Restaurant Bills - To Split or Not to Split

calleyw

I am gob smacked at what snowy owl said.

I would have told them to get stuffed there and then. Or said didn't bring my wallet only my taxi fare home.

I once went out with a group from work. And one guy sat next to me moaned about his meal. I said ok say something. He did and I wanted to fall through the floor as I was so embarrassed. Rather then let them cook him another meal. He said he was not going to pay for the whole meal.

Anyway come the end of the night we divided it all up. Drinks we had paid for oursleves. Anyway his girlfriend popped in about about £5 to much and he was going lets have it back. I turned to him and said you have already had your entire 3 course meal for free. Leave it as a tip. He did not know what to say and left it at that.

I could not believe he was so tight with money. Also learnt never to go drinking with him. You buy a round and he would have alcohol. But if he was buying around he would have coke.

I am ones of these people that are tight in buying things for myself. Cheap meals out etc. But I am always more than generous when it comes to meals and buying gifts for other people.

Why people try and get one over on friends just amazes me. Prehaps they think they are smart or funny. I don't .

Yours


Calley

mancrob26

Thankyou to everyone who has posted on this thread. It is good to know that I am being fair.

The people we were eating with are actually our closest friends, and I have explained to them all since why I do what I do. All of them either still live with their parents or have reasonably good jobs. One of them has married into a rich farming family who have bought them a house outright therefore has no mortgage!

We on the other hand, have budgetted for £50.00 entertainment and treat money each week, which will go down now cos my missus gave birth to baby Jack on Friday.

Everyone was very understanding after I had explained this to them, but it is embarrassing, and shouldn't come to this either. I will definitely sort out the bill BEFORE ordering in future.

Now how's about giving me fifty quid towards Jack's college fund by voting me best post for May....!!! :T :A :T

lush_walrus

I think your friends are being unresonable. If someone in our group doesnt drink, we automatically tell them to pay for their food only.

jazzyjustlaw

mancrob26 wrote:

My girlfriend and I like to eat out, but as money savers we try to be frugal. One way we do this is by not buying wine with the meal. As we all know, restaurants charge you through the nose for alcohol, and you could be drinking the same bottle at home for a third of the price. My girlfriend is also pregnant at present, so she wouldn’t be drinking anyway.

Recently, we went to a tapas restaurant with four other couples for a birthday, and Ruth (my missus) and I did not have any wine for the above reasons, but the rest of the group drank several bottles between them. I totted up our food whilst we were ordering and when we came to pay I told everyone we were only putting in what we had eaten (+ tip of course), and everyone else went ballistic.

It left a very sour taste in the mouth, and I was branded tight. In my opinion they are the tight ones, as they are expecting me to fund them! Not that it is anyone’s business, but I am currently paying off a hefty credit card bill, on top of saving for an impending baby and the prospect of only one wage coming in to the house- but that is by the by.

Does anyone else agree with me that the culture we have got into of splitting the bill isn’t fair? Surely money savers can see my point. Or am I just a tight sod?

Something similar happened to me and my friend and I ended up paying over £20.00 for an omelette and coke so that everyone else could have wine. It was a meal with work colleagues and one guy used to order and pay on his credit card and divide it up and then ask is for the money. We were astounded but because he was "the boss" we did it. In the end we said we were only paying for what we had and he and his ladyfriend were the ones drinking all the alcohol!! It continued and I remember even not eating and having to pay a contribution.

That reminds me somewhere else I worked we used to divide it up and although it was fairer because we did not have alcohol but the some didnt have a dessert. I think the only way it can be done is for people to add up exactly what they had. I have been out with friends to an Indian Restaurant and the meal came to £9.00 with alcohol and although I didnt have any they recognised that I paid for their wine and told me to pay less but I didnt mind when they were being so nice about it and it was only about £2.00.

People call me tight and I dont give a monkeys.

ManAtHome

Worth trying your local pub - most of the big groups are pushing food at the moment. My local does decent meals around a fiver and about the same for a bottle of house wine. Advantage is you can order and pay individually and drink at your own speed.

DaisyNelson

This seems to be a common problem- I had a 'friend' who always pulled the same trick, when we went out to eat in a group. She'd order the most expensive item on the menu, add on her pre-dinner drinks she'd had at bar and have wine. I'd usually be driving and order the veggie option ( usually cheaper than other main courses). And you've guessed it, she always wanted the bill splitting equally. My solution, I don't go out with her any more, much less streesfull!

Foxy

when my mum and dad and all daughters and familys used to go out for an occasion we always automaticcally put our share of food bill and then kept drinks seperate (unless dad or wotever bought a round) which we have always as a family found the best way:)

jazzyjustlaw

I remember having this at a family meal out too. There are people in my famiy who lets just say overeat and drink at this type of event and then when I say who owes what they say well let just split it so many ways i.e. 4 ro 6 whatever it is. We even then started having take out as a family and I don't mind paying for family but not when they take the you know what, but they still did it.

What do we do now? We don't invite them.

Turning_into_scrooge

Years ago when i was married when it came to family meals out yes we always split the bill, but these days my family don't expect me to pay an equal share as there is only me and my son and i don't drink alcohol at all . I never minded paying an equal fair share when there was the 3 of us and decent money coming in but I don't have that money any more. In fact i'm sometimes classed as a £10 er which is what is agreed for the off spring's fee I do agree though that some people do take the mick by ordering expensive steaks and wine etc. and then expecting it all to be split equally, bit cheeky really especially for those of us who are watching the pennies for what ever reason :rolleyes:

IvanOpinion

I was talking to a friend about this last night and he informed me that he used to go out with a group of people for the odd meal. There were basically3 sets of adults but one of them also brought their 4 children - who would also get full meals (never anything off the childrens menu - apparently most of them just pushed it around the plate) and lashings of fizzy drinks.

You know the next bit. Whenever the bill came one particular set of adults wanted it split 3 ways. When the others questioned this the response that came back was something along the lines off ' the children didn't eat that much ... none of them finished their meal'.

In the end they just stopped inviting the other family with their entourage of children. I got the impression though that the financing of the meal had been sorted out, the reason for not inviting them was that they allowed their kids to run riot around the restaurant chasing each other, screaming and generally disturbing everybody else from enjoying their meals ... which my friend found embarassing because there was always at least one complaint sent to their table every time they went out.

Ivan