Splitting the bill.
 

I was in speech class tonight and one of the girls did her pursuasive speech on courtesy and politeness. Most of her suggestions were standard fare: don't park like an [censored]; cleanup your dog's [censored]; let the people with two items through in the line if you've got a cart-full. But her last suggestion got me. It was as follows: if you've just been out for dinner or drinks with friends, you should always add 20% on the bill and split it evenly between the total number of diners. Her logic was that, in the end, cost evens out (at one point, she suggested something along the lines of "If one of your friends ate more, maybe next time you're out you can order the steak and a glass of wine.")

I couldn't disagree more. Now if everyone's total came to approximately the same, I can certainly see a case for simply splitting the bill. But I don't think it's right, for example, to try to split a $100 bill among 5 people when one guy may have ordered $10 worth of food and drinks while another ordered $30. At least when my GF and I go out with our friends we always split the bill based on who had what. Sure, it creates a bit of work for our waiter or waitress, but we always tip well and no one gets the shaft when it comes to paying for my $20 steak au poivre. Am I wrong here?

Of course, there is the third way (and in my mind, a way that is at least as equitable as the first option with the added benefit of keeping everyone from splurging). We did this once, but my friends copped out after that because of the fear of...idunno: At the end of the meal, everyone throws their credit card into a hat. The leader then holds the hat above head level and shakes the cards up. When the waiter/waitress comes by to collect the bill, the hat is held above their head and they select one card at random. Loser pays...

So of these three, what's the best way to pay the bill?

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

I like the CC in the hat idea. It gives all incentive to order a moderate meal, and adds a sense of gamble to it.

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

If it is close then just split it if among good friends.

If it is with randoms and not close then pay your own. I have no problem with putting a little extra in though.

The worst is when everyone pays their own and fools do not know how to add. Tip and Tax can be mystical things to so many smart people...that our they are just cheap bastards!

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

In the post-college real world, among friends, there's even this concept of not splitting the bill at all. As in "I'll get this one."

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

pay for what you ordered. it's not hard, it's simple math.

i am a BIG proponent of the "credit card game" as i call it. usually what we do is get all the credit cards.. say 3 or 4. one person shuffles them under the table, then lines them up with each other (still under the table), top = 1 all the way down to bottom = n where n = # of cards. then the waitress is asked to pick a # between 1 and n, and there you have it.

best way to pay hands down.. but, if your friends aren't gamblors... just pay for what you ordered!

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

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In the post-college real world, among friends, there's even this concept of not splitting the bill at all. As in "I'll get this one."

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this has never been done with any of my friends, and they are all even older than me, early 30's... the only time something like this is done is if one of us helps the other guy move or something, or does him a favor that he appreciates,.. he will say this the next time we go out or something.

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

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I like the CC in the hat idea. It gives all incentive to order a moderate meal,

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huh? how does it give anyone incentive to order a moderate meal?? if anything i want to splurge

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

"I'll get this one" is the way things should go. Grown men splitting the bill should not happen.

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

Options 1 and 3 are just near-random ways of accomplishing option 2. Go with option 2 and skip the bullshiz morans

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

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"I'll get this one" is the way things should go. Grown men splitting the bill should not happen.

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i disagree. pay for what you ordered

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

The Costanza is strong in this thread, I sense it

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

I don't mind splitting it evenly but if someone is going to suggest that it had better not be the guy who orders 5 drinks, an appetizer, and the most expensive entree. God I hate when people do that [censored].

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

I think that it depends on the situation. If your server is busy and working a full section, it is VERY much appreciated if you simply pay together. Me standing in the corner counting out change and running credit cards for 5 minutes while splitting 9 checks is just not a fun thing to do when I've got 4 other tables that want stuff. Then again, you did say that you tip well, so I couldn't really complain.

If you do pay separately, it's much nicer to your server to simply work things out yourself with cash before he/she gets back, and then give them the check presenter with the tip already included. "We don't need change" is a phrase that is always appreciated.

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

You do need the change. The change adds up. It adds up a lot.

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

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You do need the change. The change adds up. It adds up a lot.

