Author Topic: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs  (Read 9911 times)

Suze456

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Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« on: February 28, 2017, 02:46:41 PM »
We'll be sharing a 4 bed holiday house as follows:
Bedroom 1: Family A (2 parents)
Bedroom 2: Family A (2 kids)
Bedroom 3: Family B (2 parents + baby)
Bedroom 4: Family C (1 adult)

Fairest way to split the cost ( say it's 1000)?? All bedrooms are similar size (2 doubles, 2 twin)

mxt0133

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #1 on: February 28, 2017, 02:49:10 PM »
I would ask what is everyone thinks is fair because it will all be different and start from there.

Murse

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #2 on: February 28, 2017, 02:55:26 PM »
Personally I would split it evenly 3 ways. I would split it 3 ways regardless of if it were family or friends. If they aren't family or friends my answer would differ.

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #3 on: February 28, 2017, 03:00:59 PM »
Do all the rooms have their own bathroom? Or is everyone sharing a bathroom in the same situation.

I'd say split 4 ways, by room- unless someone has a more favorable bathroom situation.

PJ

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #4 on: February 28, 2017, 03:08:20 PM »
As a person who would normally be in the single position, I would prefer a more nuanced calculation.  It's not just bedrooms that are included in the price.  It includes, as iowajes pointed out, sharing of bathrooms, and of other communal living space.  And also includes utility costs.  Does it also include the cost of groceries, or will each family be bringing their own food?

I don't mean to sound cheap, but the idea I would go in with is some combination of splitting cost between adults, a lesser charge for children, and baby sleeps free.

Midwest

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #5 on: February 28, 2017, 03:10:12 PM »
If I were family A, I'd pay 1/2.

mindy

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #6 on: February 28, 2017, 03:11:43 PM »
I agree with mxt0133 that you should ask everyone that's going what they think is the fairest way to split it up. Personally, I don't think it should be split 3 ways. That would probably be the easiest way, but then the 1 adult in family C would be paying for 33.3% of the house that 8 people are using. Just doesn't seem right to me that they would basically be subsidizing everyone else's vacation. I think it should be split up by room, but I know not everyone would agree with that, and you should definitely go with what the group feels is the fairest option.
« Last Edit: February 28, 2017, 03:16:40 PM by mindy »

SKL-HOU

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #7 on: February 28, 2017, 03:13:55 PM »
500,350,150

Suze456

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #8 on: February 28, 2017, 03:16:15 PM »
2 bathrooms for everyone to share.

Food to be bought separately.

Yes, friends and family. But 1 family has 4 people and 1 has 1 person so didn't think 3 ways was fair.

Dividing by room - the single person pays more as PJ says.

If you count the kids as half (2 kids = 1 adult), Family A pays 3/6(half), Family B 2/6, Family C 1/6.

Thanks all..that seems fairer than by bedroom

« Last Edit: February 28, 2017, 03:19:01 PM by Suze456 »

AMandM

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #9 on: February 28, 2017, 03:19:59 PM »
We've had similar trips with our extended family and we split by bedrooms.  The single person pays more per capita, but also gets a room to herself.

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #10 on: February 28, 2017, 03:30:03 PM »
2 bathrooms for everyone to share.

Food to be bought separately.

Yes, friends and family. But 1 family has 4 people and 1 has 1 person so didn't think 3 ways was fair.

Dividing by room - the single person pays more as PJ says.

If you count the kids as half (2 kids = 1 adult), Family A pays 3/6(half), Family B 2/6, Family C 1/6.

Thanks all..that seems fairer than by bedroom

You are counting kids as half, but they get their own bedroom.  They don't take up half as much space.  Kids are generally more intrusive in arrangements like this.

In the end, you just have to find an arrangement everyone agrees with- that is what will be "fair".  If you are happy with kids = 1/2 (and infant is free in this calculation... Seems reasonable) then it is "fair".

mindy

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #11 on: February 28, 2017, 03:42:31 PM »
2 bathrooms for everyone to share.

Food to be bought separately.

Yes, friends and family. But 1 family has 4 people and 1 has 1 person so didn't think 3 ways was fair.

Dividing by room - the single person pays more as PJ says.

