Splitting expenses between friends

[Like2Plan]

Hi Steve,
The same applies to a vacation rental.
If 6 people rent a vacation home and there are 2 couples and 2 singles the cost of the rental should be divided by 6. Even if the couples share a room each person is still using the entire rental home (kitchen, bathroom, pool, other amenities, etc).

It would not be fair to the single people to foot the cost for the couple. IMHO

Would you feel the same way if you were part of one of the 2 couples staying in 4 BR unit. Hypothetically, it has 2 master BRs each master BR has a jacuzi and luxurious bathroom appointments. 3rd BR with a king sized bed, but share a bath with the fourth BR which has a double bed. You end up in the double sized bed and sharing a bath. Let's say it was $600.00/night. The singles pay $100/night and the couples pay $200/night. Push this to the extreme, let's say both singles got the 2 master BRs and the 2 couples ended up with the rooms sharing a bath!

[Like2Plan]

With the house sharing/vacation expense sharing thing, usually it is someone's big idea and often they front the cost of the vacation rental/van rental on risk-- ie they make the agreement with the company and are liable for the thing. They organize it and put up their credit card for it and because of that they set the rules. If we didn't like it, we wouldn't partake. The difficult thing is to know exactly what you are getting into before you sign on.

[disneysteve]

With the house sharing/vacation expense sharing thing, usually it is someone's big idea and often they front the cost of the vacation rental/van rental on risk-- ie they make the agreement with the company and are liable for the thing.

Not a chance. If I was the one organizing a group stay, I'd collect money from everyone FIRST to avoid getting screwed. I'd be fine charging it to my CC so that I get the reward points, but I'd only do that after having the money in hand from my travel companions.

[disneysteve]

Would you feel the same way if you were part of one of the 2 couples staying in 4 BR unit. Hypothetically, it has 2 master BRs each master BR has a jacuzi and luxurious bathroom appointments. 3rd BR with a king sized bed, but share a bath with the fourth BR which has a double bed. You end up in the double sized bed and sharing a bath. Let's say it was $600.00/night. The singles pay $100/night and the couples pay $200/night. Push this to the extreme, let's say both singles got the 2 master BRs and the 2 couples ended up with the rooms sharing a bath!

Certainly, as I said earlier, there are situations where splitting equally isn't the fair way to do things. If each person involved isn't paying for equal accommodations, as in your example, that might be the case, and that would have to be discussed on a case by case basis. I just don't think the couple should automatically pay less than the single because they are a couple.

[cschin4]

I believe in splitting based upon the number of bedrooms not people. When we traveled with friends, if we had a 3 BR condo and we used one BR and one for the kids and they used one BR, they paid for One br and we paid the other two. To me, that is the only fair way to divide it up. I think dividing per person is Unfair if bedrooms are being shared. My opinion.

[StellarSaver]

Seems like there is a pretty wide variety of opinions on this, which I suppose is why this is such a difficult subject to work out, even between friends.

As for the particular situations, I do see logic in splitting up the costs of renting a vacation house/condo along bedroom lines. This is what would happen if you rented hotel rooms instead of a house. Of course, then there is a trickier question of how to split up the cost of the cleanup/maid service. In this case, I would argue that it should be split evenly between each person and not along bedroom lines, as each person contributes to the "mess" that has to be cleaned up before the next tenants arrive. (I have heard couples argue in favor of the bedroom split, though, even for this.)

For sharing a van or SUV on a trip, I feel it makes sense to split it evenly per person. This follows the same model as bus companies like Greyhound would use, where each person pays a fare to ride. Couples obviously pay twice as much as one person to take a bus trip or plane trip, so when splitting among friends it should be the same. Although I have had friends argue that couples are one "income unit" and should not pay double, I honestly don't think that makes sense when you consider the bus/plane model.

[Like2Plan]

Not a chance. If I was the one organizing a group stay, I'd collect money from everyone FIRST to avoid getting screwed. I'd be fine charging it to my CC so that I get the reward points, but I'd only do that after having the money in hand from my travel companions.

If the contract was in your name, you would still be at risk for damages, et'c. (if the rental car was involved in an accident or there were some damages to the rental.) That is why I believe that person gets to make the rules--of which pay in advance would be another rule

[MaryB26]

Would you feel the same way if you were part of one of the 2 couples staying in 4 BR unit. Hypothetically, it has 2 master BRs each master BR has a jacuzi and luxurious bathroom appointments. 3rd BR with a king sized bed, but share a bath with the fourth BR which has a double bed. You end up in the double sized bed and sharing a bath. Let's say it was $600.00/night. The singles pay $100/night and the couples pay $200/night. Push this to the extreme, let's say both singles got the 2 master BRs and the 2 couples ended up with the rooms sharing a bath!

