I make more than $600 a month renting one side of my bed to lonely STRANGERS – people think it’s weird but I think it’s the perfect set-up

The cost-of-living crisis has forced people to get creative, with one forward-thinking entrepreneur making money by renting out half of her mattress to people looking for a cheap night’s sleep — calling this practice “warm bedding.”

Monique Jeremiah – from Queensland, Australia – came up with the idea of ​​warm bedding during the pandemic when her income dried up and she was looking for some extra cash.

The Australian woman rents out half her bed for a whopping $631 a month – calling it the “perfect solution” for people who feel lonely and poor.

The 36-year-old used the extra income to revive her career and start her own dream company, Diversity Models, a modeling agency that specializes in providing curvy, cultural, and mature models for businesses.

The entrepreneur turned Australian reality TV star claims this will be the future for property owners, stating that ‘it’s the perfect way to save money, live simply and, of course, not be alone.’

“Warm bedding is excellent for people who can disconnect emotionally and sleep next to someone else in a completely respectful and noncommittal way,” Jeremiah told Caters News.

The entrepreneur called it the “perfect situation” and admitted it was important to set some boundaries – for both parties involved.

“It’s the perfect situation, especially if you’re sapiosexual, like me, and prefer companionship to physicality,” she explained.

She added, “It takes two people who respect each other’s space, values ​​and boundaries to make warm bedding.”

According to Jeremiah, warm bedding is “kind of like” sharing a room with two beds. The main difference is that you share one mattress.

‘It’s like sharing a room with two beds; But you only sleep together in the same bed, so you definitely want a big bed and lots of space in the room to make it worth it,” she added.

Jerimiah came up with the idea of ​​starting hot bedding during the COVID-19 pandemic after her world—like many people’s—turned upside down.

“At the start of COVID, in early 2020, I was suddenly single; my thriving business of an international education agency and student housing collapsed overnight, and my teaching career suddenly became unfulfilling when education went online,” she explained.

“My life literally imploded beyond my control,” the hotbed guru continued.

“I knew my only option was to innovate and think outside the box, so I decided to make warm bedding.”

Jeremiah recalled a moment when she had to “swallow her pride” and reach out to her ex-boyfriend — who she hadn’t spoken to in a year — but had been in bed for two of the years they dated.

“(I) said to him, ‘Do you want to survive COVID together?’ and to my surprise he said yes, she recalled.

Surprisingly, the arrangement worked, leading Jeremiah to do it a few more times — though prices have increased to match the cost of living — but she insists it’s worth it.

“I’ve now rented twice to my previous partner,” she said. “He’s coming back to sleep with me soon.”

“I will raise the rate for hot beds to $160 a week when he returns, as the cost of living in Australia has risen significantly and my room is still a nice, comfortable room, the size of a five-star hotel suite,” she says. said.

While some may find the concept strange, Jeremiah says it’s been ideal for her so far.

“Being an entrepreneur is already a lonely journey when you’re building a business,” she explained. “So why sleep alone when you can sleep with a companion, someone with the same discipline and drive, making money in your sleep?”

The concept of warm bedding is growing as the cost of living rises.

A 2021 study of the Sydney University of Technology surveyed 7,000 international students living in Sydney and Melbourne. Of the students surveyed, three percent reported using warm beds to save on rent, while 40 percent reported skipping meals due to financial costs.

According to a 2022 poll in the US, nearly three-quarters of Americans said they were concerned about the rising cost of electricity and gas as consumers faced sharp increases in the prices of home heating oil, propane and other fuels in the coming colder months .

Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed said the energy crisis and the rising cost of living affected their spending plans – and with good reason: rental costs in major cities exceed average incomes.

Average rents in the US have risen 134.9 percent since 1999, while incomes have risen 76.8 percent over the same period, according to data from Moody’s Analytics.

Moody’s analysis found that by 2022, the share of U.S. household income needed to rent an apartment at an average price will exceed 30 percent for the first time in 25 years of tracking the trend.

The trend of ‘warm bedding’ seems to be picking up among tenants who are short on cash.

Some TikToks who have posted about the concept have had users declare it “sad,” but others have admitted they are already doing it.

“Have a bunk bed,” one countered, while another added, “It’s a very sad way people are forced to live.”

Other TikTok users said they even tried it themselves.

‘I’m a medical student in New Zealand and my boyfriend and I are doing this. Ofc (of course) we weren’t friends at first, it was completely anonymous, but decided to meet,” they wrote.

“I work with a nurse who does this. 8 people in a 2 bedroom house. one chamber does morning and night shifts, the other does 9-5 people and interstate,” another noted.