Every week a Guardian Money reader submits a question, and it's up to you to help them out. A selection of the best answers will appear in Saturday's paper.
Is getting a lodger worth the inconvenience it can cause? Photograph: DonMcPhee/Guardian
This week's question: We're a family of four and our finances are tight at the moment. Filling our empty spare room with a lodger paying even £60 a week would help hugely. Will sharing a kitchen/bathroom work, or will it end in tears? Are some lodgers better than others. Help!
Here are some of the answers we've so far received:
We had an interesting year with our student lodger. Some of his most endearing qualities were bartering over the rent every week; clogging the plug hole after hour-long showers with his bodily hair; taking a pop at our garden birds with his air rifle ;dropping pornographic magazines out of his bedroom window on to our 100-year-old neighbour's dustbin and calling 999 for the fire brigade on April fool's day "for a joke". That was the year that was!
Catherine Gunn, Taunton
I would suggest becoming a host family. We have done this for several years and found it both lucrative financially and rewarding culturally. Students come for three months, often from Japan or Europe, and stay while they attend an English course at university. We provide breakfast and an evening meal and receive £90 per week. Our daughter treats the students as her big sister and we have learnt a lot about different cultures. The other great benefit is that we have a break of a few weeks before the next one comes. Most universities will have a home stay department who can supply all the details.
Diane Fraser, Sale
Opening your home to a lodger can be fun and prove to be very rewarding. It can be very hard work. It can also be very costly in financial and personal terms if you don't intelligently plan for this new venture. Research your options thoroughly, and assess what you are able to offer, and who would be most suited to your family lifestyle.
Marian H Barker-Freeman, Milton Keynes
What are your thoughts?
