This post is brought to you by Glide.

So, you’re all moved in to a house you love, you’ve hung up the obligatory pics around the house and you’ve purchased your first pot plant - life is good. However, you’ve just reached the end of the month and there’s nothing more uncomfortable than having to dance around asking your housemates to pay up for their share. It’s something we have to do, but we can all admit it gets a little awks. Here are some ways to make splitting and paying your bills a smoother experience.

1. Agree on a plan of action as soon as you move in

With lots of house shares, it’s natural for people to want different things. That’s all well and good, but when your housemate decides midway through the year you don’t need any internet because they’re going on a digital detox, it can all get a bit messy. Sit down at the beginning of your tenancy and decide what everyone needs to contribute to throughout the year and stick to it. This will avoid having to battle it out when your bills come through, which can make things more heated than they need to be.

2. Use Glide

Why spend time and energy on working out how to pay for bills when there’s something that’ll do it for you? Glide puts all your monthly payments into one and they split them evenly between each housemate , which makes it easier to budget for important things ahem buying pizza each month, plus it means you’re only ever responsible for your share. You get freedom over which services and utilities you and your housemates want and Glide take away the hassle of managing several bills from multiple companies. Cheers Glide! You can also track your energy usage and bills on the online portal, so no one can be out of the loop.

3. Make money convo casual from the get-go

The main reason why splitting bills can become so awkward is because people get so uncomfortable talking about money, full stop. Rather than discussing that bills need to be paid or sorted, lots of us will just assume someone else will take care of it. OR EVEN WORSE, you become the passive aggressive housemate wishing you weren’t the only one who mentions the very important topic of bills! No matter which one of these scenarios you fit into, it helps to make money talk a casual thing from the start and, in fact, this goes beyond bills. Even if you’re getting irked by how much food your housemate’s new bf or gf is consuming out of the groceries, mentioning it casually rather than letting it fester for months can make things go more smoothly.

4. Do your research

There’s nothing worse than being caught out or being delivered an unexpected bill, so it pays to do your research. For example, do you need to get yourself a TV licence? Also, if you’re a full time student you’ll be exempt from paying council tax, but you’ll need to apply for an exemption so the council know that you’re students. Finding out things like this could stop unnecessary headache.

Find out more about Glide Student here! Oh, and don’t forget when you sign up you get a £50 gift card for The Restaurant Choice with your UNiDAYS account.