<prompt> Human: I just moved in with 2 friends of mine. I needed a place quickly and they happened to be looking for a third roommate so it seemed perfect. The apartment we are renting costs 1100 a month. There are only two bedrooms, one of which I am sharing. So one of us has her own room, and the other girl and I are sharing the other. Is it reasonable for myself and my roommate to pay 275 each? The way I see it, before I moved in they each paid 550. Now that I am taking up half a room, shouldnt my roommate and I each pay half of what she previously owed? We are currently paying 375 each, and Im not sure if Im getting screwed or if theres more to it than Im seeing. But if it costs 550 for a room and Im sharing a room, logically it follows that I should pay 275 for half the space. I could really use any advice you have, Im a first time renter and dont know whether to pay all 375 or just pay for my space.  <response>: While I agree a three-way split isnt fair in this circumstance, neither is splitting it by the room. You all share common space- bathroom, living room, kitchen. Only a small portion is unevenly paid for. If all three of you are willing to negotiate and note the person in the private bedroom at this point is the one with something to lose and may feel ganged up on.. the equitable way might be to divide the rental cost by square footage. If common areas are 700 sqft, the private bed is 150 sqft and the shared bed is 200sqft, you would allocate 1 rent per 1100 sqft. The 700 sqft common area gets split three ways 233.33 per person and the bedrooms split 150 for the private and 100 per person for the shared. Total: Private bedroom: 383.33month; Shared bedroom: 333.33month. 