How to split household costs fairly as a couple
Three fair ways to split
Say Alex earns 3,500 a month, Sam earns 2,000, and the shared costs (rent, bills, groceries) come to 2,800.
By income, each pays the same share of their income. Together you earn 5,500, and 2,800 is 50.9 % of that, so Alex pays 1,781.82 and Sam pays 1,018.18. Formula: costs × your income ÷ both incomes.
50/50, each pays half: 1,400 each. Formula: costs ÷ 2.
With equal pocket money, you both keep the same after paying in. Together you have 2,700 left, so each keeps 1,350: Alex pays 2,150 and Sam pays 650. Formula: your income − (both incomes − costs) ÷ 2.
Which one is fair for you?
By income asks the same effort of both of you: the higher earner pays more money, but the same share. It's the most common choice when incomes differ.
50/50 is simple and feels equal when you earn about the same. When incomes differ a lot, it leaves the lower earner with much less to live on.
Equal pocket money gives you both the same freedom after the bills. The higher earner can end up paying far more, so it suits couples who see most of their money as shared anyway.
There's no single right answer. Pick the one you can both explain in a sentence, and look at it again when something changes.
What counts as shared costs
Usually: rent or mortgage, energy and water, internet, groceries, home insurance, childcare, shared subscriptions, and saving for joint plans.
Usually personal: clothes, hobbies, presents for each other, your own phone, and debts from before you lived together. Agree on the grey areas once, so they don't come up every month.
Joint account or paying each other back
With a joint account, each of you transfers a set amount every month and the shared bills are paid from it. One transfer each, and nobody keeps score.
Without one, whoever pays gets paid back later, which takes more tracking. Doheem's To transfer card does the first for you: it works out who transfers what to the joint account, and you mark each transfer as sent.
When incomes change
A raise, parental leave, part-time work or a job loss changes what's fair. Recalculate when it happens, and otherwise every few months, so nobody slowly pays too much without noticing.
Keep what's yours your own
Sharing costs doesn't mean sharing everything. What's left after paying in is yours to spend without asking. In Doheem you can keep your salary private: the others see your share, never the number behind it.
Questions
Is splitting by income fairer than 50/50?
When incomes differ, most couples find it fairer: each of you gives the same share of what you earn. When you earn about the same, both methods give almost the same result.
Should we use net or gross income?
Net income: what actually reaches your account each month. Taxes and deductions differ between people, so gross income can give a misleading split.
What if one of us has no income right now?
Split by income, the person without income pays nothing and the other covers the shared costs. Many couples agree on that for a while, for example during parental leave or studies.
Do savings and investments count as shared costs?
Saving for joint plans, like a holiday or a home, can count as a shared cost. Personal savings usually come out of each person's own money.
How often should we recalculate?
Whenever an income or a big cost changes, and otherwise every few months.
Is anything I type sent or stored?
No. The calculator runs on your device and sends nothing. If you share a link with your numbers, they sit after the # in the link, which browsers never send to a server.
This calculator is a starting point for a conversation, not financial advice.
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