How to Split Cost of a TV With Roommates (2026)

Buying a shared TV for the living room? Here's how to split the cost of a TV with roommates fairly and figure out who keeps it at move-out.

Nobody has a couch TV. You’re all watching stuff on laptops in the living room like it’s 2011. Someone finally suggests going in on a shared 55-inch and now the question is: how do you split the cost of a TV with roommates without one person feeling stiffed six months from now?

Short answer: split it evenly if you’ll all use it evenly, put the ownership in writing before you buy, and decide right now what happens at move-out. Below is the actual math and the awkward stuff nobody wants to say out loud until it’s too late.

How do you split the cost of a shared TV fairly?

Even split, in most cases. If three of you all watch TV in the living room, you each pay a third. A 55-inch smart TV runs about $400-600 in 2026, so we’re talking $130-200 a person. Not life-ruining money — but enough that you should agree who owns it before the box shows up.

If one roommate genuinely won’t watch it (works nights, has their own TV in their room, hates screens), don’t force them in. Split it between the people who’ll actually use it. Trying to pressure someone into paying for a thing they didn’t want is how you end up arguing three months in about who gets to change the channel.

Write the split down. Group chat, one sentence: “TV = $540, three ways, $180 each, Venmo by Friday.” Screenshot it. This becomes your proof of purchase share when someone tries to walk off with it later.

Who keeps the TV when a roommate moves out?

This is the fight, and you want to answer it before you buy — not after. Three options that actually work:

Whoever pays the most keeps it. If one person wants it more, they cover 60-70% and it’s theirs at move-out. The others paid a rental fee, basically.
Buyout at move-out. Whoever wants to keep it pays the departing roommates their share back, minus depreciation. A one-year-old TV is worth maybe 50-60% of what you paid.
Sell it, split the cash. Cleanest option if nobody’s attached. Facebook Marketplace, split proceeds by original ownership share.

Pick one now. Pin it in the group chat. Future you will thank present you when someone announces they’re moving out in 30 days and everyone suddenly wants the TV.

What about the wall mount, soundbar, and streaming subscriptions?

These sneak up on you. The TV is $540 but by the time you’re done you’ve also bought:

Wall mount: $30-80
HDMI cables: $15
Soundbar (if you go there): $150-300
Streaming subs: another monthly line item

Bundle it all into the same split. Whoever installs the mount doesn’t get to charge labor — that’s not how roommates work. If a soundbar is optional and only two of you want it, only those two pay. Small extras handled the same way as splitting a new appliance with roommates: agree upfront, keep receipts, log the number.

Streaming subs are a separate conversation — those get split by who actually uses them, not by who’s in the living room. Netflix goes on the household share, HBO Max maybe only two of you want.

When one roommate breaks the shared TV

Depends how. Someone knocked it off the stand? They cover the repair or replacement. Manufacturer defect after six months? Warranty, no fight. A guest broke it? Whoever invited the guest pays.

The rule you want in place before this happens: shared purchase, individual responsibility for damage. Same principle as when a roommate breaks something in the apartment — accidents happen but the person holding the controller pays for the accident.

Document the purchase from day one. Screenshot of the receipt in the group chat with everyone’s share listed. If it lives in the living room but was bought unevenly, that receipt is the only tiebreaker that matters at move-out.

How homies handles this

homies. lets you log shared purchases with custom splits, so a TV bought three ways at $180 each is tracked forever — not just this month’s Venmo. The app keeps a record of who paid what into the household, which makes the “who gets the TV at move-out” conversation a spreadsheet instead of a fight.

rooming, minus the drama. Join the waitlist at joinhomies.app.