The rent number on the listing is not what you’ll pay. Hydro, internet, the Netflix password, the toilet paper nobody replaces until it’s gone: shared living adds up, and every roommate pair works out the split differently. Some ways are fair. Some quietly build resentment until month six, when someone sends a passive-aggressive text about the dish rack. Here’s what to split, what not to, and how to do the math without drama.

What you split and what you don’t

Split the things neither of you uses alone:

  • Rent. Obviously. How to divide it fairly is its own question below.
  • Utilities. Hydro/electricity, water if it isn’t included, heating, and internet. Fixed, predictable bills are the easiest to share.
  • Streaming and subscriptions. Netflix, Spotify, a cloud storage plan, that one app for the TV. One account, split the cost.
  • Consumables for shared spaces. Toilet paper for the shared bathroom, paper towels, dish soap, sponges, garbage bags, laundry detergent if you share a machine.
  • Cleaning supplies. All-purpose spray, mop refills, the Swiffer pads. Everyone benefits, so everyone pays.

Keep to yourself the things that are personal:

  • Your own groceries. This is the big one. Shared food is where roommate friendships go to die. You don’t want to be the person who counted their yogourt cups. Buy your own food, label what you must, and leave each other’s shelf alone.
  • Your own toiletries. Shampoo, toothpaste, razors. If you have your own bathroom, the toilet paper in it is yours too.
  • Phone plans and personal subscriptions. Your Spotify is personal even if you play it in the kitchen. Your gym membership is not a household expense.
  • One-off personal purchases. If someone buys a $200 desk lamp for their own room, that’s on them.

The test: would both people use it, and is it in a shared space? Split it. Otherwise don’t.

Ways to split rent when rooms aren’t equal

If two people each have their own bedroom, split everything 50/50. Even if one room is a master with an ensuite and the other shares a bathroom with the rest of the apartment, you each pay half. One person gets the ensuite, the other gets the bigger share of everything else. That’s the whole negotiation. Don’t measure bedrooms with a tape measure for a two-person place.

The split only gets interesting with three or more people, or a couple sharing one room. The rule: rent follows rooms, utilities follow heads.

Rent: count bedrooms, not people. A couple sharing the master pays one room’s share, split between them. In a three-bedroom where one bedroom is a couple, a fair split on $2,400 might be $900 for the couple’s room (they share a room, so they pay a small premium back) and $750 each for the singles. Compare the numbers, agree on something fair, move on.

Utilities: split by people, not rooms. Three people use the electricity, water, and internet, so utilities divide into three even if two of them share a bedroom. The couple pays a full third of utilities between them, same as anyone else.

That’s it. The more complicated the formula, the more likely someone keeps a spreadsheet open as a grudge.

Splitting utilities and subscriptions

Three ways people do it, worst to best:

  1. One person pays everything, gets paid back eventually. The “eventually” is the problem. Tracking who owes what across e-transfers and IOUs is how roommates stop speaking.
  2. Each person owns a bill. You take internet, they take hydro, you take Netflix. Both names go on nothing, but each person is a household expense away from the other’s bad month.
  3. Split by total. Add up what the household owes each month, divide by the split, and each person e-transfers their number on the 1st. Whoever’s name is on a bill pays it and counts it toward their share, so nobody chases anyone.

Once you know your monthly number, set up an Interac e-Transfer auto-deposit for it. Most banks let you schedule a recurring transfer to a specific email. Set it once for rent and once for utilities and you never think about it again, and nobody sends you a “hey, did you send your half?” text on the 15th.

If the math starts getting messy (three or more people, uneven costs, someone covers groceries one week), use Splitwise. It’s a free app that logs each shared expense, tracks who owes whom, and settles up with one transfer a month. A useful tool for exactly this, and it beats keeping track on a spreadsheet that only one person updates.

For subscriptions, most streaming services (Netflix, Spotify, Disney+) cap how many household members each plan allows. Check the terms before three people share one password, because the extra $3 a month isn’t worth a suspended account.

Cheap internet that doesn’t feel cheap

Internet is the one shared bill where comparison shopping pays off every month. Before you sign anything:

  • Look for month-to-month plans, not contracts. As a student you’ll probably move next year, find a new roommate, or move in with a partner, and a one- or two-year contract follows you anyway (either an early-cancellation fee or a bill for a place you don’t live in). Prefer providers that run month to month so you can cancel whenever your living situation changes.
  • Check for student or promo plans. Providers like Telus, Bell, Rogers, and their regional equivalents run student discounts and first-year promos. Ask, or check their current offers page. A deal that saves $15 a month is $180 over a school year.
  • Check budget ISPs like Oxio. It’s month to month, so no contract to worry about. It’s not the fastest provider out there, but it’s cheap, the price doesn’t jump after a promo year, and there’s no equipment rental. If you and your roommate mostly stream and browse, it does the job for less than the big names. Referral codes get you and whoever referred you a discount on a month of service.
  • Check for low-data plans. If neither of you streams 4K TV or games competitively, a cheaper plan at lower speed still covers Netflix and video calls. Most two-person apartments are fine on 100 to 300 Mbps.
  • Buy your own router/modem. Providers charge $10 to $15 a month to rent equipment. A one-time $80 to $100 router pays for itself in under a year.
  • Check for installation fees and ask whether they’ll waive them for new customers. Most will if you ask.

