How do you split the bill when going out with friends?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Split it, evenly, down the middle. Nothing infuriates me more than women who insist on itemizing. "You had the steak but I only had the salad and water ..." AHHHHHHHHHH!

That's probably because you are ordering the steak and she is getting the salad and water. Pay your own way. I pay my share, taxes and tip. You pay yours.

Yup. Nothing infuriates me more than the person who has 4 drinks to everyone else's 1-2 drinks and wants to split the bill evenly. YOU are the cheapskate, not the salad and water person. Way to take advantage of your friends.

That's one way to look at it. Another way would be that another time, you'll have the extra drink or the more expensive entree. It all evens out. You sound like a great friend!

Always split evenly.

Typically I agree with you. But there are times when people are broke -- bc their start up is running out of money and didn't make payroll on time; or the hot water heater went on the blink or whatever. And they likely aren't announcing it to their friends. I always assume people have things like that going on before I suggest splitting the bill vs. pay your own share. If it comes out to a $2 difference -- fine, it evens out over time. If I really had a steak and drinks, while a friend had a drink and ate nothing -- um no, I'm not asking her to subsidize it for me.

I agree with you (PP here). This is assuming we all had similar meals, more or less (either all out three/four courses with multiple bottles of wine, dessert, and coffee or just an entree and a drink). Of course if someone only has a drink, or joins for coffee it would be ridiculous to split.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yup. Nothing infuriates me more than the person who has 4 drinks to everyone else's 1-2 drinks and wants to split the bill evenly. YOU are the cheapskate, not the salad and water person. Way to take advantage of your friends.

That's one way to look at it. Another way would be that another time, you'll have the extra drink or the more expensive entree. It all evens out. You sound like a great friend!

Always split evenly.

Or maybe you won't, because your financial situation isn't likely to change. The alternative as PPs have stated is to not eat out together with those friends, which has its own price.

[Anonymous]

I am the OP. We usually split evenly. Last night, we went out with a few new people. One girl was sitting there trying to calculate everyone's individual share. Some people had credit cards. Others were paying in cash. Restaurant was closing. Waiter was obviously annoyed. Whole ordeal took like 30 minutes. This was a cheap restaurant ($10-20 entrees). A few people ordered appetizers and drinks. I think everyone ate at least a little bit of the appetizers. I actually ordered appetizers for the table and shared with everyone but ended up paying for "my appetizers".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yup. Nothing infuriates me more than the person who has 4 drinks to everyone else's 1-2 drinks and wants to split the bill evenly. YOU are the cheapskate, not the salad and water person. Way to take advantage of your friends.

That's one way to look at it. Another way would be that another time, you'll have the extra drink or the more expensive entree. It all evens out. You sound like a great friend!

Always split evenly.

Or maybe you won't, because your financial situation isn't likely to change. The alternative as PPs have stated is to not eat out together with those friends, which has its own price.

OP here. I'm not a big drinker. I spent all my younger years splitting bills with people who drank. I often did not have a lot of money. I always just thought that was the cost of going out.

When I was in college, there was this girl who made a whole scene about not wanting to split a bill evenly. She claimed she doesn't like seafood and did not eat any shrimp. She made a huge stink about it. Thought it was really strange. I didn't eat some of the eggplant dish that was on the other side of the table and some other things.

[Anonymous]

My friends and are good at math. If it is close to even, we split. We may adjust based on drinks.

[Anonymous]

Separate checks unless we all ordered the same/similarly priced items (i.e. All had a pasta dish and a beer) or we are treating someone for their birthday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Split it, evenly, down the middle. Nothing infuriates me more than women who insist on itemizing. "You had the steak but I only had the salad and water ..." AHHHHHHHHHH!

That's probably because you are ordering the steak and she is getting the salad and water. Pay your own way. I pay my share, taxes and tip. You pay yours.

Yup. Nothing infuriates me more than the person who has 4 drinks to everyone else's 1-2 drinks and wants to split the bill evenly. YOU are the cheapskate, not the salad and water person. Way to take advantage of your friends.

That's one way to look at it. Another way would be that another time, you'll have the extra drink or the more expensive entree. It all evens out. You sound like a great friend!

Always split evenly.