If you count the kids as half (2 kids = 1 adult), Family A pays 3/6(half), Family B 2/6, Family C 1/6.

Thanks all..that seems fairer than by bedroom

You are counting kids as half, but they get their own bedroom.  They don't take up half as much space.  Kids are generally more intrusive in arrangements like this.

In the end, you just have to find an arrangement everyone agrees with- that is what will be "fair".  If you are happy with kids = 1/2 (and infant is free in this calculation... Seems reasonable) then it is "fair".

I would also add that you should tread carefully when making arrangements like this. People tend to get a little defensive when it comes to money and might think that suggesting things like this makes you cheap, when in my opinion it really just makes you fair. To each their own, though.

elaine amj

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #12 on: February 28, 2017, 06:50:51 PM »
Or split by person (counting the kids as full) Family A = 4/8, Family B = 3/8, and Family C = 1/8. That does skew it in favour of Family C though. That said, I agree that 1 person shouldn't have to pay 1/3 of the cost.


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LeRainDrop

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #13 on: February 28, 2017, 07:30:40 PM »
We've had similar trips with our extended family and we split by bedrooms.  The single person pays more per capita, but also gets a room to herself.

As a Family C person myself, this is what I would assume, too.  But as long as all the adults think the arrangement is reasonable, that's fair.

PJ

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #14 on: February 28, 2017, 09:24:03 PM »
Suze456, just popping back in to say that I think how people will react to this discussion depends not only on the overall state of relationship between you all, but also on whether it's presented as a question (what do you all think is fair?) possibly with options (I was thinking we could either divide things this way or that way, though I'm open to your suggestions too) and whether you are from Family A, B or C! 

If you as someone from Family A or B was to bring these suggestions forward, I would personally just be thrilled that it wasn't going to be taken for granted that I would be subsidizing the costs of those with larger families.  But if you are Family C, as other posters have suggested/warned, then you do run the risk of being considered cheap by bringing it up, and it may require a little more finesse to open the discussion. 

Also ... a huge factor is the financial situation for each family.  If one family is well-off and prone to splurges, and another family constantly living on the edge (whether for poor decisions or unfortunate circumstances or a decision made to sacrifice income for other lifestyle factors) then it's something to bring into consideration about how you approach the issue.

researcher1

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #15 on: February 28, 2017, 09:54:14 PM »
We'll be sharing a 4 bed holiday house as follows:
Bedroom 1: Family A (2 parents)
Bedroom 2: Family A (2 kids)
Bedroom 3: Family B (2 parents + baby)
Bedroom 4: Family C (1 adult)

Fairest way to split the cost ( say it's 1000)?? All bedrooms are similar size (2 doubles, 2 twin)

This is very easy.  Surprised there isn't more consensus on this...

Family A = 50%
Family B = 25%
Family C = 25%

obstinate

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #16 on: February 28, 2017, 11:26:31 PM »
Assuming everyone is of similar means, family A should pay half, and the others should pay 1/4. The reason for the 4br house is that family A needed more space. If they were willing to put up with having all their kids in the same room, y'all could have gotten a 3br and shared evenly. That's my preference, anyway.

limeandpepper

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #17 on: March 01, 2017, 12:04:59 AM »
Most straightforward way is to split it by the room. So family A - 50%, Family B - 25%, Family C - 25%.

However if you want to also take into account that family A and B also take up more of the shared spaces, I would suggest something like family A - 50%, Family B - 30%, Family C - 20%.

Suze456

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #18 on: March 01, 2017, 04:16:14 AM »
Thanks all! I am Family A and happy to pay half or slightly more as we are slightly more than half the group. It's the rest I was struggling with!

Doubleh

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #19 on: March 01, 2017, 05:36:18 AM »
We regularly rent large houses for new year each year with friends. At first there were only adults and we split the cost on per head. Then there were babies and we split the cost per adult head.

Now we have bigger children who take up separate rooms, we split based on adults + children at 1/2 an adult; babies sharing parents room go free. This would give A - 3/6; B -2/6; C - 1/6. We have found this scheme  works well, but have also as another poster suggested framed it as "we're open to split the cost in a way agreeable to everyone, this is our suggestion but feel free to suggest an alternative if you disagree". 9 times of of 10 people will just be happy that someone organised it and won't feel strongly enough to want to change.

