Fair Rent and Expense Split with Sibling Living Together

Hey peeps…

I live with one of my siblings in a metro area in Texas, and I’m trying to figure out a fair way to charge him for rent and split household expenses. Here are the details:

  • My mortgage (PITI) is about $2,200 per month.
  • Utilities are around $300 per month.
  • The average room rental in my area is about $750.

Since my sibling isn’t interested in co-owning the house, I want to determine a fair rent amount to charge him. Considering the mortgage and utilities, what do you think is reasonable?

Also, I’d like to know how to fairly split miscellaneous expenses around the house (like groceries, internet, etc.). Any suggestions on what’s fair to ask him to contribute would be greatly appreciated

Hey there! To come up with a fair rent for your sibling, one approach is to charge around what a room rental goes for in your area, so $750 sounds reasonable. You might also consider adding a portion of the utilities, say $150, bringing the total to $900. This way, you’re not overcharging but still covering some of your costs. For splitting miscellaneous expenses like groceries and internet, a 50/50 split usually works well, especially since you’re both benefiting equally from these. Alternatively, if your sibling has different usage habits (e.g., eats out more often), you could track these expenses and divide them proportionally based on actual use. The key is to have an open conversation to ensure it feels fair to both of you.

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Yeah right…? I think this makes a lot of sense for someone who doesn’t want to co-own the house and go half on the mortgage. Mine was a rather interesting experience since my sister and I went half on the mortgage and utilities. She was also kind enough, being the eldest to cater for the miscellaneous expenses and all I had to do was occasionally get groceries to surprise her.