"So what's going on with......your business?"

Back on April of this year, Jeremy and I decided to take control of our lives. Meaning, we decided to take on the challenge of living life debt-free. Like most people, we would buy a car with years of fixed payments. Like most people, we were still paying off student loans in fixed installment payments. Like most people, when an emergency arose, we put it on credit card and paid if off when we could.
But now it was time to stop the cycle. Instead of paying payments, we decided to tackle the balances. But a problem arose - Jeremy has a fixed salary and I stay at home with children - so how could we increase our income to match our goals? Simple - I would start a little side business. Plus at the time, I was tackling anxiety/panic attacks/depression and my counselor had encouraged me to do something distracting - like going back to work.

So I set the challenge to myself and to Jeremy. How would I get myself out of the house and bring in some extra money? Only problem is that I had to have a business that wouldn't interfere to heavily with raising children. I had to be able to bring Chase (the baby) with me if Jeremy wasn't available to be home, and I needed the flexibility of setting my own schedule. I thought and prayed on it and it came to me - Why not open a pet sitting and dog walking business? I could set my own hours and rates. I could schedule myself. I could bring Chase in the backpack if needed on my dog walks and pet visits. Perfect!!

Chilidog pet sitting was born. It has been an absolute blessing to me and the family. We had a steady stream of clients in the spring and summer. Some of my favorite jobs include my "farm" job in Silverton, OR where I would go out and take care of 5 dogs, 2 cats, 1 turtle, 2 birds, 1 horse and 1 donkey - oh, and a 1 acre garden as well. The boys loved to accompany me on that job and would pick ripe raspberries and blueberries and haul hay out to feed the horses and run around the property with the dogs. It was great fun. I also had another steady client that would travel almost every weekend, so the boys and I would ride our bikes over to the dog's house and take care of the dog and walk her and give her love and company. I paid the boys a small sum for their help and they both told me how happy they were that I had started this business and that they could help animals.
October was my busiest month yet, but I find that November is quite slow. I think my pet sitting may slow down during the winter - but that is okay with me. I'm feeling very much in the first trimester of pregnancy and I think maybe the slowdown could be good for our family. We've managed to use all the money earned to buy extra things for our family and still triple our payments to all our debtors. We feel blessed indeed.

I don't know the future of Chilidog pet sitting because I will have two children under the age of two next summer along with the older boys - not as easy to get around as I used to. But if you are a stay at home mom with free days and looking for something small to keep you busy and exercised and bring in a little extra money - I highly recommend this job - it has been nothing but a blessing!