How to Share Household Expenses
Whether you're moving in with a partner, new spouse or roommates, it is likely that you will have to share living expenses. While most people think of how to split the rent and light bill and buy groceries, few think of the little things, such as paper goods and cleaning supplies. Not carefully planning your household expenses can lead to arguments, late bills and even the souring of friendships. Sharing household expenses takes diligence and participation from everyone in the household.
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Instructions
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Lay out exactly what you need in your household and who will pay for it. Count everything in this list, from toilet paper to furniture, if you will be leasing it. For example, rent, utilities, phone service, Internet service, food and cleaning supplies may be your essentials. You could decide to split the rent and utility bill, while you pay for food and the phone, and your roommate pays for Internet service and cleaning supplies.
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Ensure you split the costs equally, unless one of you wants to take on more than half of the household expenses and can do so without financial strain. For instance, if you and your roommate make about the same amount of money and you end up paying $650 a month for your portion of the rent and essentials while your roommate pays only $350, you may end up feeling resentful.
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Shop together when looking for service providers, buying household essentials and paying for food. When it comes to groceries, each of you can clip coupons you come across and place them in a folder in a common area.
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Evaluate what non-essential things you each want and who will use them. For example, if you want cable TV but your roommates don't, it should be up to you to pay for it by yourself if they won't be using it. However, if it's something like Internet service and you all plan to use it, the cost should be split equally. Make sure you avoid pettiness. If you solely pay for the cable but your roommates watch a movie or TV show with you one night, don't expect them to pay for it.
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Write out the household budget and expenses, date the document and have everyone in the house sign it. This isn't meant to be a legal document, just a way to ensure that everyone is in agreement with how the expenses will be split. If someone has an issue with things later, you can refer back to your agreement as a promise for everyone to do their share.
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