In response to the cost of living problem, one innovative entrepreneur made money by renting half her mattress to low-income renters, calling it ‘hot bedding.’
QLD resident Monique Jeremiah invented hot bedding during the pandemic when her income stopped up and she needed extra cash.
The Australian woman leases half her bed for $631 a month, calling it the ‘ideal solution’ for lonely and underprivileged people.
The 36-year-old took the extra money to restart her career and start Diversity Models, a modeling agency that provides curvy, cultural, and mature-aged models to businesses.
The Australian reality TV star and entrepreneur says this is the future for property owners: ‘it is the perfect way to save money, live simply, and of course not be alone.’
Jeremiah told Caters News, ‘Hot bedding is ideal for people who can disconnect emotionally and sleep next to another person in a courteous and non-strings-attached manner.
The entrepreneur called it the ‘ideal setting,’ but acknowledged that boundaries were necessary for both sides.
She said, ‘It is the perfect environment, especially if you are a sapiosexual, like myself, and value company over the physical.
It requires two people who respect each other’s space, values, and boundaries to perform hot bedding, she said.
Jeremiah says hot bedding is ‘exactly like’ sharing a room with two mattresses. The main distinction is a shared mattress.
It’s like sharing a room with two beds, but you only sleep in the same bed, so you need a big bed and lots of space, she said.
Jerimiah started ‘hot bedding’ during the COVID-19 epidemic after her world, like many others’, collapsed.
She said, ‘At the onset of COVID in early 2020, I unexpectedly found myself unmarried; my booming business of an international education agency and student accommodation crumbled overnight, and my teaching career became unfulfilling when education went online.
‘My life was really imploding beyond my control,’ said the hot-bed guru.
I realized I had to innovate and think outside the box, so I did heated bedding.
As the cost of living rises, so does the popularity of hot bedding.
The University of Technology Sydney polled 7,000 international students in Sydney and Melbourne in 2021. Three percent of the students polled admitted hot-bedding to save money on rent, while forty percent reported skipping meals due to budgetary constraints.
According to a poll conducted in the United States in 2022, nearly three-quarters of Americans were concerned about growing power and gas expenses, as customers faced high hikes in the prices of heating oil, propane, and other fuels in the coming colder months.
With the cost of rent in major cities surpassing the average salary, nearly two-thirds of those polled indicated the energy crisis and growing costs of living were hurting their spending plans.
According to Moody’s Analytics, the average rent in the United States has climbed by 134.9 percent since 1999, while income has increased by 76.8 percent during the same period.
According to Moody’s, the share of American household income required to rent an average-priced apartment will exceed 30% in 2022 for the first time in the trend’s 25-year history.
The ‘hot bedding’ concept appears to be gaining traction among tenants on a tight budget.
Some TikToks on the topic have seen users proclaim it’sad,’ but others have acknowledged to doing it already.
One person objected, ‘Just get a bunk bed,’ while another said, ‘It’s a terribly sad way people are forced to live.’
Other TikTok users claimed to have tried it as well.
‘I’m a medical student in New Zealand, and this is something my friend and I do. ‘Of course, we weren’t pals at first because it was completely anonymous, but we decided to meet,’ they wrote.
‘I work with a registered nurse who performs this. A two-bedroom house sleeps eight people. ‘One room does morning and nightshift, and the other does 9-5 people and interstate,’ said another.
