How to split the costs between family?

maisonette

I'm travelling to Oz to meet up with family members this year - brother, sister-in-law and their two kids. I'll be staying with them at their house but we'll also be having a two weeks in two other areas in Oz so will obviously need to book accomodation/car hire etc

My thinking was that if we rented an apartment/villa type thing that we would split the cost on a per room basis ie 3 bedrooms, they will occupy two of them and I will occupy one so they would pay 2/3 and I would pay a 1/3.

When it comes to car hire it seems fairer to split 50/50 as why should they pay extra just becuase they're a couple.

Does this seem logical/fair? In my head it does but I don't want to suggest it if it's deemed unreasonable by the majority! Definitely not trying to pay less than I should but wanted opinion on whether my reasoning makes sense and is fair.

Ms_Chocaholic

Are you contributing to their household when you are staying with them?

maisonette

Ms_Chocaholic wrote: »

Are you contributing to their household when you are staying with them?

I'll offer general housekeeping money but I think it will be declined on the basis that I host them when they come over here and wouldn't dream of taking any money from them.

double_mummy

sounds about right to me for the accommodation

with the car hire are you having to get a bigger car than you normally would because of them being a family? i dont know how big the kids are but are you going to want a normal small car for the 5 of you to fit in all at once? if you do need to get something more expensive then i would have a rethink on your 50/50 suggestion

maisonette

double_mummy wrote: »

sounds about right to me for the accommodation

with the car hire are you having to get a bigger car than you normally would because of them being a family? i dont know how big the kids are but are you going to want a normal small car for the 5 of you to fit in all at once? if you do need to get something more expensive then i would have a rethink on your 50/50 suggestion

I think a medium hatch will be fine so no extra costs really, kids are young but the car will be for day to day travel rather than a long drive as we'll be flying to each detsination.

Georgiegirl256

Yes, that sounds fair to me. I can't see why they'd find fault with that.

maisonette

Georgiegirl256 wrote: »

Yes, that sounds fair to me. I can't see why they'd find fault with that.

Thanks, my worry was that I was somehow way off the mark and they wouldn't say anything so I'd end up ripping my own family off!

FBaby

What's the difference between paying for 1 bedroom or going half? If it is to save say £100 and you are not struggling financially, I would think it is not worth the suggestion of going 1/3rd and risking a bad atmosphere if they think you are tight. It is a much more and/or you are can't afford it, then I would ask if they'd mind if you went 1/3rd on the basis of their needing an extra bedroom.

Remember though, a 3 bed house is rarely 1/3rd more expensive than a 2 bedroom, so you again, you might to consider whether this suggestion is fair.

maisonette

FBaby wrote: »

What's the difference between paying for 1 bedroom or going half? If it is to save say £100 and you are not struggling financially, I would think it is not worth the suggestion of going 1/3rd and risking a bad atmosphere if they think you are tight. It is a much more and/or you are can't afford it, then I would ask if they'd mind if you went 1/3rd on the basis of their needing an extra bedroom.

Remember though, a 3 bed house is rarely 1/3rd more expensive than a 2 bedroom, so you again, you might to consider whether this suggestion is fair.

Two weeks accomodation in Australia is likely to be quite expensive so there could be large sums involved - in one way that's why I'm asking as if I suggest my idea of 2/3 to 1/3 it will make things quite a bit cheaper for me and quite a bit more expensive for them. If I paid 50/50 for accomodation then one person would be paying the same as four which didn't seem fair to me but as I said, I'm not out to rip off my own family so if 50/50 was deemed fair then I'd have no qualms paying it.

Money-wise, they are big earners but have lots of outgoings too, I am a medium earner and have saved for a few years for the trip.

double_mummy

how much is a villa for 1 person? whats the extra for 3 bedrooms?

maisonette

FBaby wrote: »

Remember though, a 3 bed house is rarely 1/3rd more expensive than a 2 bedroom, so you again, you might to consider whether this suggestion is fair.

double_mummy wrote: »

how much is a villa for 1 person? whats the extra for 3 bedrooms?

Just picking up on this point, that makes complete sense and I guess the logical thing to do would be to split the cost of a comparable two bed 50/50 then they pay the extra cost to 'upgrade' to a 3 bed but that would seem very tight and I would be embarassed to even suggest it.