Guides
Split money fairly, keep friends
Practical guides for flats, PGs and trips in India, with worked examples in rupees: rent by room size, electricity with one AC, deposits, maids and cooks, groceries, trips and settling up.
Rent & deposits
How to split rent fairly by room sizeWhen one bedroom is bigger, has an attached bathroom or gets the balcony, splitting rent equally quietly annoys someone every month. Here’s a method most flats can agree on in ten minutes, with a full worked example.Splitting the security deposit with flatmatesThe deposit is often the single biggest payment of a lease, and the one most likely to cause a fight when someone moves out. A few decisions at the start prevent almost all of it.Moving in or out mid-month: prorating rent fairlyPeople rarely move on the 1st. When someone arrives on the 12th or leaves on the 20th, here’s how to split that month’s rent and bills without arguing over every day.
Bills & utilities
How to split the electricity bill between roommatesIn winter nobody cares about the electricity bill. In May, when one flatmate runs the AC all night and the bill triples, everybody does. Here are three fair methods and how to pick one.Splitting the maid’s and cook’s salary between flatmatesDomestic help is one of the biggest shared costs in an Indian flat, and the one where usage differs the most. Some eat every meal at home; some are never in. Here’s how to keep it fair, and keep paying your help on time.Splitting groceries in a shared kitchenGroceries are the most frequent shared expense in a flat: small amounts, lots of them, bought by whoever is home. Pick a system, and they stop being a source of “who finished the milk?”.WiFi, OTT, DTH and gas: the small monthly billsIndividually they’re small. Together, broadband, three streaming apps, the gas cylinder and maintenance can add up to several thousand rupees a month. Here’s how to split each one.
Settling up
How to settle group expenses with the fewest paymentsSix friends, forty expenses, and everyone owes everyone. It looks like it needs thirty payments. It never needs more than five. Here’s why, and how to do it by hand.UPI tips for splitting money with friendsUPI made paying friends instant. It also made it easy to send ₹4,500 to the wrong person, or to fall for a fake “refund”. A few habits keep settling up fast and safe.How to ask a friend to pay you back, without it being awkwardMost people who owe you aren’t trying to cheat you; they forgot. The awkwardness is mostly in your head. Here’s how to ask clearly and kindly, with messages you can copy.
Trips
Eating out
Living together
Money rules to agree on before you move in togetherThe best time to agree how you’ll split money is before the first bill arrives, when everyone is still excited and reasonable. Here are twelve rules to settle in one conversation.Shared furniture and appliances: how to split them, and what to pay someone who leavesThree of you chip in for a fridge, a washing machine and a sofa. Two years later one person moves out. Do they take the fridge? Get their money back? Nothing? Here’s a simple, fair way to answer that before it turns into an argument.
Free calculators
Split bill calculatorDivide any bill equally or by shares, with tip and tax. Works for restaurant bills, rent, electricity and trips.Rent split calculator (by room size)Enter the monthly rent, each bedroom’s size and any extras. The calculator splits part of the rent equally for shared spaces and the rest by room size.Electricity bill split calculatorSplit this month’s bill fairly: the base (what the flat uses without ACs) is shared equally and the extra is split by how many hours each person ran their AC.Prorated rent calculatorMoving in or out in the middle of the month? Enter your monthly share and the date to get the rent for the days you actually stay.
