Split Bills by Income Calculator
Enter what each person actually takes home and see the fair share of every bill. Everyone gives up the same percentage of their pay, so the house costs the same to live in whatever you earn.
Always free, no signup or time limit. The optional 14-day trial is for saving and tracking bills in the app.
Who's splitting?
Income is only needed for the "by income" split. It never leaves your browser.
The bills
Who pays what
14 days free, no card. Then £3/month solo or £5/month for shared household logins.
You
60% of the total
£744.00/mo
Partner
40% of the total
£496.00/mo
What's left after bills?
That's before food, fuel and everything else. The Life Buddy turns this into a live Safe to Spend figure for each of you, updated as bills go out.
Your split is sorted. Keep the whole household on track.
Save these bills as repeating outgoings, add income and monthly spending allowances, and see what's left until payday. Add due dates for bill reminders.
£5/month for your whole household. Separate logins, shared budgets and who pays what. Unlimited members, no per-person fees. Or £3/month solo.
14 days free, no card. Your figures carry through signup.
The share link reopens this exact split for whoever you send it to. Nothing is stored on our servers.
Why an even split is not the same as a fair one
A 50/50 split is equal in pounds and unequal in effect. Take a household with £1,200 of shared bills, one person on £1,500 a month and one on £3,000. Down the middle, they each pay £600. That is 40% of one income and 20% of the other. Same house, same heating, wildly different amount of life left over afterwards.
Proportional splitting fixes the squeeze rather than the figure. Each person pays the same percentage of their take-home pay, so the lower earner is not quietly subsidising the arrangement out of their own free time and spending money.
| Monthly take-home | Split 50/50 | % of pay | Split by income | % of pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £1,500 | £600 | 40% | £400 | 27% |
| £3,000 | £600 | 20% | £800 | 27% |
Both people land on the same 27% under the income split. That single number is the whole point of the method.
The maths, in three steps
- 1
Add up the household take-home pay
Alex takes home £2,400 and Sam takes home £1,600, so the household total is £4,000 a month. Use the figure that lands in the account, not the salary on the contract.
- 2
Work out each person's percentage
Alex is £2,400 ÷ £4,000 = 60%. Sam is £1,600 ÷ £4,000 = 40%. The percentages always add to 100%, however many people live there.
- 3
Apply the percentage to the shared bills
On £1,240 of shared bills, Alex pays £744 and Sam pays £496. Each of them is handing over 31% of their pay.
Alex
£2,400 take-home · 60% share
£744/mo
Sam
£1,600 take-home · 40% share
£496/mo
What goes in the shared pot
Split proportionally
- Rent or mortgage
- Council tax
- Energy, water and broadband
- TV licence and home insurance
- A shared grocery budget
Keep personal
- Mobile contracts
- Individual subscriptions
- Gym and hobbies
- Personal travel and commuting
- Individual debt repayments
Most arrangements come unstuck because personal spending crept into the shared pot. Keep the line clear and the split stays defensible.
Your split changes every time someone gets a pay rise
This calculator is a snapshot. The Life Buddy saves your people, incomes and bills, repeats the split every month, and shows everyone the same shared dashboard, so a pay rise is a two-second edit instead of a new spreadsheet.
Repeats monthly
Your percentages roll over automatically. No redoing the maths on payday.
One shared view
Everyone sees who owes what on their own login. £5/month for the whole house.
14 days free
No card needed. No bank connections, cancel any time, no lock-in.
After your trial: £3/month solo or £5/month for your whole household.
Frequently asked questions
How do you split bills based on income?
Add every person's monthly take-home pay together to get the household total. Each person's share is their own income divided by that total, and you apply that percentage to the shared bills. If the household earns £4,000 a month and you earn £2,400, you pay 60% of the bills and your partner pays 40%. Both of you are then giving up the same proportion of your pay, which is what makes it feel fair rather than just look fair.
Is splitting bills by income fairer than 50/50?
When incomes differ, yes. A 50/50 split looks equal but lands unequally. On £1,200 of shared bills, an even split takes 40% of a £1,500 income and only 20% of a £3,000 income. The lower earner is left with far less spending money for the same house, the same heating and the same broadband. Proportional splitting equalises the squeeze instead of the pound amount. Where two people earn roughly the same, 50/50 is simpler and lands in almost the same place anyway.
Should I use gross or take-home pay to split bills?
Use take-home pay, the amount that actually arrives in the account after tax, National Insurance, pension contributions and student loan. Gross salary distorts the split because two people on the same gross figure can take home noticeably different amounts once a salary sacrifice pension or a student loan plan is in play. Bills are paid out of net pay, so net pay is the right basis.
How do you split bills by income with three or more people?
Exactly the same way, it scales without changing. Total every housemate's monthly take-home pay, then each person's percentage is their income over that total. Apply each percentage to the shared bill total. The percentages always add up to 100%, however many people are in the house. Add each person to the calculator above and it works the shares out for you.
What counts as a shared bill?
Anything the household consumes jointly: rent or mortgage, council tax, energy, water, broadband, TV licence, buildings and contents insurance, and a communal grocery budget. Keep personal costs out of the proportional pot, so mobile contracts, individual subscriptions, gym memberships, personal travel and individual hobbies stay with whoever uses them. Mixing personal spending into a shared split is where most arrangements start to feel unfair.
What if one person has debt or childcare costs?
Some households deduct unavoidable personal commitments from each income before working out the percentages, so the split reflects money that is genuinely available rather than headline pay. Childcare for a child from a previous relationship, a court-ordered payment or a large debt repayment are the common cases. It is a judgement call rather than a rule, so agree the deductions openly, write them down, and revisit them when circumstances change.
How often should we redo the split?
Recalculate whenever an income changes, when someone moves in or out, and at least once a year when energy and council tax reset in the spring. Most arrangements drift because a pay rise or a rate change never gets reflected, and the percentages quietly stop matching reality. The Life Buddy keeps the split saved and repeats it monthly, so a change is a quick edit rather than a fresh spreadsheet.
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