Simply put, a stint house-sitting gives you freedom: freedom to travel without the cost of obscenely expensive accommodation; freedom to live in different areas in your own city; freedom to experience what it is like having a pet, a pool or a garden to care for. But what is the purpose of house sitting? Why do people choose to stay in other people’s houses whilst they are away? We discover the answer to a few of these questions in this month’s blog.

Many people who started out house-sitting as a means to an end find they now love this freedom so much they have embraced it as a lifestyle.

 

Saving To Buy A Home Of Your Own

Times are tough at the moment in the middle of this global financial crisis. These challenging financial times are hitting us all hard for all sorts of different reasons. Getting a mortgage is not as easy as it used to be and rental prices are ridiculously high. House-sitting is a great solution to both of these dilemmas. There is nothing like free rent to give you a bit of breathing space to save for a deposit to either to buy or rent your own home.

Apart from those very valid reasons you could have taken the plunge and be building your own home and don’t want to drag all your goods and chattels around with you in and out of rentals or friends houses during the build period so again, house-sitting is the perfect solution. The majority of houses come complete with everything you need for day-to-day life. All you have to take with you are your clothes and personal effects.

Or, you could be desperate to move out of home and start building your own life but can’t quite afford the thousands it is going to cost to rent or buy your own place. House-sitting is a great way to get you started on your independent journey that begins with life away from home. Who knows, you could become a professional house-sitter!

Saving For Something Special

Maybe your sights aren’t quite as high as your own home just yet but theres that exotic holiday you’d love to go on or a new car, iPad, mobile, computer or theatre system you just can’t live without that the purse strings won’t quite stretch to on your income. Just think of how much you could save, and what you could buy if you didn’t have to pay rent!

Start house-sitting and start spending on yourself!

Exploring New Areas

When it comes to answering the question “What is the purpose of House Sitting?”,  a clear reason is that you get to explore a brand new area! Your motivation for house-sitting could be that you have moved to a new city and are not quite sure which area you would like to live in. So, why not test drive a few first! By house-sitting in a number of different areas you will be best placed to check out local amenities, transport links and just the general feel of the place. This could save a lot of time, effort and heartache in the future by having thoroughly researched where you want to live before putting down more permanent roots.

It is also a great way to explore a new city or even your own city if you are not sure where you would like to settle.

A Dog Is Not Just For Christmas…

…Or a cat, budgie or goldfish for that matter. But house-sitting with HouseSit Match does offer you the opportunity to pet-sit albeit for a finite amount of time and connect with pets when, for whatever reason, you can’t have one of your own. You will have the time to understand how much time you need to devote to looking after pets is and if you are ready for the responsibility or not. Who knows after spending time with a particular type of pet it might give you the impetus to do whatever it is that you need to do so you can have one all of your very own.

Have a look at my Pinterest board for lots of fun house-sitting ideas and images.

Have more questions about house-sitting? These pages could help:

How to become a house sitter

What is the best house sitting site?