4 people are renting a house for weekend. A married couple and two singles. How should the bill be divided?
June 18th, 2008Nuff Respect asked:
It’s a three bedroom house for $125/night. Should the couple be responsible for 1/2 the payment or should they only be required to pay a 1/3 since they are using the same amount of resources (bedroom)?
It’s a three bedroom house for $125/night. Should the couple be responsible for 1/2 the payment or should they only be required to pay a 1/3 since they are using the same amount of resources (bedroom)?
June 20th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
How about 40% for them and 30% for you. There are other resources besides the bedrooms such as the bathroom and kitchen.
June 21st, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Divide the Bill into 4 parts since there are 4 people
See the married couple separately - there are two people, they still are using the room at twice the rate/price.
June 22nd, 2008 at 4:54 pm
Whichever way they can all agree upon.
June 23rd, 2008 at 10:32 pm
I think the couple should be viewed as a unit, and therefore only have to pay 1/3.
You’re right - they’re only using one bedroom and bathroom.
If the couple wasn’t coming, the other two would get a house with one less bedroom and bathroom, but there would still be a kitchen, living room, etc.
June 25th, 2008 at 2:09 am
I would say: Divide $125 by 4 to get the cost per person. Charge the married couple 1.5 persons.
Married Couple: $47
Singles: $39 each
June 26th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Assuming there are no other costs, then the rent should be split in 3 equal shares. However, is stocking the fridge for the weekend is a concern than the married couple should be subject to a higher share. The real question here is should the 2 singles receive rebates relative to the noise created by the married couple?
June 27th, 2008 at 5:08 am
In this case, I would treat the couple as 1 unit (or person) and divide it 3 ways. They are using the exact same amount of stuff as a single person.
June 27th, 2008 at 9:24 am
Each person pays an equal share.
Think of it like this…if you were to say that you should pay per bedroom and not per person, and then the other two unmarried people then said “OK…then, we’ll share a bedroom and you and your wife can each have your own”…what would you do? You’re married, so you’d share a bedroom with your wife, anyway.
If you were being *forced* to share a bedroom, then I’d say pay by the bedroom. You are voluntarily sharing a bedroom, so divide the whole bill up equally by person.
You aren’t really using the same amount of resources. You’re each using water, electricity, and the common areas of the house.
June 28th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Well technically, if there is only one bathroom, they are using more resources. Why don’t you split it three ways and the couple can buy the house a bottle or two of wine? That will avoid the argument but have them add a little extra that’s nice and communal.
Just call me King Solomon.
June 28th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
I agree, just split the bill evenly between the four people.
June 29th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
AT a hotel, the rate is “per person”.
The bill should be divided into 4 even parts.
July 1st, 2008 at 4:31 am
If it was four poeple and 2 of the people were sharing a bed, would you split it 3 ways?
July 4th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
I say 1/3 split it by the rooms used by each. Tell the singles to get a date if they don’t like it or to share a room and then rent a house with 2 bdrm.
July 7th, 2008 at 2:07 am
Since we are talking about the rent bill alone, I would go with 1/3. As you said, 3 bedrooms are being used. If the singles wanted to only pay 1/4, you all could have looked for a 2-bedroom that was cheaper, and one of the two could have slept on an air mattress in the singles’ bedroom or slept out on the couch.
The reason I don’t agree with dividing the bill in 4’s like it was a hotel is because it is NOT a hotel. Hotels charge by the person. There are still going to be 2 beds in that standard room, whether there is 1 person or 4 people. In this case, the number of bedrooms, not the number of people, becomes the deciding factor when it comes to price.
Also, when you are talking about utilities, you don’t really pay for utilities. OK. Yeah, in a way, they are included in the rent. But seriously, if you want to get that petty… say the electric bill costs $200 per month for an average 3 bedroom house. Divide that by 30 days. Then divide that price per day by 4 people. What do you get? Oh my gosh… each person uses about $1.70 in electricity per day! *gasp* If the singles are going to be that petty, give each of them a few bucks and call it even.
July 10th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
4 people under 1 roof should evenly share the bill. It doesn’t matter where you sleep. The couple pays 1/2, and each of the singles pay 1/4.
Dividing by 3 is just wrong.
July 12th, 2008 at 4:05 am
They should pay 1/3.