positives of having a lodger?????

cobbingstones

My dh just phoned home to ask if I would be happy to us to have a female lodger known to one of our neighbours. Now we are very short of money, have two young children and a HUGE mortgage.

Apart from the extra income (which I assume will be around £300 a month)and that she is known to our neighbour (she works at this shop) I can only think of negatives. for example; lack of privacy, sharing the bathroom, not being able to walk around half naked in the summer, trying to keep the kids super quiet if she is in etc etc.

I'm I being unreasonable? What do you think?

Thanks as always


MM

marshall2k

Potential baby sitter?

bargainbird

No not at all, i had lodgers before i had children, it's all good when they hand over rent each week, but it does get on your boobs a bit after a while, I got into the habit of shall i put your clothes in with ours to wash, do you want some of this dinner there's loads etc etc..... my fault probably.

I don't think i would be able to share my house know with my husband and 2 kids, not a chance.

There are other alternatives to make money without comprimising your home life/happiness....

Good Luck

Benefits_Blagger

marshall2k wrote: »

Potential baby sitter?

Potential affair more like!

OP needs to read Dear Deirdre to know the pifalls of this sort of arrangement!

cobbingstones

possibly. But we haven't really the funds to go out!

Good thought though.

MM

moneysaver12

i think after a few months it would drive you mad having someone else living there and as its not a friend of yours you don't know what she will be like

Badger_Lady

How much "private space" will you have (i.e. how big is your house)?

If it's very cosy, and you're likely to trip over each other all the time, plus having kids in the house... errr...

But my lodgers each have a big bedroom and to be honest I never see them. I occasionally move a load of laundry from the washer to the airer, and I really enjoy the company when they do pop up (about once a fortnight), but I haven't lost any privacy.

We do each other little favours, too - like last weekend I lent Lodger A my satnav to take to Birmingham, and in return he's bought/fitted me with a wireless router for the Broadband.

And I've been amazed how much of a difference that extra income makes... I looked up my current account balance online the other day and sighed that it was exactly the same as it's been for the last 6 years... then I realised there was no "-" in front of it! :rotfl:

cobbingstones

We are very lucky to live in a large 5 bed house, with two spare bedrooms. Things are just very tight due to dropping a wage when my youngest came along.

Is there anything else moneymaking we could use these rooms for other than letting them out?

I was considering offering a 3 month contract to see how it goes?


Thanks

MM

Badger_Lady

In that case, MM, go for it - pop a Freecycle telly into her room and you'll most likely be sorted!

I normally just go for a 1-month rolling contract (with 1 month notice on either side), but 3-months are common too. If you like, I can send you a copy of the application form / houseshare agreements that I use

It's also perfectly reasonable to ask for references etc (I do), and a security deposit of around 1 month rent.

maninthestreet

Does DH secretly fancy her? How good looking is she?

Benefits_Blagger

madsmum wrote: »

We are very lucky to live in a large 5 bed house, with two spare bedrooms. Things are just very tight due to dropping a wage when my youngest came along.

Is there anything else moneymaking we could use these rooms for other than letting them out?

I was considering offering a 3 month contract to see how it goes?


Thanks

MM

either go for letting them out to foriegn students, who tend to be the queitest and hardworking and rarely seen. or try to doing the host family thing for foriegn stduents, but not to sure how you get into it or how it works.