Splitwise helps students calculate ways to save cash

Creators bring living expense calculating app to Muncie

	<p>Co-founders Jon Bittner, Ryan Laughlin and Marshall Weir created Splitwise to help ease the stress of splitting rent between roommates. The app started in 2011 and added numbers for Muncie this year. DN <span class="caps">PHOTO</span> <span class="caps">BREANNA</span> <span class="caps">DAUGHERTY</span></p>

Co-founders Jon Bittner, Ryan Laughlin and Marshall Weir created Splitwise to help ease the stress of splitting rent between roommates. The app started in 2011 and added numbers for Muncie this year. DN PHOTO BREANNA DAUGHERTY

Average monthly rent per bedroom in Muncie (zip code 47303)

Studio: $381
One bedroom: $440
Two bedrooms: $276
Three bedrooms: $211

Yearly savings from having a roommate compared to living alone
One bedroom: $2,640
Two bedrooms: $1,968
Three bedrooms: $2,748

Source:
Splitwise

No longer do roommates have to squabble over who owes what for rent, utilities or groceries.

Splitwise, a web tool and app, calculates how to split living costs among roommates and also gathers data on average renting prices in an area.

For thrifty Ball State students, the creators of Splitwise recently calculated costs of living in Muncie with and without roommates at colleges.splitwise.com/ball-state-university.

The app is run full time by co-founders Jon Bittner, Ryan Laughlin and Marshall Weir.

Starting off as a website in May 2011 and called “Split the Rent,” Splitwise was created to ease the stress of calculating how much each roommate would pay.

The app works by having a person put in a zip code into what is called a “Fairness Calculator.”

“The point of the tool is to show people how having roommates can save them money,” said Zoe Chaves, business development and marketing at Splitwise.

The app can calculate rent cost, renter’s insurance, taxes, furniture costs and travel costs.

Once the region and zip code are selected, the buyer has a chance to explore their options.

Prices are determined by arrangement, monthly rent per bedroom and savings per year.

For example, the average studio apartment rent per month in Muncie is $381, but the average cost per room for a three-bedroom household is $211.

“There are no specific expensive or cheap rents,” Chaves said.

In September 2011, the app version of Splitwise launched.

“The app has taken years to get it at the point it is now,” Bittner said. “We’ve just improving it nonstop.”

Splitwise employees work to change the format and hide major math calculations to make it easier for customers to understand.

Splitwise also has manufactured an app that can be used for splitting up big dinner bills called Plates by Splitwise.

“People have been excited about it since the first time,” Bittner said. “Everyone thinks about money in a different way. We try to make it easier and less confusing.”

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