It seems like any reasonable division gives you covering 1/2 the cost which you are happy to do, so the only question is likely how B & C split the other half. This puts you at an advantage as you are relatively impartial in this question.

Villanelle

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #20 on: March 01, 2017, 06:03:02 AM »
I think I'd split by bedroom, so 500, 250, 250, though I can see a case for person 3 paying less since the bathrooms are shared.  So maybe 550, 250, 200, or 500, 300, 200, or something along those lines, makes sense, too. Personally, I think wanting to pay even less than 1/4 because I have to share a bathroom seems a little petty. If I wasn't wanting to be part of a big happy group, I wouldn't go on vacation with two families with kids.

As a single person, I would be perfectly happy with splitting it by bedroom.    (As a side note, overall, I'm not sure renting a 2 bath place for 8 people is ideal, especially depending on the age of the kids.)  I do think that maybe talking about the bathroom schedule ahead of time might help.  (Some people are probably going to need to shower at night, for example.  Who is willing to do that?)

I also agree that just having the conversation and showing you are open to opinions will probably make everyone happy.  Since you are willing to pay for half, I'd start out by saying something like, "Hey guys, we should probably talk about how we are going to pay for the cabin.  My initial thought was that we split the cost by room, but I'm definitely open to other splits, especially given the bathroom sharing.[I'd add that part to make it a little easier for the single person to suggest a different split if they want to.]  Anyone have any thoughts?"

elaine amj

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #21 on: March 01, 2017, 07:22:05 AM »
I think I'd split by bedroom, so 500, 250, 250, though I can see a case for person 3 paying less since the bathrooms are shared.  So maybe 550, 250, 200, or 500, 300, 200, or something along those lines, makes sense, too. Personally, I think wanting to pay even less than 1/4 because I have to share a bathroom seems a little petty. If I wasn't wanting to be part of a big happy group, I wouldn't go on vacation with two families with kids.

As a single person, I would be perfectly happy with splitting it by bedroom.    (As a side note, overall, I'm not sure renting a 2 bath place for 8 people is ideal, especially depending on the age of the kids.)  I do think that maybe talking about the bathroom schedule ahead of time might help.  (Some people are probably going to need to shower at night, for example.  Who is willing to do that?)

I also agree that just having the conversation and showing you are open to opinions will probably make everyone happy.  Since you are willing to pay for half, I'd start out by saying something like, "Hey guys, we should probably talk about how we are going to pay for the cabin.  My initial thought was that we split the cost by room, but I'm definitely open to other splits, especially given the bathroom sharing.[I'd add that part to make it a little easier for the single person to suggest a different split if they want to.]  Anyone have any thoughts?"

The trouble is that it would be awkward for the single to propose a more advantageous split for themselves. Family B is 2 adults and a baby - and given the shared facilities, it wouldn't be a bad thing for Family B to pay a bit more.

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #22 on: March 01, 2017, 07:37:21 AM »

The trouble is that it would be awkward for the single to propose a more advantageous split for themselves. Family B is 2 adults and a baby - and given the shared facilities, it wouldn't be a bad thing for Family B to pay a bit more.

There is almost never a perfect solution for this...
It makes sense that Family a would pay 1/2- they get 2 bedrooms and 1 of the bathrooms.
Splitting between B and C is the harder part: both get 1 bedroom, but they are sharing a bathroom, with family B needing more of the resource. Which is why splitting by bedrooms is often the best you can do.  A single likely wouldn't have agreed to travel with this group if they insisted on everything being exactly equal (fair =! equal most of the time)


We split a vacation rental regularly- it's Family A: 2 adults, Family B: 2 adults, Family C: 2 adults, 3 kids.  Family A is older, so they always get a nicer bedroom; Family C always gets 2 bedrooms, and often an attached bath.  I'm family B- we are always in the leftover bedroom with twin beds or something like that. We just split evenly by bedroom because, well, it is what it is.  I just get annoyed when they want to split grocery spending evenly and don't account for the heavy drinking habits of the other two families when I don't drink alcohol at all, and my husband drinks very lightly. That's where I throw my fit every year.  I often lose.

