Dividing cost question

[BabyBearsMom]

We are going on vacation with some friends and renting a beach house. How would you divide the cost? (I tried to do a poll and failed, sorry)

There are 5 adults coming and our DD. The house has 4 bedrooms. DH and I will be in one, DD will be in one, one of our friends will be in one and two of our friends will be in the other. Should we divide the price of the house by 5 adults and charge by the adult (DH and I pay two-fifths)? Should we divide the price of the house by 6 people and charge by the people staying (DH and I pay three-sixths)? Should we divide by number of rooms (DH and I pay two-fourths)? Other? The second two choices have the same impact on DH and I, but would impact our friends differently. I want this to be fair.

[WolfpackMom]

Since DD will have her own room, I would divide by rooms. So you pay 2 4ths.

[wellyes]

If I were part of that arrangement, I would expect each party to pay 1/3.

[Seitvonzu]

i agree with the other people-- divide it by "room" -- that's what would happen in a hotel, right? have a fun trip!

[SnuggleBuggles]

We always divided it by family regardless of bedrooms being used. So if 3 families were going you would split the cost 1/3 each. I've never heard of doing it another way. You are all getting use of the house, it's location, amenities. I don't think that just because someone does or doesn't need more beds that they should pay differently.

Beth

[Octobermommy]

Are the 2 adults sharing a room a couple? Would anyone else be coming if your dd wasn't in her own room or is it an otherwise empty room. If the answes are yes and no, respectively, then I would divide it bedrooms that house adults. So 1/3 for you and dh, 1/3 for single in room and 1/3 for other couple.

[BabyBearsMom]

Are the 2 adults sharing a room a couple? Would anyone else be coming if your dd wasn't in her own room or is it an otherwise empty room. If the answes are yes and no, respectively, then I would divide it bedrooms that house adults. So 1/3 for you and dh, 1/3 for single in room and 1/3 for other couple.

The 2 adults sharing the room are a couple. No one else would be coming if DD wasn't in her own room, but we might have gotten a 3 bedroom house if she didn't need her own room.

I am willing to pay for 1/2 of the house because we are using 2 of the 4 bedrooms and have absolutely no problem with it. The single person doesn't want to pay 1/4. That person wants to pay 1/5th, which is where the problem is coming up.

[Twoboos]

We have travelled with extended family for years and years. (Think 13 people in one house.)

We divide it by person not rooms, and do not count little kids (as old as still in college). So in your case it would be 2/5 for you and 1/5 for your single friend and 2/5 for the others.

But, we've been doing it for so long we don't even think twice about it!

[JoyNChrist]

The 2 adults sharing the room are a couple. No one else would be coming if DD wasn't in her own room, but we might have gotten a 3 bedroom house if she didn't need her own room.

I am willing to pay for 1/2 of the house because we are using 2 of the 4 bedrooms and have absolutely no problem with it. The single person doesn't want to pay 1/4. That person wants to pay 1/5th, which is where the problem is coming up.

I think you are being very reasonable, and the single person is not.

ETA - Saying that because I'm treating it like a hotel. You pay 1/2 because you're using half the rooms. Each of the other rooms is covered by the person(s) staying in it.

[vonfirmath]

We are going on vacation with some friends and renting a beach house. How would you divide the cost? (I tried to do a poll and failed, sorry)

There are 5 adults coming and our DD. The house has 4 bedrooms. DH and I will be in one, DD will be in one, one of our friends will be in one and two of our friends will be in the other. Should we divide the price of the house by 5 adults and charge by the adult (DH and I pay two-fifths)? Should we divide the price of the house by 6 people and charge by the people staying (DH and I pay three-sixths)? Should we divide by number of rooms (DH and I pay two-fourths)? Other? The second two choices have the same impact on DH and I, but would impact our friends differently. I want this to be fair.

When we did this with family (my mom's brother and his kids and their families), we divided by adults and they were okay with that. Its a good thing we did not divide by rooms because my son and I both ended up rooming with my parents instead of the separate room for me (shared with a cousin) as we'd originally thought (due to the way things were divided)

There was also the fact that at our house some rooms were much nicer than others and such. Top floor were suites with attached whirlpool baths. Bottom floor rooms were "walk throughs" for others going to and from the pool. Etc.

You need to find out what the friends are expecting, I think.

[wellyes]

The single person doesn't want to pay 1/4. That person wants to pay 1/5th, which is where the problem is coming up.

That is correct etiquette for splitting wine and meals, but not for splitting travel costs or gifts. Why, who knows, but that's what I've read (Emily Post, Dear Prudence, etc).

[scrooks]

It's tricky. I would say pay half because you are talking half the rooms unless the room your DD is using is a lot smaller/not as nice (ie all the other rooms are nice suites.). We battle this out everytime we go on vacation with DH's family. SIL has 4 kids and they usually take up majority of the rooms but we pay the same as they do because ILs supplement her costs (she doesn't really need the $$ help). Sigh...it always works out but it's a little tense while chosing rooms and figuring out costs. Good Luck!

[egoldber]

Ugh. I hate this part of traveling with friends and family. In addition to the "some rooms are nicer" thing, there is also a large income disparity between some parts of the family. So when we go to a beach house with DH's sisters, we end up paying more like 3/4 when we only use half the rooms, because otherwise they couldn't afford to go and we would prefer that they come. When MIL/FIL also come, they pay 2/3 and we pay 1/3, so they subsidize the sisters.

[ohsara430]

No advice, just wanted to say good luck!

I like to vacation with friends but dread this part of it, never fun and it's hard not to have someone end up with hurt feelings.

[LMPC]

I agree that the single person is being somewhat unreasonable. The choice seems to be between splitting it by 1/3 or 1/4...not 1/5. I think you are being fair by paying 1/2 of the cost. Just my .02.

[ohsara430]

Let me preface this by saying my math skills are non-existent so if this makes no sense, just disregard it.

If you're willing to pay 1/2 why don't the other couple and single split the remainder 1/3 each. Although if you're willing to pay 1/2 I would think you would be ok with the 1/5 split since it would save you money.

ETA: I guess I don't see what's so unreasonable about 1/5 split?

[mommylamb]

I think I would divide by thirds. Unless, you specifically got a 4 bedroom house rather than a 3 bedroom house so your DD could be in a room by herself. If that's something that you and your DH specifically required, then I think you should pay half and let the other 2 parties pay a quarter each.

ETA: We are going on vacation this summer with friends of ours. There are 4 families. Two families are 2 adults, 2 kids and the other two families are 2 adults, 1 kid. We are splitting it evenly by 4.

[mommylamb]

TThe single person doesn't want to pay 1/4. That person wants to pay 1/5th, which is where the problem is coming up.

I think that's totally unreasonable. Good luck figuring out the grocery split. That's going to be even worse.

[GaPeach_in_Ca]

If money is not too much of an issue, I would just let the single person pay 1/5 and then not split a rental with them in the future.

[crl]

If money is not too much of an issue, I would just let the single person pay 1/5 and then not split a rental with them in the future.

I agree. Personally, I would split by bedroom. And I think the single person is being unreasonable.

Catherine

[maurenemm]

This was an issue a couple months back in an advice column in the paper. The writer said you should pay by room. So the single should pay 1/4.

But, if this isn't going to become a major issue, I would offer to pay 1/2. And then let the other 3 people decide how they're going to split the remaining 1/2.

[Octobermommy]

The single persons attitude doesn't bode well for other expenses you will be splitting. Sorry! I would explain that it is like a hotel. Most hotels charge the same amount for a single or double occupancy. If they had another person they wouldn't have to pay more. They can say it's not fair but that is the standard in travel.