PITTSBURGH -- Splitting a group dinner bill can prove challenging even to the mathematically inclined. However three local grad students think they have designed a program that could make post-meal haggling a thing of the past.

Carnegie Mellon University's Ashwin Bharambe, Amit Manjhi and Shashank Pandit created Buxfer, short for "bucks transfer," several years ago for their own use. The social networking site with a personal finance angle allows users to form groups of friends or housemates. Then they can track online who owes what for expenses like utility bills, dinner tabs and movie tickets.

It quickly became popular with friends and colleagues. So the three of them started a Web site in September offering Buxfer to the general public at no cost. Most users are university students.