sharing restaurant bills in a group

A question about : sharing restaurant bills in a group

Apologies in advance but found this the only sub-forum to post in..

Just curious how others tackle group meals with friends/others etc when sharing meals and drinks. do you split the bill total by no. of people or do you work out who had what?
If its a small group with close friends/contacts its not so much an issue, but with others sometimes you not met before, curious if there is a better way?.

Best answers:

• If its a group i dont know that well, its always best to go somewhere that has a set menu as the cost of food is at least equal. Regarding drinks, im usually prepared to suck it up and split evenly, unless someone has really taken the mick and drunk expensive stuff/lots. Or people pay for own drinks as go along (most restaurants now have a bar, you can go to).
  With friends/family, i go for an even split of the bill. As usually it evens out over time, or if someone drives and doesnt have alcohol, the drinkers just split the total drinks bill. But this has evolved over time and is now just a given.
• If it's a large group we buy our own drinks at the bar and split the food. If it's a smaller group of say 4-6 we just split the bill equally. I don't really drink but I don't mind splitting the bill providing people haven't gone mad, if they have I tend to say something!
• In groups Ive gone out with we have either paid for the meal if its a set menu and then bought own drinks, or we just pay for our own. Its too easy to get stung when some of the group are knocking back bottles of wine and others dont drink. I dont have loads of money and I cant afford to be paying for other people's alcohol.
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• Most people don't want to be perceived as the contemptible toad demanding a reduction over the division of the prawn crackers. Which is why it is up to the people who know they have had considerably more to insist on putting in the price of their wine before the split. I would never contribute less than my fair share, but definitely don't appreciate being asked for double or more to pay for somebody else's alcohol.
• The problem with splitting evenly is that everyone doesn't want to lose out, so everyone ends up spending more!
  Now I just ask everyone to work out what they spent and put the money on the table, then I take it all and pay the bill with my card
  Only very rarely do I end up paying more than I should have, but then I get my points or cashback so it all works out in the end
• It really depends on the people their at the time I guess! We have always (no matter who I am with) spilt the bill on what we've had...whether that be me and my friends, my MIL's family and in the other case my Dads side pays for me etc but my cousins dad pays for theirs and what they've had.
  *Usually* in large groups on my family's side, we will order separately so their is no hassle - some buy drinks for others etc to be nice. On the MIL's side they will order together and get their calculators out (phones), round up slightly and what ever is left over (as we know in these situations the last person usally pays less so it counters it) is considered a tip.
  I think it really depends on how proud people are though - as another poster said people don't want to be seen squabbling over prawn crackers... but my friends untill recently have always been pretty skint my friend would pay to the penny...and the two families are well... family and everyone knows each others financial situation (to a point)
  I suppose if you go out with a new group - none of them will want to be sitting their with calculators and it's easier to say just spit evenly...and to go against the grain will probably leave you looking 'poor' so no one wants to.
  Next time, if you want to - just say I don't think that's fair really as I havn't drunk as much as you guys so I'll pay for what I've had...work it out and put the money down.
  That's what my friend would of done anyway...as she cares more about her pocket then what people think (and so she should really? )
  You'll probally find a few might follow suit..
• We split entire bill by the number of guests. However seems to be the done thing nowadays to get the calculator out and count how many more/less peanuts you have had compared to the next person.
  its not just about booze intake, its about peeps being tight lol .... I was out a few months ago at lunchtime. I seen a crowd of women splitting the bill individually AT the till. Very annoying when you are waiting to pay.
• The group I dine with regularly seem to be able to manage splitting the bill fairly without too much fuss.
  If we're all drinking we split it equally, if one of us isn't drinking and the bill comes to Ј20 each we'll just tell the non drinker to put in say Ј15 and the rest of us will put in an extra Ј1-2 to cover it.
• We normally split the bill equally unless somebody has had something particularly expensive and in that case it's the person who spent a lot more that insists we split it properly, or we'll split the bill equally but they'll leave the tip. We have two kids - as they usually have the cheap kids' meals we tend to count them as one adult when dividing the bill by number of people.
  People don't tend to drink when they're with us anyway but if somebody had spent much extra on alcohol we wouldn't pay towards that as we don't drink (and don't particularly agree with drinking), just like I wouldn't expect a vegan to contribute to my husband's massacre on a plate if it cost more than a plate of veg
• it usually depends who im out with, but i dont usually find it fair to split the bill evenly.
  i often have one of the more expensive meals, and often spend more on drink as well, so i prefer to pay for myself, otherwise, others will end up having to pay more to make up for what i had
• We tend to split evenly within family/close friends, though as others have said it will depend on the group.
  I was at a hen party last year with about 20 girls at it and we went for a meal. Almost everyone had a main course and then shared either starter or dessert, it wasn't a rule put down, just worked out that way. This one girl had full 3 courses including a steak, didn't want to drink the house wine shared among us, and ordered herself a bottle.
  At the end of the meal, the bill came down and 3 course girl snapped it up and announced that it would be best if we shared the bill, which worked out at Ј35 per head - not too bad you might think, but her wine alone cost Ј28 per bottle and she drank it by herself.
  My sister was on the trip and was pregnant at the time so obviously not drinking, she had a pasta dish and we shared starter & dessert. A few of the other girls and I put extra in so she didn't have to pay as much, but I felt aggrieved that one girls greediness cost the rest of us.
  I shan't be rushing out to drink/eat with her again.
  sk56
• [QUOTE=Kayalana99;64939761]
  *Usually* in large groups on my family's side, we will order separately so their is no hassle - some buy drinks for others etc to be nice. On the MIL's side they will order together and get their calculators out (phones), round up slightly and what ever is left over (as we know in these situations the last person usally pays less so it counters it) is considered a tip.
  just spit evenly...and to go against the grain will probably leave you looking 'poor' so no one wants to.
  [\QUOTE]
  with family and CLOSE friends its different as everyone understands this matter, and I never had an issue. as I do organize some meals for various social groups its a matter that I wish to resolve. again various mixed drinkers and eaters attend but think its fair for those not drinking to pay a share to the drinkers, and for drinkers expect to let others pay towards them.
  is it just a matter of bite it when out with a group, and I'm the only one that objects?
• Having been caught out in a group when I ended up splitting the bill I pay for my own nowadays.
  I had a pizza, nothing to drink, which cost a few pennies under a tenner. My "share" of the final bill that time came to Ј30