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Founder baffled by married couple earning ₹60 LPA but splitting bills equally: ‘Like flatmates’
Ayushmaan Kapoor criticized a high-earning couple for splitting expenses equally, arguing it reflects poor financial planning.
A founder based in Delhi NCR has expressed his confusion about a high-earning couple that splits all bills and expenses equally between themselves. Calling it a lack of financial planning and common goals on their part, Ayushmaan Kapoor took to LinkedIn to share a reflection on modern-day marriages.
Kapoor based his post on an unnamed couple where both partners work in good companies and draw high salaries. With each person earning upwards of ₹30 lakh per annum, their total household income exceeds ₹60 lakh per annum.
However, Kapoor, founder of The Date Crew, said that they are living more like flatmates than a married couple as they maintain meticulous records to split their bills equally.
The story of a well-heeled Gurgaon couple
“A couple living in Gurgaon. Work at great companies. Make ₹30L+ each. But still maintaining a Splitwise or Google Sheet to divide every single expense: rent, groceries, fuel, Swiggy, electricity,” he wrote on LinkedIn.
The entrepreneur said he was “baffled” by this arrangement. “All logged. All split. Each person ‘pays their share’ - like flatmates,” he wrote. “It’s baffling to me. And I will tell you why!”
Kapoor went on to talk about how a marriage must have financial planning and common goals to succeed. “When you marry someone, you’re essentially co-founding a company.
And that company… is your life together. So imagine the chaos if both co-founders have different goals, different expenses and different priorities. Will that company EVER succeed?” he questioned.
Four things for a successful marriage
Using the metaphor of marriage as a company, he listed four things that a company needs to succeed. The first one – A shared vision and goals for the year. Kapoor explained that this could include anything from taking a big holiday to hitting a key investment milestone.
Second, he called for “Clarity on roles” – including who will handle finances, kitchen duties, childcare, emotional labour etc.
Third, Kapoor said a successful company – and by extension, a successful marriage – must have a “Pooled capital and a joint financial plan”. And lastly, it should have “Regular reviews to track progress and stay aligned”.
The Delhi founder added that when a couple begins to see their life as a joint entity, their money habits must change. Instead of splitting bills, they should invest together, pool their resources, understand each other’s dreams and figure out how to fund them together.
He urged all couples to discuss their finances openly. However, Kapoor’s post proved divisive on social media.
While some agreed with his opinion, others said that how a couple splits their bills is nobody else’s business.
“After using splitwise for sometine, they will split wisely…” quipped one person on LinkedIn. “Agreed but don't you think having a system like splitwise or sheets in place only adds more clarity and transparency? Let's be honest, it gets tough to have money discussions in general. Wouldn't this solve the problem entirely?” another asked.
On Reddit, where a screenshot of the post was shared, people again questioned why the entrepreneur was worried about other people’s finances.
“Splitting expenses in marriage is reasonable, as long as there’s a clear joint plan around savings and investment goals,” wrote one Reddit user. “Transactional relationship is one of the major cause of separations lately. And I have heard this from a therapist,” another countered.