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Well, that's not really what I meant. If the bill was $25 and you toss me $30 and say "I don't need change," it's a good thing.

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

The change isnt in addition to the tip though, is it?

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

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The change isnt in addition to the tip though, is it?

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Here's how I'm seeing it: If the bill is $30 and you give me two $20 bills and say "I don't need change," I keep that extra $10 that I would have given you back, which is now my tip. Obviously that's a pretty damn good tip, but you get the jist.

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

[ QUOTE ]
I think that it depends on the situation. If your server is busy and working a full section, it is VERY much appreciated if you simply pay together. Me standing in the corner counting out change and running credit cards for 5 minutes while splitting 9 checks is just not a fun thing to do when I've got 4 other tables that want stuff. Then again, you did say that you tip well, so I couldn't really complain.

If you do pay separately, it's much nicer to your server to simply work things out yourself with cash before he/she gets back, and then give them the check presenter with the tip already included. "We don't need change" is a phrase that is always appreciated.

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What do I care about the server? If we're courteous and give a good tip I'm not going to worry about making a little bit of extra work for him.

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

I'd tip myself that amount for even considering to tip that much

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

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What do I care about the server? If we're courteous and give a good tip I'm not going to worry about making a little bit of extra work for him.

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I agree, if you're nice and you tip well, I'm not going to complain about splitting checks. I'm just pointing out that it's just a nice gesture if his/her section is slammed and you have a bunch of separate checks, that's all.

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I'd tip myself that amount for even considering to tip that much

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Well as I said, that's a pretty damn good tip. It's happened before, but not very often at all. I was just trying to make a point.

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

I pick up the check for the following reasons:
It is with my gf.
It is a special occasion or I have a specific reason to be thankful to them.
The amount of money is significant to them, but not to me. I am college-aged so a lot of my friends have no money, but $5 doesn't mean [censored] to me, so I'll just pick it up.

Otherwise, I don't see a reason to pay for their food.

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

What me/friends have been doing lately is having me pay on a CC/Debit and then taking the receipt and adding it to each of their tabs.

Unless I'm drunk, then I always pay for everyone.

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

As a vegetarian who also doesn't drink, I hate the splitting the bill evenly idea.

Do people really get separate checks for five or so people? Most times I've been out, we usually have one check and people are able to figure out what they owe and throw it in.

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

If its just me and 1 of my buddies we usually flip a coin to see who pays.

Fun, neutral EV, draws attention from hot bitches.

They love it.


blake

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

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As a vegetarian who also doesn't drink, I hate the splitting the bill evenly idea.

Do people really get separate checks for five or so people? Most times I've been out, we usually have one check and people are able to figure out what they owe and throw it in.

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ding

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

The only time I'd consider the roulette idea is when its between me and a group of guy friends (all of whom have jobs and $200 isn't much of anybody's back). This only goes for nights where the meal and drinks are pregaming (usually at a mexican restaurant).

This scenerio has been going on with my older friends who've graduated in the past 2 years and I will most likely be joining them in the next two months.

It works out in the long run and plus the loser has his drinks paid for the rest of the night by the rest of the guys.

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

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I like the CC in the hat idea. It gives all incentive to order a moderate meal,

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huh? how does it give anyone incentive to order a moderate meal?? if anything i want to splurge

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this reminds me of the prisoners dilemna. One guy splurging makes another guy want to splurge, until everyone gets the most expensive meal on the menu.

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

This all shouldn't be this complicated. When the check comes, do some simple arithmetic and figure out who owes what. With my good friends I am fine with splitting the food bill if it's a 5$ difference between them all but we take the drinks out of the equation because that tends to throw things off balance. Someone just owes it to someone for next time.

I really like the CC in a hat idea, but most of my friends I eat with regularly aren't gamblers.

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
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I like the CC in the hat idea. It gives all incentive to order a moderate meal,

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huh? how does it give anyone incentive to order a moderate meal?? if anything i want to splurge

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this reminds me of the prisoners dilemna. One guy splurging makes another guy want to splurge, until everyone gets the most expensive meal on the menu.

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Ya ev wise whoever gets the most expensive dinner wins with the credit card game. It ends up being the same as everybody splitting evenly.