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #23 on: March 01, 2017, 09:32:48 AM »
I think I'd split by bedroom, so 500, 250, 250, though I can see a case for person 3 paying less since the bathrooms are shared.  So maybe 550, 250, 200, or 500, 300, 200, or something along those lines, makes sense, too.

I'd suggest by bedroom with a small adjustment to acknowledge the family of 3 will use more resources than the family of 1.  So if the cost is $1000, I'd propose $500/$300/$200.  (1/2, 1/4, 1/4, then $50 adjustment.). It ends up 1/2, 3/10, 1/5.

mm1970

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #24 on: March 01, 2017, 12:53:19 PM »
We'll be sharing a 4 bed holiday house as follows:
Bedroom 1: Family A (2 parents)
Bedroom 2: Family A (2 kids)
Bedroom 3: Family B (2 parents + baby)
Bedroom 4: Family C (1 adult)

Fairest way to split the cost ( say it's 1000)?? All bedrooms are similar size (2 doubles, 2 twin)

This is very easy.  Surprised there isn't more consensus on this...

Family A = 50%
Family B = 25%
Family C = 25%

This is how I would do it for a vacation.  No question.  The only thing that would possibly change it is if there were extra charges for extra people.

Long long ago I rented a 2BR apartment with a roommate.  She had the master.  She paid slightly more because of the bigger bedroom.

When her boyfriend moved in over the summer, she figured that he and she could split her rent.  Instead, I suggested that we consider the "shared space".  So ...
- shared space (living/kitchen) = square footage / 3
- non-shared space (bedrooms) = they split their bedroom, I paid for mine.

This is a little too complicated for a vacation, so I'd just go with bedrooms.

prognastat

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #25 on: March 01, 2017, 02:14:01 PM »
We'll be sharing a 4 bed holiday house as follows:
Bedroom 1: Family A (2 parents)
Bedroom 2: Family A (2 kids)
Bedroom 3: Family B (2 parents + baby)
Bedroom 4: Family C (1 adult)

Fairest way to split the cost ( say it's 1000)?? All bedrooms are similar size (2 doubles, 2 twin)

I would say for me it depends on if Family B is has a double or single income Family.

If B is a single income family:
A should pay 50% in my opinion for using 2 rooms.
B should pay 25% since they use 1 room and have 1 income
C should pay 25% since they use 1 room and have 1 income

If B is a double income family:
A should pay 50% in my opinion for using 2 rooms.
B should pay 30% since they use 1 room and have 1 income
C should pay 20% since they use 1 room and have 1 income

NextTime

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #26 on: March 01, 2017, 02:22:28 PM »
Per bedroom sounds the most fair to me.

charis

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #27 on: March 01, 2017, 02:29:34 PM »
We'll be sharing a 4 bed holiday house as follows:
Bedroom 1: Family A (2 parents)
Bedroom 2: Family A (2 kids)
Bedroom 3: Family B (2 parents + baby)
Bedroom 4: Family C (1 adult)

Fairest way to split the cost ( say it's 1000)?? All bedrooms are similar size (2 doubles, 2 twin)

I would say for me it depends on if Family B is has a double or single income Family.

If B is a single income family:
A should pay 50% in my opinion for using 2 rooms.
B should pay 25% since they use 1 room and have 1 income
C should pay 25% since they use 1 room and have 1 income

If B is a double income family:
A should pay 50% in my opinion for using 2 rooms.
B should pay 30% since they use 1 room and have 1 income
C should pay 20% since they use 1 room and have 1 income

I'm not sure how you can bring income into this equation.  What if family B has one income but makes twice as much as the other families?  What if family A has only one income?  What if C was recently laid off? 

prognastat

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #28 on: March 01, 2017, 02:44:17 PM »
We'll be sharing a 4 bed holiday house as follows:
Bedroom 1: Family A (2 parents)
Bedroom 2: Family A (2 kids)
Bedroom 3: Family B (2 parents + baby)
Bedroom 4: Family C (1 adult)

Fairest way to split the cost ( say it's 1000)?? All bedrooms are similar size (2 doubles, 2 twin)

I would say for me it depends on if Family B is has a double or single income Family.

