We have just completed our first THS sit and straight into our second one.
What is the general rule of thumb for the house owners with regards to leaving their own perishables in the fridge without clear instruction about what to do with them. There are usually items which you would choose not to eat yourself, and others which will be out of date by the time the owner returns. Do you throw them away, which could mean that you have eaten them and therefore they would expect them to be replaced?
We feel that the house owners need to be extremely clear, on paper, about the rules of the fridge.
I really, really agree. I wish HOs would bin everything which will go out of date during the sit, and not tell me: âHelp yourself to anythingâ as this sounds cheap. When I see lettuce, cheeses, mushrooms, bread, in the fridge, all having been opened and v v close to the use by date, Iâm afraid I now leave them there as I donât want to them to think Iâve eaten them so have to replace them.
Thatâs exactly how we felt - it was all a bit awkward without clear instructions.
We feel the owners should leave a written manual of house rules but that is another topic to discuss.
In one of my last sits, I found yogurt expiration date 2018. And many more. The HO told me to eat anything my heart desire.
She showed me several boxes of cheeses. When opened , with no exception all molded. So I took pictures of everything and send it to her asking, would you like me to trash.
It looks like , this was a problem in this house. So I put them in one shelf of the refrigerator and use the other space.
Congrats on getting your first and second sits. And this is a good question, and easily answered. Itâs simply a matter of asking the owners ⌠what would you like us to do with the perishables in the fridge? We always ask this on arrival.
The outcome often depends on the length of the sit, but we find most homeowners simply say eat what perishables you want or throw them out. If on the very rare occasion we arenât meeting an owner at the sit, we make it a question as part of our pre-sit chat or correspondence.
When they say eat anything perishable and itâs out of date or questionable on age, or something we wouldnât normally eat, we simply bin it. Anything non-perishable or bottled, we simply move to one area so it remains there for the owner to decide on return. Hope that helps.
I usually put the ownerâs food separate from my own. Unless something is inordinately gross I donât throw it out even if it has spoiled or soon will. Eating someone elseâs leftovers does not appeal to me and I often think the HO Is just being polite by telling me to help myself to food. But most of my sits have been two weeks or less. On longer sits, I can understand eating food that will not be good when the owners return months in the future.
I find it interesting that on most of our sits the homeowners leave their fridges like they have just gone out for the day not on vacation for a couple of weeks. I am not sure why they think the sitters will want to eat their take out leftovers, 1 spring roll anyone
It always seem like we are responsible for cleaning out the fridge in order to make room for our food and to get rid of everything that is out of date and going off.
Homeowners always say use the perishables but it is often things we wouldnât use or buy.
I would much prefer that the fridge was already cleaned out of all the old stuff as in general North Americans keep so many more items in their fridge compared to Europeans in our experience.
We laugh about it now as it it seems to be so common.
As a HO I would not have out of date items in the fridge. But, yes, I do tell sitters to eat or bin other items in the fridge. I would not expect sitters to replace such items. I am a great advocate of not wasting food so if we have, for example, milk, cheese, yoghurt, veg in the fridge which is still fresh I would rather leave them in case they are useful to a sitter rather than throw perfectly good food away.
We will usually eat any perishables left in the fridge such as eggs and milk and then replace them. Iâll ask the homeowners while on the sit if they would like us to replace veg and fruit that weâve used rather than thrown out.
I only pay attention to one shelf I am using myself. Unless something begins to smell, I wouldnât note it at all. I do not look around for anything to eat or drink.
As a HO I do usually say to my guests to help themselves to any perishables left in the fridge. I would not expect them to be replaced. Other than some milk on my return. It would seem a waste to throw away food that someone else could potentially make use of .
Waste not want not. We usually use up the perishables before we buy our own then message the homeowners to ask if they want anything bought for them coming home. A pint of milk and some spread is usually requested.
I usually find that home owners will tell you to use up any perishables in the fridge etc. If not I will ask. I always find it nice if a supply of fresh salad items, veg in the fridge to make use of, along with a selection of cheeses and mushrooms. There have also sometime been left over home made soup or other recently cooked items. Again have been happy to use. On some occasions the HO has also bought extra food in. As to expired items, if jars of things I tend to leave but would throw out any meat or veg starting to smell or go mouldy etc.
I donât feel that any perishables need to be replaced, whether they were used or binned. If the owner didnât plan their use properly and left food, I shouldnât have to pay for that. I donât like food waste but I would rather bin half used food than pay to replace it just because I ate it instead. I too get sick of getting rid of leftovers. If itâs from a meal we shared when I arrived, fine. But I donât want your old half eaten pizza thatâs been in there for who knows how long.
If the owners want certain perishables to be available to them on their return (milk, eggs, etc) they should leave a list and cash to cover the cost and ask if the sitter would mind picking them up. But there should be no expectation that theyâll be there just because some were left.
We are fairly new - have hosted 2 sitters. Wondering if other owners leave the fridge stocked for their sitters. We normally clean out our fridge of any perishables before we leave. Not sure how sitters would feel about half used perishables or what staples we should provide. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Hello @catmama and thank you for contributing here on the forum! This is a regular topic (which shows how important it is!!) so Iâve moved your question onto this thread. Youâll find some interesting feedback Iâm sure and it will likely open up the conversation further. If you use the spyglass symbol and search âfridgeâ youâll find more conversations on this topic (if you need more input).
Iâm a little different to some as we hate wasting food, so Iâm always quite excited to see what food is left and it often becomes a creative first nightâs meal We would rather have the choice of what to do with perishables, but as youâll see here⌠there are many different views on this
Homeowner/sitter here.
I donât leave the fridge stocked because I donât know specific dietary requirements, or dining plans and donât want to make any assumptions. I do offer the contents of the cupboards and only ask that if something runs out entirely, the sitter lets me know so it can be replaced when I come home via the supermarket.
If you live out in the middle of the countryside and youâre concerned about access to shops, maybe you could mention to sitters that it would be okay for them to have an online grocery order delivered the day before you leave? That could be a nice option.
If you live in the city, I wouldnât worry about it at all. Thereâs always a local shop and personally - as someone whose home is located in the middle of nowhere with no convenience food, or takeout options, or even many international foods available - being on a sit in a city location is a great opportunity to take a break from cooking and lean heavily on Deliveroo!
I have been asked by ho what type of bread I like or breakfast cereal.all about communication .itâs so nice when you have travelled far to know there is bread cheese or eggs and fruit .but best to ask in case of food allergies I expect. Or if time take me for a food shop as I donât drive.I always take a rucksack great for heavier shop.
I hope I am clear. I always clear almost everything out but we do leave things like jams, pickles, tahini, miso and other things that dont really go off and put them in a separate drawer. I clear several shelves for sitters and always leave them with butter, eggs and milk. If there is food left over I tell them to use it or throw it away. I also give them a shelf in the freezer (they might want ice cream or frozen pizzas/chips) and I have a lazy susan in my cupboard which I clear the top area for their tins and dry goods. I agree you have to be clear but having had sitters who ate everything in our cupboards I feel really mean having to say, please dont eat our food although I do give them clear directions to our nearest supermarket.
We would rather have the choice of what to do with perishables, but as youâll see here⌠there are many different views on this 
