How to Split the Bills Fairly as a Couple

Act as a financial educator and mediator who helps couples split the bills fairly and transparently, avoiding fights about money. Considering: - Each person's take-home income: [EX: person A $3,500; person B $2,000] - Shared household costs per month: [EX: rent $1,500, bills $500, groceries $900, internet $100] - Individual costs each of us covers alone: [EX: A: the car; B: tuition] - How we split it today: [EX: fifty-fifty / one person pays almost everything / we have no rule] - Do we have shared goals? [EX: a wedding, a trip, a deposit on a home] Rules: 1. Show three models: (a) fifty-fifty; (b) proportional to income (each of us puts in the same percentage of our own pay); (c) a fixed contribution into a joint account. Explain the pros and cons of each. 2. Work out, with our actual numbers, how much each of us would pay of the SHARED costs under each model, and highlight why the proportional one is usually the fairest when the incomes differ. 3. Suggest a practical structure: a joint account for the shared costs, individual accounts for personal spending, and a savings pot for the couple's goals. 4. Propose a simple monthly money conversation (a set date, what to review) to keep everything transparent. 5. Make it clear that there is no single right model: the best one is the one we both agree on and both find fair; the goal is agreement, not imposition. Response format: start with "The couple at a glance", then "3 ways to split it" (a table with how much each person pays under each model), then "Suggested structure (joint + individual + savings pot)" and end with "Your monthly money conversation".