🏠 How to split bills in a share house

Split share house bills by keeping one running ledger for the household instead of settling each bill as it arrives. Whoever’s name is on the electricity account pays it and adds a line; whoever does the Coles run adds that; once a month you look at the balances and make one or two transfers. Rent stays out of the ledger unless one person pays the whole thing to the landlord.

Updated 2026-08-23. Example figures are in Australian dollars and made up.

Example: Marrickville, four housemates, one month$1,052.80 in

LineAmount

Electricity, quarterlyAri paid, split everyone

$612.40

Internet, AugustBec paid, split everyone

$89.00

Toilet paper and cleaning stuffCasey paid, split everyone

$48.70

Shared groceries, week 1Dan paid, split everyone

$126.50

Shared groceries, week 2Ari paid, split everyone

$141.20

Gas bottle for the barbecueBec paid, split the three who use it

$35.00

Settle up in 3 paymentsAmount

Casey pays Ari

$205.74

Bec pays Ari

$142.13

Dan pays Ari

$139.60

Person	Position
Ari	is owed $487.47
Bec	owes $142.13
Casey	owes $205.74
Dan	owes $139.60

4 people, 6 lines, 3 transfers to square up. Names and amounts are made up for the example.

What goes wrong

Bills land on four different dates

That is exactly why a running ledger beats settling per bill. Add each one when it arrives, settle once a month.

One housemate is away for a month

They still pay internet and electricity standing charges; skip them on groceries. Per-line splits make that a tick box, not an argument.

Rent confuses the ledger

If everyone pays rent to the landlord directly, leave it out. If one person pays the lot, put it on a line split by room if rooms are priced differently.

Run it in Zeroed

Start a ledger, name it, add the people. Ten seconds, no accounts.
Send the link to the group chat. Everyone taps their name.
Add lines as they happen. Untick anyone a line is not for.
At the end, the settle-up plan shows the fewest transfers. Tap one to send the reminder.

Start a ledger Just split one bill

Questions

Should share house bills be split equally or by room size?

Utilities equally, because everyone uses the lights. Rent by room only if the rooms are obviously unequal and the house agreed the split when people moved in.

How often should housemates settle up?

Monthly. Often enough that nobody carries a big balance, rare enough that it is one transfer rather than ten.

What happens when someone moves out mid-quarter?

Add the bill when it arrives and split it by shares for the days each person lived there. Then settle them out of the ledger before they leave.