Splitting the Bill

What do you do when your friends want to eat out and then split the bill, even when you know they’re going to order a lot more than you?

Splitting the Bill – Eating Out With Friends

Many readers have asked about how to handle eating out with friends. Some of the questions are:

“What do I say when friends want to eat out a lot as a way to socialize but we don’t have the money to do that?”

“What do I say when my friends want to go out to eat but they never pay their share?”

“What do you do when your group wants to “split” the bill but the portion they ask you to pay is way higher than what you actually spent?” In one case the person said they spent about $20 but when the bill was split up it came to $91 per person! Wow!

“What do you do when a friend brings a coupon for Buy One Get One Meal Free and they want their meal free because you purchased yours?”

Well, here is what I would say:

“I’m sorry but I’m not going to be eating out today (or this week, month or whatever)”. If you still go out, I would ask ahead of time “Do you have your wallet and money?”

When ordering, say, “I would like my own check please.”

“Oh great! A coupon! …So we can SPLIT the cost of lunch.”

These may seem like simple responses but keep it short and sweet with no explanation needed. It’s your money and there is no reason for you to be paying for others’ meals.

Tawra

The day you start spending your money unemotionally is the day you will start having control of it. The above comments are perfect examples of how we spend money emotionally. We don’t want to be embarrassed and we worry about what others think about us so we spend money we don’t have.

Get your emotions under control, stop worrying about what others think, get some self respect and self confidence. I was the worlds worse in this area but when things got so bad that I lost everything I got over my embarrassment real fast because it became a matter of survival. The problem is as long as we have even one credit card to charge we aren’t in survival mode and won’t change. Just something to think about.

Jill

Photo By: Alastair Vance