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If two people share the expenses and person 'A' pays 20 in a supermarket then that person should receive 10 from person 'B' in cash to be fair

If the person 'B' decides to repay instead of cash by buying in a next purchase in a supermarket though should that person buy something that costs 20 as well to be fair?

user92933
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    Seems like a pretty straightforward "yes" if both A and B get roughly equal use out of both purchases. Is there some particular reason this seems more complicated? – glibdud Jan 04 '20 at 15:59
  • If there’s a long gap between the purchasing of the common goods or the common goods are very expensive then interest on the money not paid back may be significant. – Dugan Jan 05 '20 at 00:19

1 Answers1

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This is why accounting (though not double entry accounting) was invented...

To keep things equitable, then yes, Person B giving $10 cash to Person A or buying $20 of groceries for the "common pot".

I suggest a simple ledger sheet. Here's a hypothetical scenario where each person makes two purchases during the month for the "common pot":

           A    B
           -    -
Purch #1  $20     
Purch #2  $30
Purch #3       $40
Purch #4       $50
EOM Pymt  $20
EOM Rcvd:     $-20
          ---  ---
          $70  $70

TOTAL SPENT: $20+30+$40+$50 = $140
EQUAL CONTRIBUTIONS: $140/2 = $70
EQUALIZING PAYMENT: $70 - $50 = $20

In this case, at EOM (end of month), Person A pays $20 to Person B to ensure that they both contributed an equal amount.

Clear as mud?

RonJohn
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