If B is a single income family:
A should pay 50% in my opinion for using 2 rooms.
B should pay 25% since they use 1 room and have 1 income
C should pay 25% since they use 1 room and have 1 income

If B is a double income family:
A should pay 50% in my opinion for using 2 rooms.
B should pay 30% since they use 1 room and have 1 income
C should pay 20% since they use 1 room and have 1 income

I'm not sure how you can bring income into this equation.  What if family B has one income but makes twice as much as the other families?  What if family A has only one income?  What if C was recently laid off?

Well for A they are using over half of the resources so paying 50% is not unreasonable in my mind. If C was recently laid off then my laid out opinion says in C there is 1 income for either situation. If C has no income they probably shouldn't be going on a holiday unless they have plenty saved and can afford it to start, that shouldn't burden the others. Finally the reason would be because if I wouldn't be taking income in to the equation I would be considering that C would be using less resources than B due to fewer people being involved and would default to the latter option no matter what. However if I felt that B wasn't using much more in resources than I was and they were tighter due to only having one income I would be ok sacrificing a little on my part.

Of course there isn't a one size fits all, this is assuming all individuals were making a similar-ish amount. I would say if C was making 30k a year and B had 1 income, but it was 150k a year then I probably would expect them to contribute based on that. There are so many factors you could attach if you wanted. My response was based on if every adult was making a similar amount in which case if I were C I would be willing to pay the same as B to help out since they aren't likely to use much more in resources and might be able to use the money more than I would.

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #29 on: March 01, 2017, 02:45:13 PM »
I don't see how income could possibly have anything to do with it either, unless one family is being altruistic and wants to subsidize a family who makes less (but single vs. double income doesn't have anything to do with total income)- or if a higher income family is making decisions that the lower income family can't afford. (i.e., I know you want the budget accommodation, but we really want the indoor heated pool with water slide, so we'll make up the difference.)

I'm also confused in the example why only the income of family B matters? What if C is working 2 jobs (1 person, 2 incomes); what if family A has only one income?  I don't understand the example at all.

prognastat

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #30 on: March 01, 2017, 02:54:58 PM »
I don't see how income could possibly have anything to do with it either, unless one family is being altruistic and wants to subsidize a family who makes less (but single vs. double income doesn't have anything to do with total income)- or if a higher income family is making decisions that the lower income family can't afford. (i.e., I know you want the budget accommodation, but we really want the indoor heated pool with water slide, so we'll make up the difference.)

I'm also confused in the example why only the income of family B matters? What if C is working 2 jobs (1 person, 2 incomes); what if family A has only one income?  I don't understand the example at all.

The only reason would be for C to be altruistic and subsidize B a little. In my opinion A uses as much resource as B and C do so they should pay half and making up that difference would be much more and would require some serious circumstances. If they feel they need 2 rooms for their family and they can't afford it then unless B and C were pressuring A to come they should pay 50%, however B and C are much closer in consumption since both are using only 1 room and B only has 3 members one of which would likely be consuming minimally compared to adults and kids. Due to this there is not as large a gap between B and C and so being a little altruistic and paying a little more despite the lowest consumption would not be a great impact on C.

Again lots of factors can be brought in to the discussion that change this. Like if A and B are much higher income households and the price is above Cs financial comfort, but A and B insist it has to be this place then I would expect A and B to contribute more than their share based on consumption because they are insisting that C go somewhere they can't or don't want to afford. Same can go if the roles are reversed for any of the families. Or what if the rooms are very different in sizes/ammenities and some of the families have "needs" for mor than the others then that might also affect what i would consider fair.

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #31 on: March 01, 2017, 02:58:12 PM »
I would not count the baby.  Therefore you have 7 people.  Divide the 1000 by 7 and apply the costs per person.  Same as a hotel would do it (they don't charge you less for a child for occupancy) so it's easy to explain your logic.  It's a holiday, not an academic camp, so I'd keep away from convoluted formulas.  The goal is to enjoy yourself, not play bookkeeper.

JoJo

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #32 on: March 01, 2017, 04:19:43 PM »
Another vote per bedroom. 

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #33 on: March 01, 2017, 04:49:24 PM »
I would not count the baby.  Therefore you have 7 people.  Divide the 1000 by 7 and apply the costs per person.  Same as a hotel would do it (they don't charge you less for a child for occupancy) so it's easy to explain your logic.  It's a holiday, not an academic camp, so I'd keep away from convoluted formulas.  The goal is to enjoy yourself, not play bookkeeper.

