How to Split Your Bills with Roomies or Married Couples or Live in Couples

पैसा ख़ुदा तो नहीं है लेकिन ख़ुदा से कम भी नहीं हैं। You might have heard this proverb many times going with direct meaning as Money is not God but it’s not less than god. For everyone money is important even IF someone says I don’t care about money, they don’t mean it. Everyone needs money for one or the other reason.

Keeping track of everyone’s expenses is the need of the day. Where one’s money is getting spent, how it is getting spent and so on. Every common man is trying to save money somehow, whether it is on government taxes or while outing. Everything is planned where to spend money and where not to.

What is Bill Splitting?

Bill splitting is to divide the bill equally, depending on the criteria for which bills are paid.

Old Vs New Methods of Bill Split

Those were the days when roommates used to have notepads to manage their expenses, where every day they needed to keep their notepad with them. The day used to end with them trying to remember and updated daily expenses between roomies.

Vacations, were another place where this little accounting notebook were in high demand. And then by end of the trip, all of you have to sit together and get your bills split equally.

The only good thing about doing things this way was the memories you share will trying to recall where the bill came from like that fun dinner, or the day you needed 5 bottles of water after a hike!

Looking back at my old days, on one of my trips 10 of us friends were riding through the coastal area of Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra. This was a 10-day trip and it was the duty of my friend to maintain and update this little book every time anyone spent any money. This is what he would capture -

• How much money xyz person has spent
• For what he/she spent
• Which Location
• With whom the split is

But now technology is at everyone’s disposal, you can now update expenses instantly with an app. A lot of apps which helps to roommates/flatmates or people who are on vacation split and track their expenses.

Splitwise is the best way to manage your expenses, at the end you will get know to whom you have to pay or who is going to pay you. It is a really helpful app which is solving our daily expense management problems.

In cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru which are very expensive cities splitting bills in a shared house is necessary as the other expenses in such cities are very high may it be traveling or restaurant so that only one person should not get the burden of expenses while living together or as a bachelor or live in couples.

How to Split Bills as a Bachelor?

When you are living life as a bachelor, every penny is hard to account for. You might give money to your parents at home, or might have an education loan or other miscellaneous expenses. So, managing your money as a bachelor is really important.

If you are living together with your friends, classmates or colleagues you can share expenses equally using different apps like Splitwise and Venmo to manage your expenses.

If we go more in-depth, you can even split rent based on the types and sizes of rooms you utilize in the shared apartment. In an apartment generally, there is a master bedroom & guest bedrooms, the person in the master bedroom usually pays a higher rent as they get more space and an attached bathroom.

Avoid splitting by dividing the square footage each one uses in the house (which is also possible). But, I think instead of going in such depth, live a happy life with your room partner by ignoring such small things. Similar above pointers will be helpful when it comes how to split bill as live in couple or splitting bills with boyfriend or girlfriend.

Splitting Bills and Setting Financial Goals

Knowing where the future is going is always a good idea, at least in terms of the financial needs you'll have. A 50/50 split on costs will result in disproportionate savings if you and your partner are saving for anything significant. But it's crucial to have the necessary conversations beforehand. That might be a situation that both sides are okay with (and make compromises elsewhere with expenditure so it all evens out).

You might not need a system as practical as the percentage one if everyone believes they are making a fair contribution to the costs of maintaining the household on a daily basis. You may split the bills evenly, but one goes toward groceries and the other toward amusement. Depending on how you handle other outgoing expenses, the percentage bill split may seem a little pedantic at first, but it could end up saving you some arguments in the long run. Both communication and a reliable calculator are essential.

Dividing Money and Bills Based on How Much You Earn as a Married Couple

Calculating how much of the household income each individual contributes to is one method for doing this. Your household's total annual income can be calculated by adding your annual salaries together. Calculate each salary's percentage of the whole sum after that. For instance, if A earns Rs. 30,00,000 per year and B earns Rs. 20,00,000 per year, the combined annual income for the property would be Rs. 50,00,000 (pre-tax). Of such money, A contributes 60% while B contributes 40%. 

Even after accounting for the difference in salaries, B would have a little less disposable income and money left over for savings than A if the costs were evenly distributed. This is just one strategy to encourage balanced household spending.

You can compute your bill contributions in accordance with the percentage once you know it. Let's assume that the monthly gas and electricity expense for the house is conveniently well-rounded at Rs. 2000. 60% of the total amount would be paid by A, or Rs. 1200, and 40% by B, or Rs. 800. It is therefore in relation to their income. A can increase their spending a little bit without significantly depleting their savings, and B can make a contribution that leaves them with a chunk of money left over as well.

Bill Splitting Between Husband and Wife or Newly Married Couple or How to Split Bills when Married?

When you are thinking of splitting bills between husband and wife, this might not be a good idea. This relationship, unlike the others above is an emotional relationship.

It’s advised that one person in the relationship saves for the future and the other spends for the home’s current needs. The government offers women higher returns, and these are meant for their new home or child’s education.

But, when both earn and save equally, splitting the bill between husband and wife equally or dividing your daily need expenses is the best idea. It totally depends on the understanding between both of you.

We hope this gives you some clarity on the topic, if you have any questions feel free to drop us a comment.