Calculator
Split shared costs fairly – by working hours or income
The calculator splits your shared costs half and half, by working hours or by income and shows the amount each of you pays. It runs in your browser without an account – nothing is stored or sent anywhere.
Updated:
How it is calculated
Half and half, each of you pays half. By working hours, your share is your workload divided by the sum of both workloads; by income, your income divided by the sum of both incomes. Whoever works or earns less pays less, and both shares add up to the full amount again. Amounts are rounded to the cent; any rounding remainder goes to the larger share.
| Rent per month | CHF 3'000.00 |
|---|---|
| Person A, working 100 % (100 of 160) | CHF 1'875.00 |
| Person B, working 60 % (60 of 160) | CHF 1'125.00 |
| Together | CHF 3'000.00 |
| Rent per month | CHF 3'000.00 |
|---|---|
| Person A, income CHF 6'500 (6'500 of 10'500) | CHF 1'857.15 |
| Person B, income CHF 4'000 (4'000 of 10'500) | CHF 1'142.85 |
| Together | CHF 3'000.00 |
That leaves CHF 4'642.85 of income with Person A and CHF 2'857.15 with Person B. Split half and half, it would be CHF 1'500.00 for each of you.
Half and half, by working hours or by income?
Half and half and in proportion to income are the classic ways for couples to share costs (Beobachter, in German). Budget Advice Switzerland (Budgetberatung Schweiz, in German) recommends that unmarried couples usually split shared costs by income. By working hours sits in between: it follows working time rather than pay. None of them is the right one – which suits you depends on what you consider fair.
- Half and half is the simplest and suits you if you earn similar amounts or deliberately want to contribute the same.
- By working hours suits you if working time makes the main difference, for example because one of you works part-time. Workloads rarely change, so the share stays stable.
- By income suits you if your incomes differ even at the same workload. The share changes with every change in income.
For a rent of CHF 3'000, workloads of 100 % and 60 % and incomes of CHF 6'500 and 4'000, that means: half and half, each of you pays CHF 1'500.00; by working hours CHF 1'875.00 and CHF 1'125.00; by income CHF 1'857.15 and CHF 1'142.85.
In Sparfuxx
In the app you split each shared item half and half or by working hours, or it counts entirely for one person. Sparfuxx works out the share for every item itself, and each of you sees your own share in the monthly plan. The app does not split by income – only this calculator does.
How a household for two works in Sparfuxx is explained under Household budget for couples.
Frequently asked questions
What if one person doesn’t work?
If one person doesn’t work, they pay nothing by working hours: with a workload of 0 % the other person pays the full amount, so all of a CHF 3'000 rent. By income, the same applies to an income of 0. If you don’t want that, split half and half, and each of you pays CHF 1'500.
Are my entries stored?
No, the «split costs fairly» calculator stores nothing. It works in your browser; what you enter is neither stored nor sent anywhere. After reloading, the example is back.
Can I split individual items differently?
In the Sparfuxx app, yes: you split each shared item on its own half and half, by working hours or entirely for one person – say the rent by working hours and the streaming subscription half and half. The calculator here splits a single amount.
Shared costs in view every month
Sparfuxx splits every shared item and shows each of you what’s left at month end.