Most hotels I've stayed at charge by the room- same rate if it is 1, 2, or 4.

JoJo

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #34 on: March 01, 2017, 06:45:15 PM »
I would not count the baby.  Therefore you have 7 people.  Divide the 1000 by 7 and apply the costs per person.  Same as a hotel would do it (they don't charge you less for a child for occupancy) so it's easy to explain your logic.  It's a holiday, not an academic camp, so I'd keep away from convoluted formulas.  The goal is to enjoy yourself, not play bookkeeper.

Most hotels I've stayed at charge by the room- same rate if it is 1, 2, or 4.

They might charge for extra people after 2 but it's usually only $5 or $10.

elaine amj

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #35 on: March 02, 2017, 07:45:48 AM »
I would not count the baby.  Therefore you have 7 people.  Divide the 1000 by 7 and apply the costs per person.  Same as a hotel would do it (they don't charge you less for a child for occupancy) so it's easy to explain your logic.  It's a holiday, not an academic camp, so I'd keep away from convoluted formulas.  The goal is to enjoy yourself, not play bookkeeper.

Most hotels I've stayed at charge by the room- same rate if it is 1, 2, or 4.

True - but there's shared living space to consider. I actually really like the divide by 7 formula - I'll have to consider using that in the future.

Family A = 4/7 = 57%
Family B = 3/7 = 43%
Family C = 1/7 = 14%

For this scenario, it might be a bit too picky though so I would likely suggest a 50/30/20 split.

Dezrah

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #36 on: March 02, 2017, 05:31:50 PM »
Dang, late to the party on this one.  Well maybe this is still useful to some people.

It wasn’t that long ago that I had the responsibility of doing this on a much larger scale for a family reunion of approximately 55 people.  Many generations and lots of parties sharing rooms.  Here’s what I did and why:

•   Took the total cost of the accommodations. – Find the final bill that is owed.
•   2/3 of Total went to Price per Room. - This treats each room like a hotel room with a fixed price.
•   1/3 went to Price per Person per day. – This was your ticket price to enjoy the shared spaces
•   Check that these prices make sense. Adjust ratios if needed. – Aim to make each room slightly cheaper than a hotel room to encourage people to stay on site, but give them another option if they prefer it.
•   Split the Room among the people staying in that room – If a bunch of cousins or an entire family crowded into one room, their cost per night is cheaper.  Conversely, a couple that wants privacy will pay more per person.
•   Add Food Costs to Price per day. – The daily fee serves to balance the fact that a larger family is ultimately using more space and resources and thus ought to bear a bit more of the burden than a single person.  Also, people who could only come for a few days paid less than people who were there the whole week, but at a proportional rate.
•   Add each person’s total and make sure it makes sense.


Let’s do this for your example:

Room Cost per Night = $1000 *(2/3) / 4 Rooms = $167.67 per room.  Nice hotel, not extravagant, check.
Daily Fee = $1000 * (1/3) / 7 People = $47.62 per person.  A bit pricey, but hot showers, fancy living rooms, access to ski lifts, etc. come at a price.

Family A: 2 Rooms + 4 People = 2*$167.67 + 4*$47.62 = $525.82 or 52% of total
Family B: 1 Room + 2 People = 1*$167.67 + 2*$47.62 = $262.91 or 26% of total (yes, baby is free)
Family C: 1 Room + 1 Person = 1*$167.67 + 1*$47.62 = $215.29 or 21% of total

Notice this very cleanly falls right between the strict “Per Room Method” and the “Per Person Method”


If Person C wanted to try to shave her costs by inviting a friend to share her room, prices would change to this:
Room Cost per Night = $1000 *(2/3) / 4 Rooms = $167.67 per room.  Stays the same.
Daily Fee = $1000 * (1/3) / 8 People = $41.67 per person.  Slightly reduced, so everyone benefits, not just Person C.

