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Managing Bills Together: Tips for Dividing Expenses Without Damaging Relationships | Fintech

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Consider the Financial Situations of Others…

An income disparity among friends can create conflict. A survey conducted by US financial services company Bread Financial last year revealed that 26% of respondents felt they were “financially incompatible” with their friends, and 21% said they had ended friendships due to financial reasons.

Talia Roderick emphasizes the importance of addressing the wealth gap between money coaches and friends. She notes, “It’s easy for friendships to suffer because money can be such a contentious issue.”

When dining with friends, it’s crucial to discuss how costs will be divided before receiving the bill. This can be a contentious topic. A survey conducted by a comparison website in the dining industry found that 34% believed bills should be split evenly, including tips, while 36% preferred splitting based on individual expenses.

Vivi Friedgut, the founder and CEO of Black Bullion, a free money management app for students, stresses the importance of having open and honest conversations about cost-sharing, whether for household items or dining out.

…Especially in University Settings

Vivi Friedgut, founder and CEO of Black Bullion, emphasizes the need for open and honest conversations. Photo: Room Agent/Aramie

Tom Allingham, Communications Director for The Money Website Save the Student, highlights the common practice of saying, “I’ll pay this time, and you can get the next one.” However, over time, this can lead to imbalances. Allingham explains, “Eventually, one person ends up owing much more than the other.”

Student finances can further complicate matters. According to recent data, most students face a £504 shortfall each month beyond their maintenance loans, leading to disparities within friend groups when splitting expenses.

Utilize Apps to Simplify Splitting Costs

Use apps to streamline bill-splitting. Photo: City Image/Alamy

There is an array of apps and services available to simplify splitting costs among multiple individuals. It’s recommended to explore these options to find the best fit for your specific needs.

One popular bill-splitting app is Splitwise, which allows users to track shared expenses like rent, holidays, meals, and travel costs.

An integration between Splitwise and the payment platform Tink enables UK users to make direct payments through the Splitwise app by linking their bank accounts.

For UK users, Splid is another useful app that supports over 150 currencies and offline functionality, making it ideal for group travel.

Apps like these can help alleviate the awkwardness of splitting costs and promote fairer divisions, as noted by Roderick.

Allingham suggests that apps like Splitwise are particularly effective for splitting minor expenses among friends, such as coffee outings.

Explore Your Bank’s Bill-Splitting Services

Some banks provide bill-splitting services. Photo: Chris Ratcliffe/Rex Shutterstock

While Natwest’s Housemate app was well-received for bill splitting, it has since been discontinued. Other banks offer similar tools to facilitate cost-sharing.

Digital banks like Monzo, Starling Bank, and Crew offer features like Split, Split the Bill, and group-based spending options to help users manage joint expenses and split bills easily.

Revolut also enables customers to split bills with other users, providing another convenient option for simplifying group expenses.

Source: www.theguardian.com

The use of natural fibers in wet wipes can have damaging effects on soil and wildlife

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Fibers from wet wipes can get mixed into fertilizer if flushed down the toilet.

Linda Kennedy/Alamy

The natural fibers increasingly used in wet wipes can actually have a more negative impact on the environment than the synthetic fibers they are designed to replace.

Viscose and lyocell, made from wood cellulose, are often used in wet wipes and clothing as an alternative to fibers such as polyester, which are primarily byproducts of fossil fuels.

“These are in high street stores, so you can get them in the ethically conscious consumer sections of fast fashion stores,” he says. winnie courten jones At Bangor University, UK.

However, there is uncertainty as to whether they are truly better than alternative materials. “There's been a bit of a knee-jerk reaction to move away from traditional fossil fuel-based plastics and replace them with alternatives, and there hasn't been much testing of those other materials,” Corton says. Jones says.

To learn more, she and her colleagues tested the effects of viscose, lyocell, and polyester on the soil and some of the animals that live there. Wet wipes often end up in sewage treatment plants along with microfibers that fall off clothes in washing machines. These are accidentally spread into the soil through sludge from these plants, which is used as fertilizer.

The research team is a type of earthworm (Eisenia fetida) changes the concentration of viscose, lyocell, and polyester in the soil. Approximately 30 percent of people exposed to high concentrations of polyester died after 72 hours. In contrast, almost 60 percent of those exposed to lyocell and 80 percent of those exposed to viscose died.

When researchers tested it at lower concentrations that are more commonly encountered in the real world, they found that worms exposed to viscose or lyocell reproduced less than worms exposed to polyester. Ta. It is unclear why this occurs, but fibrous material, regardless of its composition, can be toxic to earthworms.

“Bio-based fibers are [be] “It's not fossil fuel-based, so it's great when it's produced, but we don&#39t have a clear vision of whether it's great when it&#39s broken down.” caroline goshott lindsay at the University of Glasgow, UK. “They still have a place because we still need to replace the fossil fuel industry. But it's important to know that the message is not that if they go into the environment it will be better.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com