looking for some perspective. I’ve been sharing a home with a partner for a while and we split our shared expenses proportionally to our share of the household income, based on gross income (i.e. I make 60% and pay 60% (at least, often more) of what we’ve agreed are the shared expenses). we then do our best to evenly split household chores and tasks as we choose.

another option could be to structure contributions such that we have equal personal money after making our shared contributions.

I’d think it would be simple to determine what a “fair share is” but in practice it’s not, plus I’m facing criticism for my focus on “fairness” itself in this sort of exchange.

how do you do things? is it working for you?

  • stink [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
    3·
    11 days ago

    I make roughly double, rent is split 50/50, but I pay for utilities, the car, car insurance, groceries, dining out, vet visits, vacations, etc.

    Just got an average of those expenses charted up and I spend a little more than double on our shared expenses than she does.

    Chores are simple, with some room for headache but it’s a fine system the way it is:

    I clean the cat litter, she does the laundry

    Whoever cooks, the other washes the dishes (cooking nights get handed off, I usually cook twice a week and we both make enough for leftovers the next day)

    Vacuuming I usually do, we have cats, but live in a small place, vacuuming the area up every few days takes minutes of effort and you can do in between tasks.

    Things that happen biweekly, monthly, quarterly, etc. that aren’t on a set schedule are usually done by both of us in sync on a day we’re both not busy (usually a sunday).

    I’ll deep clean the bathroom while she does a deep clean of the kitchen / fridge. Dusting and all the other tasks that are done irregularly are usually done at this point as well.

    I think the system is fine how it is, we both contribute what is necessary, and we don’t hold anything over each other’s heads. If I want to cook two nights in a row to try out a recipe, I’m not holding it over her head. I broke my knee recently and she picked up cleaning the litterbox / cooking for a while, with no expectation of me “paying it back”.