldfish until they all died) for 2 weeks in the summer and I just bring back a gift.

my d has done this sort of thing for loads of neighbours

she gets anything from a fiver a week to about £20 a week(but that was quite time consuming).

She has done it so much now she hates doing it as it's sometimes more bother than it's worth for her now she has a part time job-alright for some eh?!

OLKN - one was a rescue rabbit and he led the other into bad ways . He wouldn't eat carrot unless it was chopped up and I was told pips in apples were poisonous? Also I worried about stringy bits in celery and cut that into shorter lengths. So not finely chopped but a bit of preparation.

£20 for a week coming in from next door sounds fine to me. They can fit it around other things esily then.

Thank you, tatt.

DS1 looks after the neighbour's rabbit for a week when they are away. He gets twenty pounds, but that includes having to clear it out and give it new hay a couple of times.

Also he is supposed to 'give it affection'. I have checked the water level and the hay level. I let him and the rabbit sort out their own affection deal.

I wouldnt mention money at first just see how they did when you get back and then pay (£10 max). If cat has been let out and no fresh food put out for days, or tv left on, party food left everywhere then you may not feel like paying them anything!

Defiitely pay on return! We left the rabbits at the rabbit equivalent of a cattery once and came back to find the male half starved.

I usually have to pay for a professional cat-sitter but at £10 a visit that's £80 a week. I'd rather pay a neighbour or friend rather than a stranger to come into my house then I know the animals are being looked after properly and also my house. But they are not usually available and my neighbour won't accept money so I feel like a cheapscape asking her. I think £20 quid is reasonable for you to pay a teenager.

My DS2 looks after next doors cat when they are away. Last year it was a few weekends and one full week. He was 10 then and would have done it for nothing but she always brought him chocolate. I felt I had to go with him to make sure he locked up securely. This year they plan to go away more and my neighbour said she wanted to pay him. She suggested £5.00 but I thought that was too much. Maybe I'm out of touch? He's 11 now and I have supervised him locking up enough to trust him.