Are there any hidden costs?

The only expenses you’ll incur when hosting foreign students are the extra costs of food. A good way to approach breakfast is to have a decent selection of bread, cereals and juice for students to choose from in the morning. This way they can grab whatever they want and go. If you’re providing dinner you can minimise your costs by including the student in your family evening meal. Cooking a separate meal for them isn’t cost or time effective. Be flexible – younger children may not want to eat certain things so it’s always good to cook popular dishes that you know they’ll like.

Although having another person in the house may increase energy costs, if you already have a family it shouldn’t be much more. Ones to watch are phone bills – the best way is to make sure students always use a phonecard with a freephone access number so you don’t incur any costs.

You also need to make sure that your home contents insurance is up to date and notify your insurance company that you have paying guests.