Tuesday, February 21, 2012

The scenario: For several months me and my kid have been planning on going on vacation with my gf and her 2 kids. We were splitting it 50/50, no brainer right!? NOW, her husband is coming for the week so it is now, family of 4, (2 adults, 2 kids) v. family of two (1 adult, 1 sm kid).

Question: Should it still be split 50/50 or divide the rent by # of adults?

Thanks for your input|||It should not be a 50/50 divide and hopefully your friend will recognize this on her own. Wouldn't it be best to take the total cost and divide it by the number of people so you get a cost per person? Doing it that way is the easiest way to make it fair. So if the rent is $1800.00 for the week the cost per person is $300.00 that would make you responsible for $600.00 and your friend the balance of $1200.00. I hope it works out for you and you have a great vacation.|||How are the beds being split? If the sleeping arrangement hasn't changed with the exception of the husband sharing your friend's bed, then the 50/50 split is probably still fair. However, this should apply to the lodging arrangements only. Any additional expenses such as food, etc, should be split based on who actually incurred the expense.|||It's only fair that your girlfriend and her husband pay 2/3 of all expenses. Like you said, divide by the number of adults.|||What would be the logic in splitting the costs 50/50.|||All of you probably worked pretty hard all year for this vacation. You want to have a really good time; and, you want to remain good friends.

I suggest keeping the rental costs 50/50. If you want, and especially if you did the work to find the place, you get first choice on rooms for yourself and for your child. Often rental houses have a very nice master bedroom. It may be odd for you to run off with the huge MBR while your friend and her husband are squeezed into a smaller bedroom. So, if you wouldn't take the MBR anyway, bag the first choice idea. When I have shared vacation homes with friends over the years, we took turns in the MBR--this year was for us; next year was for them. The first year we did this, I insisted on paying for the house in its entirety and treated them as guests. This made it easy to determine who got first dibs on rooms and such.

But, you may want to agree on a different split for food and other expenses. Your party is 1/3 of the adults, 1/3 of the children, and 1/3 of the total number of people. That is convenient. I suggest splitting groceries, meals, entertainment, and other supplies 33%/67%. So, if you eat out at a restaurant or rent linens or other beach equipment for your stay, you assume 33% of the total. That way you avoid asking for separate checks...unless that turns out to be to your advantage.

I suggest agreeing to this up front with your friend. Obviously, if noone drinks beer except for the husband, he could pick up that expense on his own. You collect the receipts and settle up afterwards in an emailed spreadsheet when you are back.

Living together with friends is different than inviting them over for dinner. If your friend insists on picking up 67% of the rental, push back; but, I wouldn't fight over it. Give in and let them have the MBR.

Have a great time!

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