Hi Like2Plan,
Yes, I would feel the same way if I were part of one of the 2 couples.
My way of thinking is based on previous life experiences (I am old).
Each person pays their own way or they don't vacation on my dime.

[disneysteve]

If the contract was in your name, you would still be at risk for damages, et'c. (if the rental car was involved in an accident or there were some damages to the rental.)

That's true. Legal liability would fall on the one signing the contract. I was thinking of financial liability. I'd make sure to avoid that by getting the money upfront.

With a rental car, I'm not quite sure how it works if there is more than one driver. I'd never rent a car and let someone else drive it (other than my wife) just as I'd never let anyone else drive my own personal car.

[Like2Plan]

Hi Like2Plan,
Yes, I would feel the same way if I were part of one of the 2 couples.
My way of thinking is based on previous life experiences (I am old).
Each person pays their own way or they don't vacation on my dime.

I am old, too. But, if I were one of the married couples stuck with sharing a bathroom with 3 other people in my example above, paying twice as much for a lessor accomodation I would feel that I was subsidizing the 2 single person's nicer accomodations. But in my example, if I was organzing it I might structure the cost share a little differently--such as the 2 master BRs with the private baths $200.00 per room and the 2 rooms that shared a bath $100.00 and then folks could sign up for and reserve their accomodations based on what they would be getting (and make a decision as to whether it was worth it or not).

Of course this is hypothetical because I just can't see myself renting a house with a group of people anymore (at my age).

[disneysteve]

But, if I were one of the married couples stuck with sharing a bathroom with 3 other people in my example above, paying twice as much for a lessor accomodation I would feel that I was subsidizing the 2 single person's nicer accomodations.

I agree. Of course, I don't think I'd put myself (and my wife) in that situation. If I was the one organizing, I'd put the couples in the larger rooms and the singles in the smaller rooms. I can't see doing it any other way.

Not a rental story but just this past August, we visited my cousin in Florida. He has 2 bedrooms - his master suite and a guest room. When we came, he slept in the guest room and the 3 of us slept in the master bedroom. It made no sense to cram us into the guest room. Had that been a rental situation, I'm sure we would have done exactly the same thing.

Of course this is hypothetical because I just can't see myself renting a house with a group of people anymore (at my age).

Actually, I can definitely see us doing this in the future. Once our daughter is grown and on her own, I can see us traveling with friends and sharing a house. We've rented some beautiful homes over the years on our own and sharing one with friends would be great.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

depends on the situation because even with family you split it differently.

[docstudent]

I only dine with real "friends", therefore, it is really simple for us. We follow a simple rule, I pay, then you pay. For example, I meet with a group of friends once a month for breakfast or dinner....I pay one month, then the process is looped. Some months, we might spent $30-$50 more or less, but it has never been an issue. We have been following that process for over a decade, and no one has ever complained.... As far as trips, if we're driving as a group, we each chip in $50 or whatever the agreed amount is, and use it for gas or other necessities on the road, whatever is left, we split and move on..Big trips, we split down the line by the number of people....we have a tight group of six, and we rarely allow access.....I could not imagine asking my friend for $3 to make everything equal....

[dawnwes]

Well, we dine with real friends too, but we all have kids. Some of our friends have 5 kids while others have 1 or 2. Some have teens who eat a full meal while others have toddlers who pick off the adult plates.

Just because I won't offer to pay for my friend and her husband and their four kids (12-19) who all eat adult meals, doesn't mean we aren't real friends.

However, now that our kids are a bit older, we really don't eat out as often. Far easier to meet at a person's house and eat. In that case, we DO pay for the entire thing if we host it and we don't worry about who has paid what or prepared what.

Dawn

I only dine with real "friends", therefore, it is really simple for us. We follow a simple rule, I pay, then you pay. For example, I meet with a group of friends once a month for breakfast or dinner....I pay one month, then the process is looped. Some months, we might spent $30-$50 more or less, but it has never been an issue. We have been following that process for over a decade, and no one has ever complained.... As far as trips, if we're driving as a group, we each chip in $50 or whatever the agreed amount is, and use it for gas or other necessities on the road, whatever is left, we split and move on..Big trips, we split down the line by the number of people....we have a tight group of six, and we rarely allow access.....I could not imagine asking my friend for $3 to make everything equal....