New app to ease shared house squabbles

Melbourne: Tired of working out among roommates who owes what on rent and groceries -- well, this new app may help you out. Easyshare is a new web-based app that will sort out who owes what on rent and groceries, and help you keep tabs on your social life, Domain online reported.

The digital platform at easyshare.money/sharehouse hopes to attract millions of renters by reducing (if not totally eliminating), arguments over rents and groceries. "It would be very rare that there is no friction between housemates over unpaid or late rental payments and the sharing of bills when they co-habit," app developer John Bush, an accountant by profession, said.

The website has a simple interface that allows users to note when the rent is due and who owes what. But more than that, it also provides an interface to a National Australia Bank account where tenants' shares are deducted from their accounts by direct debit or credit card, according to a pre-agreed split, then paid directly to rental agents, eliminating one of the most common causes of share-house angst.

Household bills and the names and phone numbers of preferred trades people (like locksmiths and electricians) can also be posted, and room-mates can even have virtual "house meetings" if their lives are never in sync for a proper sit-down. As well as providing a safety net for forgetful housemates, the company has created two additional platforms for sole residents and commercial entities.