Comments on: Your Take: Splitting Checks

By: clare

clare — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 04:31:23 +0000

i’m usually the one who orders without regard to price.

i add up what i ordered, add 15-20%, and then add $10 on top of that…

and then i go to the bathroom and let everyone else figure it out.

there’s no point in not being as generous as possible in situations like this.

By: Livingalmostlarge

Livingalmostlarge — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 03:03:43 +0000

I wish we could ask for seperate checks. I know everytime we go out, people are short. It’s a lot harder with coworkers than friends. And the other night, sorry I was particularly pissed when they ordered wine by the bottle and I don’t drink. Then I was expected to chip for the drinks?

Um, hello! But I tossed in cash and didn’t toss in for the bottle of wine. And yes we were short, but tough. I mentioned it and said I wasn’t paying for wine. And I think some people were upset, but tough luck for them. They were expecting a free ride and I was not about to give it to them. I called them on it, it’s pretty obvious if you don’t imbibe that you shouldn’t have to pay.

By: EA

EA — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 18:00:56 +0000

It depends on who you eat with. I’ve found that the easiest thing, if you eat with the same person/couple a lot is to alternate paying. It will all work out in the end. Presumably they are people you like if you eat with them all the time and it won’t matter if you pay a few percent more than your share.

Back in the day, when we’d go out to the bar, it was usually split evenly among the drinking folks so the designated driver (if we were off the public transit line and there was one) would have their soda/snacks/billiards paid for. That compensated them for gas and such.

In a group that’s less friendly, there aren’t many good options. Asking for separate checks up front is probably the best.

By: Meg

Meg — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 03:47:01 +0000

It’s best to just split the check evenly between people/couples. In my opinion it’s annoying and even tacky (depending on the circumstances) to make the waiter break up a check 5 ways based on exactly what you got, or to quabble for half an hour over the bill as each person tries to figure out what they owe. If a few dollars is that big of a deal you probably shouldn’t be eating out anyway.

If one person orders significantly more than the others, s/he should offer to pay the gratuity for the whole bill, or cover the whole bill entirely.

If a person owes significantly less, (like more than $15) then by all means speak up and suggest perhaps that you won’t add any gratuity on your portion of the bill, or put in cash for their portion before the check is split between others’ cards.

By: Daily Yeah

Daily Yeah — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 03:43:20 +0000

Really depends on the people i’m with. If i’m really close with the people then we’ll take turns fronting the whole bill. It takes forever trying to split something big, and somebody’s feelings is bound to get hurt and friendships ruined over a few dollars. In the end if 1 person fronts it all and then takes turns with his/her friends it’ll all even out.

By: MoneyNing

MoneyNing — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 00:01:23 +0000

It definitely is based on the social circle. I have some friends where we always end up having TOO MUCH money. I have other friends where it is always short. I also have friends where one of them always tries to pay with credit card and dictate how much everyone needs to pay him (safe to say no one really wants to eat with him that often).

By: Rev

Rev — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 20:33:09 +0000

Blah I hate shared checks. I normally am not a cash guy but I have to be now because it always seems to work out I end up paying for my meal and all of the tip. I am starting to get a separate checks now because it is just easier.

Last time it happened really bad I was invited to someone else’s birthday dinner. They passed the check around and everyone added cash and by the time it passed 10 people and got to me it was short 40 dollars and my meal was only 15. needless to say that was a 70 dollar meal I won’t forget or be going back for. Especially since everyone start to jump up or not make eye contact or when mentioned said “i paid my share”. It just depends on the people.

By: saladdin

saladdin — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 17:37:23 +0000

Like someone posting above, in my circle checks are never split. There is no count of “who paid last.” It is always my intention to pay for the meal and normally have to go to the extreme to do so. For example, faking going to the bathroom and paying ahead of leaving. There is no thought of “returning the favor” and not looked upon as a gift in any way.

saladdin

By: Rob Carlson

Rob Carlson — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 17:25:48 +0000

I think you should always come to a table of co-workers prepared to pay the mean cost per person. If everybody consents or the meals are horribly mismatched you should be able to adjust it to the fact that Sally had fries and Bob had the sirloin and four margaritas.

