Roommate expenses?

[Robin Chattopadhyay]

Hi-

I realize this is a bit outside the scope of the question you asked, but
have you considered having a separate checking account for your shared
expenses?

When I had a roommate, I opened a checking account with my roommate as a
joint owner. We decided which expenses would be paid from this account and
then each made contributions to that account equitably. For example, our
expenses were $1,200/month, I contributed 60%, my roommate contributed the
remainder. We also contributed an additional amount for a cushion to reduce
the risk of overdrafts to start-up the account.

That system worked well for us. I think that might be simpler than doing a
true-up periodically the way you've described, accounting for it would be
simpler. I think you would have to remember, however, that you only own an
x% interest in the account.

On Sat, Aug 29, 2009 at 7:39 PM, Daniel Trezub <daniel3ub at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi, people!
>
> I was wondering what can be the best way to track roommate's expenses.
>
> I share my apartment with a roommate, and we share the bills. The problem
> is
> that we do not have a fixed way to pay the bills. Let's say that in one
> particular month I pay the rent, the gas and the energy bills, and he pays
> the phone, internet and the water bills. The other month I can pay the
> water, energy and phone, and he pays the rent, gas and internet. The values
> are then added together and divided by 2. If I pay more money in bills than
> him this month, he gives me money. If he pays more in bills than me this
> month, I give him money.
>
> So, what is the best way to keep track of this kind of thing? I was
> thinking
> about setting an Liability Account to do that, but I couldn't figure out a
> right way.
> Any ideas from the accounting guys out there? :)
>
> Cheers, and thanks!
>
> =====
> Daniel
> http://dantrez.deviantart.com
> http://www.bandofgamers.com.br
> http://www.continue.com.br
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