Family A: 2 Rooms + 4 People = 2*$167.67 + 4*$41.67 = $502.02 or 50% of total
Family B: 1 Room + 2 People = 1*$167.67 + 2*$41.67 = $251.01 or 25% of total
Person C: 1/2 Room + 1 Person = 1/2*$167.67 + 1*$41.67 = $125.51 or 12% of total
Person D: 1/2 Room + 1 Person = 1/2*$167.67 + 1*$41.67 = $125.51 or 12% of total


Ultimately no one complained about the prices.  If anyone questioned whether I was being fair, I was prepared with my spreadsheet to show them how I objectively reached the number. 

Young adults who spent the week in crowded bedrooms had nice low bills.  Big families that took up half the house paid more per day, but less for bedrooms.  Those who wanted a fancier hotel room would still chip in with their Daily Fee but were not overly punished for their preference.  If people wanted to subsidize other relatives, I let them without prying or assuming anything.  Everyone won as far as I could tell.

Noodle

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #37 on: March 02, 2017, 06:22:50 PM »
My family rents houses together. We do food and accommodations differently. Rent is divided by bedroom. We don't fuss over shares of the bathroom (the places we have rented were all big enough that anyone could do their business whenever needed) or size of the room--those get assigned by need (no stairs for my elderly parents, put all the kids together). Food is done by the head, although little children (old enough to be sharing adult food, young enough to eat less) get charged as a half-share. I did feel it was a little unfair when we did a cruise together and I had to pay double as a single, given that the food is included and I only eat one person's share, but that was the cruise line's fault, not my family's.

NextTime

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #38 on: March 03, 2017, 10:05:45 AM »
I would not count the baby.  Therefore you have 7 people.  Divide the 1000 by 7 and apply the costs per person.  Same as a hotel would do it (they don't charge you less for a child for occupancy) so it's easy to explain your logic.  It's a holiday, not an academic camp, so I'd keep away from convoluted formulas.  The goal is to enjoy yourself, not play bookkeeper.

Most hotels I've stayed at charge by the room- same rate if it is 1, 2, or 4.

True - but there's shared living space to consider. I actually really like the divide by 7 formula - I'll have to consider using that in the future.

Family A = 4/7 = 57%
Family B = 3/7 = 43%
Family C = 1/7 = 14%

For this scenario, it might be a bit too picky though so I would likely suggest a 50/30/20 split.


No offense, and perhaps it's just me, but I don't think I'd want to hang out with, let alone share a house on vacation, who takes it down to that level.

I'm a red panda

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #39 on: March 03, 2017, 10:10:36 AM »
I did feel it was a little unfair when we did a cruise together and I had to pay double as a single, given that the food is included and I only eat one person's share, but that was the cruise line's fault, not my family's.

Cruises really screw over singles.  :(

It used to be pretty regular you'd see no single supplement sales, but I haven't in a long time.

elaine amj

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #40 on: March 03, 2017, 02:26:40 PM »
True - but there's shared living space to consider. I actually really like the divide by 7 formula - I'll have to consider using that in the future.

Family A = 4/7 = 57%
Family B = 3/7 = 43%
Family C = 1/7 = 14%

For this scenario, it might be a bit too picky though so I would likely suggest a 50/30/20 split.


No offense, and perhaps it's just me, but I don't think I'd want to hang out with, let alone share a house on vacation, who takes it down to that level.
[/quote]

Haha - it suits my brain in theory - but I can't say I've ever done it :) And we split shared spaces with friends annually. I think we always just do an even split between families. Hasn't become an issue for us as our families are more or less the same size though.

Goldielocks

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #41 on: March 03, 2017, 02:33:58 PM »
We'll be sharing a 4 bed holiday house as follows:
Bedroom 1: Family A (2 parents)
Bedroom 2: Family A (2 kids)
Bedroom 3: Family B (2 parents + baby)
Bedroom 4: Family C (1 adult)

Fairest way to split the cost ( say it's 1000)?? All bedrooms are similar size (2 doubles, 2 twin)

This is very easy.  Surprised there isn't more consensus on this...

Family A = 50%
Family B = 25%
Family C = 25%

Yeah,  I would do this, and then not expect the single person to contribute to in-house groceries, just booze and eating out.

cookielover

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Re: Fairest way to split holiday accommodation costs
« Reply #42 on: March 05, 2017, 11:27:17 AM »
I agree with several posters above:

Family A = 50%
Family B = 25%
Family C = 25%

Sometimes, people make things too complicated.