How to split utilities: four methods with the same bill

What is the fair way to split utilities?

The fairest split follows use, and an equal split is fine when use is similar. This guide runs one month through four methods so you can see how far they move. Say four roommates, Ana, Ben, Cy and Dee, get these bills: electric $180, water $64, internet $60 and gas $90, which is $394 in total. Ana and Cy were home all 30 days, Ben was away 12 days and Dee was away 8.

Method 1: split it equally

Each person pays $394 divided by 4, which is $98.50. Per bill that is $45.00 for electric, $16.00 for water, $15.00 for internet and $22.50 for gas. Equal is the simplest method, and it holds up when everyone lives there all month and nobody runs something that dominates the bill.

Test it before you commit. Run the days method below once on a real month. If nobody’s share moves by more than the group would bother to argue about, keep equal.

Method 2: split by head

When a partner lives there, count people, not rooms. Say Dee’s partner Eli moves in, so five people live in four rooms. The bill divided by 5 is $78.80 a person. Ana, Ben and Cy pay $78.80 each, and Dee pays $157.60 for two. An equal split by room would have charged Dee $98.50.

In EvenOut this is the “By shares” option with shares of 1, 1, 1 and 2. How to split utilities between roommates goes further on the roommate side of this.

Method 3: split by days home, or by usage

Days home is the usual stand-in for use. Back to the four roommates, without Eli: Ana 30, Ben 18, Cy 30 and Dee 22 days make 100 person-days, so each day costs $394 divided by 100, which is $3.94.

• Ana: 30 days, $118.20
• Ben: 18 days, $70.92
• Cy: 30 days, $118.20
• Dee: 22 days, $86.68

Together that is $394.00. Compared with equal, Ben pays $27.58 less, Dee $11.82 less, and Ana and Cy each pay $19.70 more. Ben’s gap is why equal is not fine for this house.

If you can measure use, replace days with a measured number. Electric utilities generally measure electricity in kilowatt-hours (kWh), so if you have a kWh reading for each person’s device or circuit, type those readings as the shares. How to split electric and gas bills covers carving out one heavy device.

Method 4: fixed plus variable

Internet costs the same whether anyone is home, so splitting it by days lets people who travel pay less than their part of it. Split the flat bill equally and the variable bills by days. Internet is $60 divided by 4, which is $15 each. Electric, water and gas total $334, and divided by 100 person-days that is $3.34 a day.

Roommate	Equal	Days home only	Fixed plus days
Ana	$98.50	$118.20	$115.20
Ben	$98.50	$70.92	$75.12
Cy	$98.50	$118.20	$115.20
Dee	$98.50	$86.68	$88.48
Total	$394.00	$394.00	$394.00

Ben now pays $75.12 instead of $70.92, because his $15 of internet does not shrink when he travels. Use fixed plus variable whenever a flat bill sits next to variable ones.

Which method should you pick?

Match the method to what is true in the house.

• Same people, same habits. Equal.
• A partner or extra person lives there. By head.
• Someone is away for weeks at a time. Days home.
• A flat bill sits next to variable ones. Fixed plus variable.

How do you agree on a method?

Settle five things once, before the first bill arrives.

1. Who is billed for each bill. Electric may be in one name and internet in another.
2. The method. Use the list above and write down why.
3. The unit. If it is days home, decide who counts them and when. If it is kWh, decide who reads the meter.
4. The settle-up day. One date a month, such as the 1st, so nobody chases anyone.
5. What happens when someone moves out. The split changes from the next bill, and the person leaving settles first.

Put the answers in the group’s description, which you can add in group settings, so the rule is written where everyone sees it. Rounding is shared out to the cent: $394 divided three ways comes to $131.34, $131.33 and $131.33, and the total still matches the bills.

How do you set it up in EvenOut?

Make a group of the type “Household” (“Rent and bills”), then add each bill as an expense. The built-in categories include Utilities, Internet and Phone, so electric, water and gas go under Utilities.

• Equal bills. Leave the split on “Split equally”.
• Days or kWh. Choose “By shares”, type each person’s days or kWh, and the dollar amount shows under each name. For the fixed plus variable method, add internet as one equal expense and the other three bills as shares. Combining electric, water and gas into one $334 expense gives the same result as three, because the shares are the same.
• Carve-outs. “Exact amounts” lets you enter each person’s amount, and the pill reads “All assigned” when they add up.
• Deposits. Add a utility deposit as a “Pending payment”, so it is not counted in balances until you confirm the final charge.
• Flat bills. Set Repeat to Monthly on internet. A repeat adds the same bill each period, so it suits flat bills and not variable ones.

When different people pay different bills, “Simplify debts” (on by default) saves payments. Say Ana pays electric and internet ($240) and Cy pays water and gas ($154). With an equal split, Ben and Dee each owe $98.50, Ana is owed $141.50 and Cy $55.50. Left as pair balances, Ben and Dee each owe both Ana and Cy, and Cy owes Ana, which is five balances. With Simplify debts on, three payments settle it, and nobody’s total changes.

Next step

Pick the method, tell everyone the numbers, and write the rule down. For rent and bills together, how to split rent and bills with roommates covers the monthly rhythm. For a quick answer on your own bills, the utility bill split calculator by usage does the arithmetic.