How settling up works
Add every shared purchase and mark who paid it. The total gets divided evenly, so each person's fair share is total ÷ number of people. Anyone who paid more than their share is owed the difference; anyone who paid less owes it. The calculator then works out the fewest payments that zero everyone's balance.
Worked example
Say Alex, Sam, and Jo share a place. Over the month, Alex paid $90 for groceries, Sam paid $60 for internet, and Jo didn't front anything. Total spent is $150, so each person's fair share is $50.
- Alex paid $90, owes $50 → net +$40 (gets back)
- Sam paid $60, owes $50 → net +$10 (gets back)
- Jo paid $0, owes $50 → net −$50 (owes)
The settle-up plan: Jo pays Alex $40 and Jo pays Sam $10. Two transfers, everyone's square.
Why fewest-transfers matters
With four or more people, the naive approach — everyone pays everyone else back for each purchase — creates a web of small transfers that's annoying to send and easy to lose track of. Netting balances first collapses that web into at most n − 1 transfers (usually fewer), because each transfer settles at least one person completely. Fewer transfers means fewer fees on cross-border apps and less back-and-forth in the group chat.
What about rent?
Rent is a fixed recurring split — this page is for variable shared costs like groceries, furniture, or a one-off utility bill someone fronted. For rent, use the main rent split calculator. If bedrooms differ noticeably in size, use split rent by room size; if incomes are very different, use split rent by income. Moving in or out mid-month? The prorated rent calculator handles the partial month.
FAQ
Do expenses have to be split equally?
In this calculator, yes — every expense is split evenly among all roommates for v1. The practical fix is to agree as a house which purchases count as shared before adding them: shared groceries and household supplies go in; personal snacks, takeout for one, or a solo bar tab stay off the list.
How often should roommates settle up?
Monthly is the sweet spot — frequent enough that amounts stay small and easy to remember, infrequent enough not to be annoying. Pick a fixed day (payday or the 1st) so it becomes routine.
What's the best way to actually pay each other back?
Any P2P app (Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, Revolut, Wise) or a plain bank transfer works — the calculator's job is just to tell you the exact amounts and direction. Send one transfer per line in the plan.