Cabin rental calculator — who's owed what, three ways

Splitting a rental between families, three ways

A rental is booked for the whole group, but the families sharing it are not all the same size.

• Per family. Every family pays the same share of the total, whatever its size.
• Per person. The total is split by the number of people in each family. Children count as people, the same as adults.
• Per bedroom. The total is split by the bedrooms each family uses.
• An empty bedroom. A bedroom nobody uses is not a share of its own. The house was rented as a whole, so its cost is shared by the bedrooms that are used.
• An example. Take a $4500.00 house with five bedrooms. The Hales are 4 people in 2 bedrooms, the Ortas 3 people in 1 and the Vances 2 people in 1. Split per family, each pays $1500.00. Split per person, the Hales pay $2000.00, the Ortas $1500.00 and the Vances $1000.00. Split per bedroom, the Hales pay $2250.00 and the others $1125.00 each.

Picking the way your group agreed on

The page shows all three ways side by side, and nothing is chosen for you.

• Say who paid. Under the rental total, tap the family that paid the booking. Every other family pays that family its share.
• Pick a way. Tap “Per family”, “Per person” or “Per bedroom” above the figures. The one you tap is filled in, and you can switch to another any time.
• Every way adds up. Each way comes to the rental total exactly, so you can compare them without doing any math.

Settling up, person to person

Once you have chosen who paid and which way, the Who's owed what section shows who pays whom.

• One line per family that owes. Every family that owes something gets a line with the amount it pays.
• Copy it to the group. Tap “Copy” and paste the result into your group chat. Each line says who pays whom and how much, to the cent.
• It stays on your phone. Everything you type stays on this device and is never sent anywhere. Come back later and pick up where you left off, or tap “Delete everything” for a clean slate.

Which way should we pick?

That is up to your group, and the page does not favor one over another. Per family treats every household alike, per person follows the head count and per bedroom follows the sleeping space. Pick one and say it out loud so nobody is surprised by the bill, then tap it.

What counts as a bedroom used?

Any bedroom where someone from that family sleeps. Type that number in the Bedrooms used box for the family. A family with no bedroom of its own, on a pull-out sofa for example, uses 0 bedrooms, and its “Per bedroom” share is $0.00.

What if a bedroom is empty?

An empty bedroom is not a share of its own. The house was rented as a whole, so its cost is shared by the bedrooms that are used. In a $4500.00 house with five bedrooms and four in use, each bedroom that is used comes to $1125.00.

How are children counted?

As people. Under “Per person”, a child counts the same as an adult, so a family of four is four people whatever their ages.

What happens to a leftover cent?

Each way is worked out in whole cents, so it always adds up to the rental total exactly. When the total will not divide evenly, the leftover cents are handed out one at a time, starting with the family whose share had the most left over, with ties going by the order of your family list. For example, $1000.00 split per family between the Hales, the Ortas and the Vances comes to $333.33 each with one cent left over. The cent goes to the Hales because they come first in your list, so the Hales pay $333.34 and the Ortas and the Vances pay $333.33 each.

Is this calculator free?

Yes. It costs nothing to use, you do not need an account, and there is nothing to sign up for.

Where are the names and amounts kept?

On the device you are using, in this browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere, and your work is still here the next time you open the page. To clear it, tap “Delete everything” under the calculator.