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

How hard is it to look at the bill and cut it up five or six ways based on what people ordered? It's simple arithmatic, and who cares if someone gets shorted three bucks.

Edit: I like the CC in the hat idea. All my buddies gamble, I'll suggest that next time.

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

I have circles of friends with which I know for sure whether splitting the bill will result in either more than enough for a good tip, and other circles of friends where it always takes another go-round of chiseling bills from people's wallets.

How people can't remember tax, tip, and the appetizers we ordered for the table, I don't know.

But I do know which group of friends I would rather go out to dinner with, and which I prefer to just invite over to the house for dinner.

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

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How people can't remember tax, tip, and the appetizers we ordered for the table, I don't know.

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they remember.

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

At the company I started my career we used to do the CC in a hat routine for each Friday's lunch.

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

I can't stand when people don't want to just do it simply. Add a tip, split the bill, that's it. If I had a few more drinks than anyone else, I'll throw in a little extra. Just keep it simple. The point of going out to eat with friends is to have a good time, not to nitpick. Whenever I'm with people who insist on divying up the check proportionatly, somehow, the waitress winds up getting shorted on a tip and I wind up having to throw in an extra $10 so she doens't get stiffed.

Stop being so [censored] cheap.

Edit: And the real simple way, if you eat out with the same gorup of people a lot, is just have someone pay each time. I do this with a couple of friends all the time. One night I'll take care of it, another one of them will. It's so simple.

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

After college with friends or with work people,it is merely a choice of "split evenly", picking it up as a friendly act or credit card roullette. Anything else is lame. If a friend abuses the "split evenly", realize you have testicles and tell him to quit it.

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

If the place will do seperate checks, I do that. Otherwise I prefer an even split. My friends and I eat out often enough that the different is marginal.

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

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I can't stand when people don't want to just do it simply. Add a tip, split the bill, that's it. If I had a few more drinks than anyone else, I'll throw in a little extra. Just keep it simple. The point of going out to eat with friends is to have a good time, not to nitpick. Whenever I'm with people who insist on divying up the check proportionatly, somehow, the waitress winds up getting shorted on a tip and I wind up having to throw in an extra $10 so she doens't get stiffed.

Stop being so [censored] cheap.

Edit: And the real simple way, if you eat out with the same gorup of people a lot, is just have someone pay each time. I do this with a couple of friends all the time. One night I'll take care of it, another one of them will. It's so simple.

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first of all, it's not about nitpicking, when we go out, all of my friends simply take turns looking at the bill and paying what they owe. nobody is going around telling everyone to put in this and that, it's just that everyone understands the concept of paying for what they ordered. it's not a hard concept to grasp.

secondly, maybe it's just because i like to hang out with intelligent poeple, but the bill is never short, and is almost always too much, resulting in a huge tip.

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

The people who don't want to chop it up are nits who order soup and salad at the steak place and prefer water to sharing a bottle of wine. They are also the people who will "forget" the tax and tip when everyone is asked to throw in. If it is a social occasion it will be a lot more fun if everyone orders/eats in the same spirit... and this will make chopping the bill equitable as well.

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

[ QUOTE ]
first of all, it's not about nitpicking, when we go out, all of my friends simply take turns looking at the bill and paying what they owe. nobody is going around telling everyone to put in this and that, it's just that everyone understands the concept of paying for what they ordered. it's not a hard concept to grasp.

secondly, maybe it's just because i like to hang out with intelligent poeple, but the bill is never short, and is almost always too much, resulting in a huge tip.

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you realize this is not normal right? If you go out to dinner with two people, and one of them has a beer, do you go through the effort to figure out that he owes $3.00 more than the other two who ordered cokes? I realize it is not that much effort, but it just seems so petty.

Daryn: Ok, I owe $23.50
Friend 1: Ok, I owe $24.25, I got a diet coke.
Friend 2 (the drinker): Well, I got a beer, so it comes to $27.00

Isn't it easier for everyone to just throw $25 and leave?

Re: Splitting the bill.
 

Yes, but what happens when one person orders a water and a salad, and another person orders two beers and a steak?