PortioOpen appGuides · By the Portio team ·
Split bills based on income: a couples calculator
There are three fair ways for a couple to split bills: half each, in proportion to what each earns, or everything in one pot. Half each is the simplest and works when your incomes are close. When one of you earns clearly more, splitting in proportion leaves each of you the same share of your own pay. Type both incomes and your shared bills to compare.
- You60%900
- Your partner40%600
In proportion, each of you puts 30% of your income into the shared bills. Half each would be 750: 25% of your income and 38% of your partner's.
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What does half each look like?
Each person pays 50% of the shared bills. It is easy to explain and needs no math.
The weakness shows when incomes differ. With shared bills of 1,500, half each is 750. On an income of 3,000 that is 25%. On an income of 2,000 it is 38%. The person who earns less is left with much less room for their own savings and spending.
How does splitting in proportion work?
Each person pays the same percentage of their income.
- Add the two incomes: 3,000 + 2,000 = 5,000.
- Divide the shared bills by that total: 1,500 / 5,000 = 30%.
- Each pays 30% of their own income.
| Income | Half each | In proportion | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First partner | 3,000 | 750 | 900 |
| Second partner | 2,000 | 750 | 600 |
| Left to the first | 2,250 | 2,100 | |
| Left to the second | 1,250 | 1,400 |
In proportion, the one who earns more pays 150 more, and both give up the same share of their pay.
What about putting everything in one pot?
Both incomes go into one account, all bills and goals are paid from it, and each person gets the same personal allowance to spend without explaining.
This suits couples who already think of the money as shared, most often married couples and families. It needs the most trust and the most talking, and it removes the question of who pays for what.
Which way is right for us?
| Your situation | A reasonable choice |
|---|---|
| Similar incomes, early in living together | half each |
| Clearly different incomes | in proportion |
| Married, children, or one income for the home | one pot with personal allowances |
| One partner not earning for a while | one pot, or the earner covers the bills |
None of them is the correct one. The right one is the one both of you find fair when you say it out loud.
What counts as a shared bill?
Agree on the list before the percentages:
- rent
- power, water and internet
- food for the home
- children's costs
- insurance for the home
- shared subscriptions
Usually kept separate: phones, clothes, gifts to each other, hobbies, and debts each of you brought into the relationship.
How do we handle the practical side?
A shared account for the bills is the easiest. On payday, each of you transfers your part into it, and every shared bill leaves from there. Nobody has to chase the other for half of the electricity.
Everything outside the shared account stays personal. Each of you can then run your own plan on what is left, as in the best way to split your salary.
What about shared goals?
Treat them like a bill. A holiday, a deposit or a wedding gets a monthly amount, and that amount is split the same way as the rest. How to turn a price and a date into a monthly amount is in what a sinking fund is.
What if one income changes?
Redo the numbers. A raise, a lost job or parental leave changes what is fair, and a split agreed two years ago may no longer be.
Check it once a year, and whenever either income moves by more than a little. It takes five minutes and prevents a quiet resentment that is much harder to fix.
How do we talk about it without a fight?
Start from numbers, not from who spends more. Put both incomes and the shared bills on one page, try each method, and look at what is left to each person. Most disagreements end when both can see the same table.