roommate/common expenses, non-business

Robert C. Ramsdell III rcriii at ramsdells.net
Fri Feb 25 07:47:00 EST 2005


Set up an account called Assets:Roomate Payable.  When you pay the cable
bill transfer half the money to the cable expense, and half to the
Roomate Payable account.  When he pays the electric bill, transfer half
of that amount from Roomate Payable to Expenses:Electric (and so forth).
Then the balance in Roomate Payable will reflect what he owes you or
vice-versa.

Robert 

On Thu, 2005-02-24 at 23:55 -0800, Eric Angell wrote:
> This is an accounting-heavy  Gnucash-related question, but based
> on the list traffic that seems appropriate in this forum.
> 
> Living in an apartment with a roommate, there are many shared
> expenses (rent, water, groceries, etc).  At least in my
> situation, for the larger expenses such as rent, one roommate
> often writes a check to the other, who takes care of the full
> bill.  For the rest, though, one person generally pays each bill,
> in such a way as to keep each person's cost about equal.  I keep
> a spreadsheet of who has paid what, so we can easily see where we
> stand and figure out who should pay e.g. the cable bill this
> time.
> 
> I also keep track of my personal finances in Gnucash, and have
> been for quite some time.  However, I don't like my current
> method of tracking such expenses.  Presently, when I pay the
> cable bill, I enter a transaction between Liabilities:Credit Card
> and Expenses:Cable, then later from Assets:Checking to
> Liabilities:Credit Card.  However, if I've just paid the cable
> bill, my roommate is probably going to pay the electric bill.
> This results in my reports showing me as having paid twice my
> share in the cable, and nothing at all for electricity, which I
> don't really like.
> 
> I think the problem is that the general household expenses should
> really be treated more like a business entity, but that seems
> overly complex.  It's not necessary for tax purposes, and I don't
> really want to open a joint bank account with my roommate for
> such expenses (as would make sense if it were actually a
> business).  If this was with a spouse, it would be easier since I
> would track all of our money in Gnucash, but since it's my
> roommate things are quite different.
> 
> Any suggestions?  How do others of you in similar situations
> handle it?
> 
> -E
> 
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-- 
Robert C. Ramsdell III
5528 Middaugh Avenue
Downers Grove, IL 60516
(630) 435-1776
rcriii at ramsdells.net



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