A pair of best friends have revealed they split their finances 50/50 – despite one of them being a freelancer – with NO rules on how they spend the money.
Caitlin Emiko and Tahlia Edwards have been pooling their salaries together for the past three years, and claim it works perfectly – even helping motivate them to work harder for one another.
The duo has gone viral on TikTok, with posts of them explaining the unusual set-up garnering over a million views.
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While it has proved divisive online – with some branding it “unhinged” and others loving the idea – the friends, who live together, insists it works well for them.
“People are usually shocked, especially because we’re not a couple,” Caitlin, 26, told What’s The Jam.
“They think it’s so strange.
“We get a lot of ‘I could never do that with my friends’ – but it’s what works for us.”
The idea came about with the two sharing a home and working in the same field, as well as spending much of their social time together.
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Caitlin said: “We were doing everything together – coffee, lunch, dinner – we were practically attached at the hip.
“Once we decided to move to New York together [from Australia], I put it forward and said it makes sense for us to combine our money.
“The benefits are accountability and also stability.”
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Both of the Aussies now live in New York and work in marketing, with Tahlia, 27, on a fixed salary and Caitlin working on a freelance basis.
Caitlin explained: “Tahlia has a salary and I am a freelancer so we have supported each other during slower freelance months, and had the freedom to say yes to things whenever I have bigger freelance months.
“I wouldn’t be able to do my creative job without her stable job, and she wouldn’t be able to do certain holidays and things without my creative income.
“So we honestly just optimise each other’s lives, and it’s really beautiful.”
Caitlin estimates the two spend similar amounts on things like clothing and meals out – but says there are “no rules” when it comes to big purchases.
She even shared a light-hearted TikTok after splurging $300 on a manicure, saying she was “working out how to tell Tahlia”.
But in reality, Caitlin says there are “no real surprises” and that they “share everything”.
With the two having a “similar view on money” and both “not being stingy”, they say it works – and say they have never fought about money.
As for what happens when the two are no longer single – Caitlin insists their friendship is special, calling Tahlia her “platonic soulmate”.
Caitlin added: “[Sharing our money] has honestly allowed us to move faster, take bigger risks, and back each other when it matters.
“We’ve split our finances for the past three years and don’t see that stopping anytime soon.
“It hasn’t raised issues, but we’re extremely upfront and aligned.
“We treat it like a business relationship, we over-communicate, stay on top of shared spreadsheets and set clear expectations.
“It only works because we have so much respect for each other.
“And it pushes us to work harder for each other.
“When we’re down we’re down together and when we are up, we are up together.”
Explaining how it works, Caitlin said the two each put half of whatever they earn into a shared account.
She said: “Imagine you get paid $100 and someone else gets paid $180 – that $280 gets pooled into our joint bank account, and out of that it’s split 50/50.
“One of the biggest questions we get asked is if one of us has ever spent a really large sum of money without the other knowing – [the answer is] no.
“I feel like this structure makes me more financially responsible because someone else is watching what you do with your money.”
