I am writing this on a seventh-floor balcony on Saturday morning with a cup of coffee Kayla made, while Dwayne and Wes argue very politely about the best way to load a dishwasher. We have one more night here. So far, everybody is still friends.
Kayla and I have known each other since high school in Laurinburg. She and her husband Dwayne have been on us for a year to take a beach weekend together, and this spring the math finally made sense. A two-bedroom condo on the south end of Myrtle Beach, near Surfside, split two ways.
How the money works
The condo was $188 a night with the cleaning fee and taxes rolled in, $376 for Friday and Saturday nights. Split two ways, that is $94 per couple per night, or $188 for our half of the whole stay. A decent motel room on the oceanfront in early June was running $150 to $180 a night with tax for one couple. For less than one motel night per couple, each of us got a bedroom, two bathrooms between us, a full kitchen, a washing machine and a balcony over the ocean.
Before anybody booked anything, Kayla and I sat at her kitchen table back in April with a notepad and agreed on the rules. I recommend this to anyone splitting a place, because the awkward conversations are easier when nobody is sunburned yet.
Here's what we agreed. One person books and the other pays back within a day: Kayla booked it on her card, and I sent her our $188 that evening. Groceries get split down the middle by receipt; we did one big grocery run together Friday afternoon, $92, so $46 each. Meals out are separate checks, with no splitting a bill four ways and doing math at the table. Gas is each couple's own, since we drove separately and nobody had to coordinate leaving times. And bedrooms went by coin flip. Kayla and Dwayne won the one with the ocean view. We got the one closer to the coffeemaker, which I think is the better prize.
Splitting the chores
The money was the easy part. Where friendships really get tested is who does the dishes. Here is how we have handled it so far.
Each couple cooks one meal. Friday night Kayla and Dwayne made shrimp tacos. This morning Wes and I did breakfast: bacon, eggs, grits and toast for four, and Wes cleaned up after because, in his words, "I made the mess." Tonight we will go out somewhere for seafood, separate checks.
Whoever didn't cook does the dishes. Simple rule, no keeping score.
The trash goes down every morning with whoever's heading to the beach first. Towels get washed Saturday night so nobody leaves with a wet bag.
Checkout is shared work. Sunday morning, we'll strip both beds, start the dishwasher, wipe down the counters and run the trash. That means nobody gets hit with a surprise cleaning charge, and nobody leaves feeling like they did more than their share.
Where we stand so far
Here's the budget for our half. The condo, gas and groceries are already paid. Supper tonight is the only part still waiting on a receipt, and I've set aside $40 for it.
- Our half of the condo, 2 nights: $188
- Gas, about 7.3 gallons at $3.25: $24
- Our half of the groceries: $46
- Saturday supper out, set aside: $40
- Expected total: $298
That is under our $300 line, barely, which is about right for the beach in June. And this trip was paid for twice over before we left. The yard sale Wes and I held at the end of March brought in $412, and I put every bit of that toward this weekend. Old fishing reels, extra casserole dishes and two closets' worth of things we never missed, turned into a condo with an ocean view.
Would I split a place with friends again? With these friends, yes. The rules I'd keep: talk about money before booking, not after; pay each other back the same day; make cooking a trade, not a chore chart; and pick people whose idea of a weekend matches yours. Kayla and Dwayne go to bed by ten and get up early, same as us. That matters more than anything on the list.
June is back home with Tonya in Pembroke, probably asleep on her couch. Wes just came out on the balcony and said the dishwasher discussion has been settled. He would not tell me who won.