Or not. Not everyone orders a $30 meal, ever, and not everyone drinks. And if you're the steak person whining to split it evenly, you're probably guilty of it MOST of the time, so it still won't "even out" if the salad person gets a steak once.

But honestly, I'm surprised you have this issue. One meal with you would be enough for me to not go to dinner with you again.

[Anonymous]

With my main group of friends, we tend to just pay for what we order. Usually everyone rounds up and we end up with a good size tip for the waiter. We've been friends since college and we all had days when budgets were tight. Don't want to make it awkward for anyone who might be having a tough time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am the OP. We usually split evenly. Last night, we went out with a few new people. One girl was sitting there trying to calculate everyone's individual share. Some people had credit cards. Others were paying in cash. Restaurant was closing. Waiter was obviously annoyed. Whole ordeal took like 30 minutes. This was a cheap restaurant ($10-20 entrees). A few people ordered appetizers and drinks. I think everyone ate at least a little bit of the appetizers. I actually ordered appetizers for the table and shared with everyone but ended up paying for "my appetizers".

That is a bit different as you choose them and ordered them. It would be nice if people chipped in, but it was your order. Everyone should calculate their own, takes a few minutes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am the OP. We usually split evenly. Last night, we went out with a few new people. One girl was sitting there trying to calculate everyone's individual share. Some people had credit cards. Others were paying in cash. Restaurant was closing. Waiter was obviously annoyed. Whole ordeal took like 30 minutes. This was a cheap restaurant ($10-20 entrees). A few people ordered appetizers and drinks. I think everyone ate at least a little bit of the appetizers. I actually ordered appetizers for the table and shared with everyone but ended up paying for "my appetizers".

I guess it really depends on the "drinks" thing - how many? Drinks are expensive and people who don't or can't drink generally do not want to pay for other people drinking. Individual drinks aren't shared.

Why didn't you guys just ask for separate checks, FFS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Split it, evenly, down the middle. Nothing infuriates me more than women who insist on itemizing. "You had the steak but I only had the salad and water ..." AHHHHHHHHHH!

That's probably because you are ordering the steak and she is getting the salad and water. Pay your own way. I pay my share, taxes and tip. You pay yours.

Yup. Nothing infuriates me more than the person who has 4 drinks to everyone else's 1-2 drinks and wants to split the bill evenly. YOU are the cheapskate, not the salad and water person. Way to take advantage of your friends.

That's one way to look at it. Another way would be that another time, you'll have the extra drink or the more expensive entree. It all evens out. You sound like a great friend!

Always split evenly.

I'm a vegetarian and I rarely drink. Its not even about being cheap, but I usually will agree to any restaurant if they at least have a salad. It will never even out if you get a steak meal and 1-2 glasses of alcohol and I get a salad or sides and a basic drink. It doesn't all even out as generally those who spend more going out, always do. You sound greedy to expect someone to pay for your meal every time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yup. Nothing infuriates me more than the person who has 4 drinks to everyone else's 1-2 drinks and wants to split the bill evenly. YOU are the cheapskate, not the salad and water person. Way to take advantage of your friends.

That's one way to look at it. Another way would be that another time, you'll have the extra drink or the more expensive entree. It all evens out. You sound like a great friend!

Always split evenly.

Or maybe you won't, because your financial situation isn't likely to change. The alternative as PPs have stated is to not eat out together with those friends, which has its own price.

OP here. I'm not a big drinker. I spent all my younger years splitting bills with people who drank. I often did not have a lot of money. I always just thought that was the cost of going out.

When I was in college, there was this girl who made a whole scene about not wanting to split a bill evenly. She claimed she doesn't like seafood and did not eat any shrimp. She made a huge stink about it. Thought it was really strange. I didn't eat some of the eggplant dish that was on the other side of the table and some other things.

Honestly, it sounds like you had selfish friends and that has rubbed off on you. Paying for other people's drinks is not the price of going out. Maybe I have nicer friends but I have never once had anyone expect I would subsidize their drinks or vice versa. If we were both drinking, sure. But as a rule? No. What pleasure do I have in going out and spending money on alcohol for other people?

People split checks ALL THE TIME. Any waiter can split it for you, or itemize it for you. If they say they can't they're lying because they don't want to.

