How Couples Split Bills Without Fighting

On this page:

• There’s more than one fair way to split bills ↓
• How to talk about money without turning it into a fight ↓
• What if one partner thinks the split is unfair? ↓
• How to split streaming subscriptions specifically ↓
• FAQ ↓

There are several ways you can approach the split to shared bills, and so long as you and your partner both feel comfortable with the setup, you should be good. Morgan Brown, a money coach focused on helping couples create spending plans, gave her two cents on the question. “The goal isn't necessarily to split every bill equally. It's to find an arrangement that feels equitable and works for both people.”

So, what options are there?

Brown gave one method that works for some couples: splitting it down the middle. “If both partners earn relatively similar incomes and enjoy the same services, splitting the cost down the middle is easy and straightforward.”

If one person makes a significantly higher income than the other, splitting according to income might be for you. Brown went on to say, “If one partner earns 70% of the household income and the other earns 30%, they might contribute those same percentages toward shared expenses, including streaming subscriptions.”

Another plan, and one of my favorites, is to pool money into a shared account that covers all shared expenses. This removes the idea of “my money” and “your money” and turns it into “our money.”

Relationship expert Gemma Nice opened up to me about her personal experiences, saying, “In my own marriage of 16 years, we’ve found that splitting every single [$8] to [$15] direct debit down the middle is exhausting,” she explains. Instead, Nice and her partner pick which specific services they pay for. “I cover Netflix and YouTube, and he covers Amazon Prime and Disney+.” This method helps ease the stress of exact numbers and focuses more on a trade.

When it comes to splitting streaming subscriptions, this can be uncharted territory. To find the best system that works for you and your partner, walk through these steps.

1. Take inventory of all your subscriptions. List every service, the monthly cost, and who actually uses it.
2. Separate shared subscriptions from individual ones. A shared service both partners use may be a shared expense; a service only one person uses is a personal expense.
3. Decide how to handle unequal usage. Should the person who watches more contribute more? Or does it not matter much to the other partner?
4. Check for overlap. Make sure you aren’t unnecessarily paying for two subscriptions when you might only need one.
5. Agree on a system, but revisit it every once in a while. When prices increase, viewership changes, or you find a kink in the system, you can always reevaluate.

If you’ve agreed on a system with your partner, but they’re starting to grow resentful, you have one path forward: reassess. Discuss whether the current situation is the best structure by taking into account pricing, other responsibilities like household management, childcare, and other roles that don’t show up on a bank statement.

When it comes to relationships, equal weight is kind of a myth. The best way to split streaming expenses is by implementing a method that both partners feel is fair. There is no universal role when it comes to finances in a relationship, so focus more on making sure both people feel respected and confident that they are on the same team.

Talking money can get heated, even if you don’t mean to turn it into a major fight. To avoid unnecessary blow-ups between you and your partner, follow the next steps. These will help you address the real problem without invalidating one person’s experience or brushing real feelings under the rug.