Earning money from home - hosting students

Rather than looking for a specific job, there are other ways to earn some additional income, that fit in with you staying home with the kids. One we tried last year was becoming a host family for foreign students.

If you have a spare bedroom or two, you can make some money by renting it out on a short term or longer term basis to overseas students who are in Australia to study. There are quite a few 'Homestay' organisations you can register with if you are within easy travel to a university or language school. What they require is a room for the student, with a bed and bedding, a wardrobe and a desk for them to study at. You need to provide breakfast and dinner for them during the week, and three meals a day at weekends, and, as their objective is to learn or improve their English, you need to include them in conversation. Quite easy if you sit down to dinner with them most days.

Payment is about $220 to $250 per week, out of which you have to take your costs and usually, the cost of picking them up. Some students stay for a term, some come on a short trip and just need accomodation for a long weekend. The longer term students are usually older and independent, a short term student might be younger and need to be in your care full time.

We were slightly worried about the imposition on our lives when we first tried this, but we were very pleasantly surprised. We chose to take two female Japanese students for a long weekend. They were both 15 years old, and here to experience the Australian lifestyle. We live in a great area of Sydney on the Northen Beaches, so we took them on a picnic to Palm Beach, and showed them the sights. We walked to our local beach, did some touristy shopping in Avalon and generally had a good time. I cooked some easy meals - we made pizzas one night, and a roast dinner another, which they loved. They wanted to know how I made the gravy, so I had to show them the pot of Gravox!

The students were fantastic with our children and I actually got to make dinner in peace each night. The kids were entertained rather than hanging off my legs. Probably the highlight of the stay was our possum hunt. Just as it got dark, we wrapped up, got the torches out and went down the driveway on a possum hunt. We only had to shine a torch up into the trees to spot one. And as a bonus, there were a couple of bandicoots playing in the backyard. The students were thrilled and the kids loved it too.

So basically we had a fun weekend, and got some extra cash for it as well.

Friends have hosted students on a longer term basis and have enjoyed it. The older students tend to be out at classes during the day and have study to do at home as well, so often just spend meal times with family.

If you have the space, enjoy spending time with other people and don't mind the cooking, it's worth giving it a go.