[Anonymous]

Almost always split or takes turns paying, regardless of the number of kids. When I go out with a group of girlfriends, usually everyone orders similarly priced meals and a few drinks. If someone is not drinking and we just get one round or drinks, she will usually just insist on splitting anyway. If we are there for a while and order a bunch of drinks, the non-drinker may ask for a separate check and everyone else splits. If we are going someplace with all our kids, chances are it's cheap and the kids all share food anyway so no one is really worried about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yup. Nothing infuriates me more than the person who has 4 drinks to everyone else's 1-2 drinks and wants to split the bill evenly. YOU are the cheapskate, not the salad and water person. Way to take advantage of your friends.

That's one way to look at it. Another way would be that another time, you'll have the extra drink or the more expensive entree. It all evens out. You sound like a great friend!

Always split evenly.

Or maybe you won't, because your financial situation isn't likely to change. The alternative as PPs have stated is to not eat out together with those friends, which has its own price.

OP here. I'm not a big drinker. I spent all my younger years splitting bills with people who drank. I often did not have a lot of money. I always just thought that was the cost of going out.

When I was in college, there was this girl who made a whole scene about not wanting to split a bill evenly. She claimed she doesn't like seafood and did not eat any shrimp. She made a huge stink about it. Thought it was really strange. I didn't eat some of the eggplant dish that was on the other side of the table and some other things.

Honestly, it sounds like you had selfish friends and that has rubbed off on you. Paying for other people's drinks is not the price of going out. Maybe I have nicer friends but I have never once had anyone expect I would subsidize their drinks or vice versa. If we were both drinking, sure. But as a rule? No. What pleasure do I have in going out and spending money on alcohol for other people?

People split checks ALL THE TIME. Any waiter can split it for you, or itemize it for you. If they say they can't they're lying because they don't want to.

OP here. Quite the opposite. We have very generous friends. DH usually fights to pay the bill with our friends. We have a 7 figure income and most of our friends also have very high incomes. No one is thinking about who ordered a salad and who ordered lobster.

When my good friends and I go out, we split evenly or we take turns treating.

Itemizing a bill seems so cheap to me. Not something friends should do. After last night, I am not interested in hanging out with the girl who itemized the bill. Other girls next to me were staring at her thinking she was so annoying. It made dinner dynamics awkward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yup. Nothing infuriates me more than the person who has 4 drinks to everyone else's 1-2 drinks and wants to split the bill evenly. YOU are the cheapskate, not the salad and water person. Way to take advantage of your friends.

That's one way to look at it. Another way would be that another time, you'll have the extra drink or the more expensive entree. It all evens out. You sound like a great friend!

Always split evenly.

Or maybe you won't, because your financial situation isn't likely to change. The alternative as PPs have stated is to not eat out together with those friends, which has its own price.

OP here. I'm not a big drinker. I spent all my younger years splitting bills with people who drank. I often did not have a lot of money. I always just thought that was the cost of going out.

When I was in college, there was this girl who made a whole scene about not wanting to split a bill evenly. She claimed she doesn't like seafood and did not eat any shrimp. She made a huge stink about it. Thought it was really strange. I didn't eat some of the eggplant dish that was on the other side of the table and some other things.

Honestly, it sounds like you had selfish friends and that has rubbed off on you. Paying for other people's drinks is not the price of going out. Maybe I have nicer friends but I have never once had anyone expect I would subsidize their drinks or vice versa. If we were both drinking, sure. But as a rule? No. What pleasure do I have in going out and spending money on alcohol for other people?

People split checks ALL THE TIME. Any waiter can split it for you, or itemize it for you. If they say they can't they're lying because they don't want to.

OP here. Quite the opposite. We have very generous friends. DH usually fights to pay the bill with our friends. We have a 7 figure income and most of our friends also have very high incomes. No one is thinking about who ordered a salad and who ordered lobster.

When my good friends and I go out, we split evenly or we take turns treating.

Itemizing a bill seems so cheap to me. Not something friends should do. After last night, I am not interested in hanging out with the girl who itemized the bill. Other girls next to me were staring at her thinking she was so annoying. It made dinner dynamics awkward.

Sorry, these sound like ridiculous rich people problems. Why didn't you just pay the whole thing with your oodles of cash?