By: Monevator

Monevator — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 13:02:13 +0000

Splitting cheques is definitely best, but in a big group there’s always someone who takes (maybe unwittingly) advantage of the situation. I have a friend who unfailingly orders a la carte, drinks cocktails and so forth, and just doesn’t realise others around the table are all ordering the special, or whatever.

That’s fine when I’m out with him, but in a big group it’s almost rude. But he’s pretty oblivious to it.

My dirty secret: The other day a very robust friend called him up on it and broke all the bills down by person (he’s a bit of a mental maths whiz) and I was secretly happy. My high-rolling friend’s bill was literally 50% more than the average…

By: Lord

Lord — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 07:26:04 +0000

This really varies with the group. Friends and small groups usually have no trouble splitting things up, but I have been with others, some of whom won’t put in anything unless you catch them on it. Are they just cheap, privileged, or what?

By: thehungrydollar.com

thehungrydollar.com — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 04:07:24 +0000

I’m a big advocate for splitting the check. I do however; make sure to let the waiter/waitress know as soon as possible so he/she doesn’t have to run the bill twice. That’s pretty rude…

By: Adfecto

Adfecto — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 21:20:21 +0000

I have a tendency in my group of friends to pick up some extra slack in these situations. It is most apparent when we order an appetizer or dessert. We ask the server to split checks at the start and then I put the “shared” nachos (or whatever) on my tab. On occation one of my other friends will step up and do the same. Some in the group have never volunteered for their turn but that doesn’t bother me. There is a wide range of financial means in our group and I know that I am in a situation where my ability to kick in some extra is appreciated. I am also more likely that my other friends to suggest we order up a starter in the first place (though not always) so it makes sense that I pay for being a ‘bad influence.’

I did once have a female friend that would ask me if I’d like to do XYZ on Saturday night. I had a long distance girlfriend (and made this clear to this girl) at the time. Twice she stiffed me for the check. It wasn’t like it was a $5 burger either. One time it was a $40 tab at Ramano’s Macaroni Grill and the next it was at a sea food place and she ordered LOBSTER ($30) while I had shrimp pasta ($15). The second time we also had plans to see a movie after dinner so I suggested to her that since I got dinner she should get the movie tickets (still far less than her dinner). In my head I was thinking, “wtf – this isn’t a date, I’m not trying to get lucky, and she invited me!” She bought the tickets but seemed aghast that I asked. I stopped returning her phone calls shortly thereafter.

By: Adam Williamson

Adam Williamson — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:36:07 +0000

It is easy to forget to ask for seperate checks at the beginning of the meal (though after three months of business travel it has become second nature). Depending on whom I am with splitting the check evenly usually keeps itself evened out over time. In fact, as an experiment, my senior year college roomate and I would pay for the entire cost of the two of us going out and just trade off who bought on what nights. We kept the reciepts and then at the end of the year tallied up the difference, he ended up owing me $0.67. We weren’t actively tracking it and only totaled it up at the end of the year to see how it worked out.

That being said I have one friend who will only pay his exact share every time. Generally also forgetting that tax and tip should be included (he refuses to tip except on rare occasions). This has only caused a probelm once since we were going to movies afterwards and the general consensus was that the couple that purchased the movie tickets (had to be bought in advance) would eat for free. My fiancee and I ended up paying for four meals alltogether since the other friend threw in only the cost of his meal. Don’t get me wrong, this is the same guy who left his job early drove 4 hours to pick me up and bring me home because I missed a bus and expected nothing for it, just don’t go out to eat with him.

By: Dariaclone

Dariaclone — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:25:10 +0000

When I go out with friends we all throw in what we think we owe and the total never ends up short. Perhaps my friends are better at math than yours Actually, I think there are a lot of former servers in my group, so they all round generously and we just tip well if/when there is extra.