Let’s paint a very familiar picture. Everyone in your shared house is on edge. Maybe you’re talking to one another, maybe you’re not. Some of you are probably talking behind somebody else’s back and all of you are feeling stressed and anxious and resentful, but the problem is no closer to being solved.
What’s going on, you ask? A mystery person hasn’t paid their share of the bill, of course.
Anyone who has ever shared a house with other people they’re not related to has been in this situation, or at the very least one that looks a lot like it. If this is your current scenario and you’re tired of arguing with your flatmates or spending hours trying to figure out who owes what when you could be relaxing, the answer could be a lot simpler than you think.
It could all be resolved by the marvel of modern technology. With the near-simultaneous rise of smartphone apps and house-sharing, bill splitting apps are becoming an increasingly common way of settling these kinds of disputes.
Find out three ways a bill splitting app could be the answer to your shared accommodation drama with this blog from acasa!
Nothing to hide
We all know that arguments over unpaid bills can drag on for weeks with little-to-no conclusion. If you use a good bill splitting app, all your costs will be laid out transparently and you’ll receive push notifications when things have been settled.
It might be slightly more anti-climactic, but using an app like acasa means you can settle these disputes in seconds, because everyone can see who owes money and on what bill. This doesn’t have to turn into a blame game, it just means that people can’t help but take responsibility for what they can’t pay right away.
Limit liability
There’s nothing worse than being left a few hundred quid out of pocket because your flatmate—or flatmates, plural—is short on funds at the moment and can’t pay you back for their share of the quarterly energy bill. After all, if you’re the named account holder, it’s your job to foot the bill.
Some bill splitting apps—like acasa—use direct billing. This means that you’re only responsible for your share and you’re not relying on your flatmates to transfer you what they owe every month.
All in one
It’s pretty common in houses that don’t use bill-splitting apps for each person to be responsible for a household bill. But this means that one person is either shouldering a bigger part of the responsibility or putting themselves at greater financial risk if people don’t cough up for their share. There’s a big difference between a £154.40 annual TV License fee and a £572 gas bill.
With bill splitting apps, your household costs can be grouped together as a single payment, which is divided between you and billed individually.
Use acasa
acasa is a bill splitting app and home management platform designed for anyone sharing a house, from students to young professionals to couples. With acasa, you can avoid unnecessary conflict around splitting utility bills with our direct billing and balance tracking systems. Download acasa on iOS or Android, get a free quote for your property and enjoy a more stress-free approach to managing your shared house.