This Is Your Sign To Open A Shared Bank Account With Your Friends

Getting the girl’s trip out of the group chat is an accomplishment — but then you realize you’re about to spend the entire vacation making nonstop financial decisions. Sure, you successfully made it to the beach and have a margarita in hand, but who’s putting the hotel rooms on their card? Are you splitting the bill at dinner? And who should everyone Venmo?

On Aug. 17, Kim Brindell, the cofounder of an event-planning company in Australia, posted a TikTok about how she solved all these problems with one easy trick: a shared bank account with her group of friends. The six women put $20 AUD (about $12.80 USD) into the account every week leading up to their annual getaway, and then they use that money to pay for everything — the flights, hotels, groceries, dinners, etc. After saving for months, the balance ahead of their first trip with the account was about $2,609 USD.

The shared account was born during a weekend trip to Hobart, Tasmania, in 2023 — about an hour flight away from their hometown. Each friend paid their own way, and it was a total headache. “It led to two hours over breakfast on our last day poring through bank statements and trying to work out who owed who what after a weekend of 'I'll get this one, you get the next one,’” Brindell tells Bustle.

As they stared at the bill, one friend said how much easier it would be if they had just one bank account to use. Before they left the table, they had one open.

The Benefits Of A Group Account

Brindell’s TikTok, which has over 700,000 likes, stirred up mixed reactions. Some commenters loved the idea. “It can also pay the restaurant bills and Ubers, then you’re not arguing over it,” one person wrote. “Just pay [with] the holiday card!”

Others worried their friends would steal the money or sneakily use it for something other than a vacation, but Brindell says that’s never been a concern for her group. Most of the friends, all in their mid-30s, met 20 years ago in high school and have been close ever since.

Their new account plays a big role in that, she says, as it’s allowed them to actually go on vacation instead of just talking about it. “We're a group of busy women who all lead very different jobs and lives. Finding time to prioritize our friendship and catch-ups has always been something we've had to actively work at,” she says.

Since opening the account, they’ve visited two other Australian destinations: a winery in Adelaide and the beach in sunny Noosa. “Because this account is growing in the background, it removes the barrier of chunky costs when booking flights and accommodations, and means we are so much more likely to actually go on a holiday every year.”

Before their most recent trip, the friends each stashed an extra $100 in the account. “That way, there was nothing that wasn't put on the shared card,” she says. “We even had a private chef!” Their flights cost $272 total (purchased on sale almost a year in advance), their chef for the weekend was $390, accommodations were $765, groceries and alcohol $260, and all their car rides about $130 “We actually had money leftover, which will go toward our next trip that we hope will be even bigger and better, “she says.

How It All Works

When they first opened the account, the six friends added $6.50 each week via direct deposit. They started small on purpose so it wouldn’t be too much of a burden, but soon doubled the amount.

The group includes a real estate agent, a teacher, a marketer, and a photographer, and four of them have kids. Before boosting the contribution, they had a quick group gut check to make sure everyone was on board.

“We're a fairly generous bunch, so if someone was going through a hard time financially, I have no doubt we'd have no issue putting a bit more in to help someone out for a period if required,” Brindell says. “That hasn't happened yet, though.”

Since the goal is to keep things simple, only the friend who opened the card has access to the account, but she does send screenshots to anyone who wants to see the total. To make it work, communication is key.

At the end of every trip, the girls sit down over dinner and chat about the places they’d like to go next. Once they decide, the savvy shopper of the group sets a sale alert on her phone for flights, and whichever destination has the best deal or the first sale wins.

“Literally Life-Changing”

Brindell says having this account has been completely life-changing. It makes it easier for them to get away as a group, but the added bonus is the actual trip trips now feels more like a vacation, instead of a financial hassle.

“We don’t have to worry about the awkward dance to pay at dinner, and no one has to quickly scramble to write down or save in an app how much they paid,” she says. “We don’t have to think about money once!”