Split the monthly bill 50/50 (or by whatever rent split you agreed on) and put the account in whoever’s name has the best credit story, since some providers run a credit check.

The roommate agreement: a rules list to fill out together

The money fights are rarely about money. They’re about expectations nobody said out loud. Spend 15 minutes before move-in on:

  • When bills are due and who pays what. “Rent and utilities by the 1st, everyone settled up by the 5th” beats a group chat where someone asks about the hydro bill on the 20th.
  • Guests. If someone’s partner is there four nights a week, should they buy their own groceries and chip in on utilities? Decide before it’s an issue.
  • The consumables system. Easiest version: a shared household fund. Each person puts in $20 a month (or $40), one person buys toilet paper, paper towels, dish soap, and garbage bags out of it. Nobody tracks a $4 roll of toilet paper again.
  • What happens if someone moves out or loses income. Not fun to think about, but better than being surprised by it. Find a replacement together, or the remaining person absorbs two people’s rent for a month.

A printable roommate rules list

Go through this together at the kitchen table before move-in and write your answers down. Every line here is something real roommates fight about, because nobody asked the question in August instead of resenting it in November.

Money

  • Rent due date and how it gets paid (one e-transfer to the landlord, two separate payments, etc.)
  • Rent split method and exact amounts for each room
  • Which utilities are included, which aren’t, and whose name is on each
  • Due dates for each utility bill and how they get settled (e-transfer, cash)
  • Grace period: how many days late is forgivable, and what happens on day four
  • What happens if one person can’t pay rent this month: how much notice, what’s the plan, does the other cover it and get paid back how
  • Late fees: if the landlord charges one for a late payment, whose fee is it
  • The shared household fund: how much per person, who shops, where the receipts go
  • A rule for shared expenses over a set amount (say anything over $50 needs both people to agree first)

Emergencies and contact info

  • Each person’s emergency contact: name, relationship, phone number
  • Parents’ or family contact info in case you can’t be reached
  • Campus security number, non-emergency police line, and the nearest walk-in clinic or ER
  • Where each person’s health card and insurance info lives
  • What counts as an emergency worth calling someone’s parents about
  • Building manager or landlord’s contact info, and who handles which repair requests

Quiet hours and noise

  • Weeknight quiet hours (a common starting point is 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.)
  • Weekend quiet hours, which are usually later
  • The rules for music, phone calls, and gaming with headphones vs. speakers
  • Sleep schedules: if one person works early shifts or has 8 a.m. classes, name it now
  • Guests over on a weeknight: how late, and how much notice
  • What happens during exam season (many rooms go quieter by mutual agreement for two weeks)

Cleaning and shared spaces

  • Vacuuming / sweeping frequency: who does it, how often, which rooms
  • Bathroom cleaning: who, how often, whose supplies
  • Dishes: same-day rule or 24-hour sink rule, whichever you’ll both actually follow
  • Kitchen counters, stovetop, and fridge: whose turn, how often, what “clean” means
  • Trash and recycling: whose night is it, where does it go, what happens when someone misses it
  • Common-area personal items: does stuff left on the couch get moved after a day, a week
  • Pets: are they allowed, who pays for damage, who cleans up

Guests and shared life

  • Overnight guests: how often, how much notice, a cap before it becomes a third roommate question
  • Whether a guest staying 10+ nights a month chips in on utilities
  • Parties: notice required, quiet time, cleanup within 24 hours
  • Food: fully separate, or agreed shared staples only (oil, salt, spices are the usual truce)
  • Borrowing each other’s things: ask first, always, including chargers
  • Smoking, vaping, cannabis: allowed where, if anywhere

Write it down and keep it somewhere you can both see it, like a note pinned in your group chat. When a dispute comes up, you don’t re-litigate the vacuum. You point at the list, you do the thing, you move on. Every rule you agree to in week one is a fight you never have in month six.

Easiest version: copy the list above into a shared Google doc, add both of your names to it, and type your answers right into it. You both always have the latest version, and nobody has to remember where the paper copy went.