How an income split works
Add up everyone's income. Each person's share of that total is their share of the bills.
Say you take home $6,000 a month and your partner takes home $4,000. Together that's $10,000, so you earn 60% of it and they earn 40%. On $3,000 of rent and bills, you pay $1,800 and they pay $1,200.
| Person | Income | Share | Pays | 50/50 would be |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| You | $6,000 | 60% | $1,800 | $1,500 |
| Partner | $4,000 | 40% | $1,200 | $1,500 |
The higher earner pays $300 more than they would on a 50/50 split, and afterwards both of you have the same 70% of your income left.
Take-home or gross income?
Take-home pay is usually the fairer number: it's what is actually there to pay bills with, after tax, retirement and benefits come out. Gross works too if you both prefer it. What matters is using the same kind of figure, over the same period, for everyone.
What to split by income
- Rent or mortgage
- Utilities, internet and insurance
- Groceries and household supplies
- Childcare and shared costs for the kids
Personal spending stays personal. Some couples split the fixed costs by income and eating out or trips 50/50. Mixing the two is fine.
When 50/50 is simpler
If you earn about the same, an income split barely differs from an even one and isn't worth the upkeep. It matters most when one person earns a lot more, or when an income changes: a new job, parental leave, going part-time. Work it out again whenever that happens.
Doing this every month
Call It Square keeps a running tab for a household, a trip or any group. Each person enters their own income once, every bill is split by it, and everyone sees the same numbers and who owes whom. Other members see each person's share, not their income, though in any income split someone who knows their own income and share can work out the rest.
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Another calculator
Split trip costs by family size: for a shared rental or reunion where some families bring more people than others.