• Split the bills evenly for the best results.money money image by Valentin Mosichev from Fotolia.com
  
  

Even Split

• Charge your roommate half of the full amount you pay each month for your rent or mortgage. If there's no rent or mortgage on the dwelling, choose half of a price comparable to what you previously paid if you own it. Split all other bills in a similar manner as you do the rent. Divide each bill as you receive it, and provide your roommate with a detailed description of how the bill has been broken down.
  
  

Flat-Rate Price

• Choose a flat rate to charge your roommate. Estimate the amount of bills you'll incur along with your rent or mortgage. You may decide to charge your roommate more or less than your share of the bills, depending on the room and the amenities your roommate will have access to. If he'll have a larger bedroom than you do, for example, you may consider charging more than what you pay. Or you might charge less if he has a smaller room.
  
  

Bottom Line

• Splitting the bills evenly is the easiest and fairest method when living with a roommate. Ken Paulsen, contributor to Education.com, even suggests alternating paying months on certain bills. This is helpful for bills that are basically the same amount each month, such as phone or Internet bills. Using this method will allow you to still split bills evenly, but each roommate would only have to pay certain bills every other month.