How to split the restaurant bill?

[Karwomannghia]

I’ve booked a restaurant to visit with a friend and had to pay £10 deposit.
When we go and we get the bill, how do we split it? Obviously just going halves.

I think it depends on the friendship and how often you go out. One of my friends and I take it in turns to pay the whole bill each time we go out. Other friends in larger groups we might split the bill. I don't keep a little book of who paid what and when. I also don't mind splitting the bill equally if I've not had alcohol and others have.
I might pay deposit and just not worry about it, but like PP have said it depends on circumstances.

Think of it as you have already covered £10 of the bill.

So bill shows 80, then they deduct 10 deposit (which you paid). That leaves 70. She then also covers 10. That leaves 60 which you split in half.

Get bill - check deposit has been applied
Your friend then covers 10.
The remainder of the bill is split in half.

@isitjustlockdown

Take the bill total, minus the £5. Split the remainder in half. Your pay the half to ur friend pays the half plus the fiver. As a working example:

Total bill = £55

• £5 (your friends share of deposit) = £50

£50/2=£25

You pay 25, your friend pays £30.

See that’s what confused me last time, that doesn’t work as I’d already paid £10 so I end up paying £35 and she £30. I reiterate that is not an issue regarding my finances or miserliness, just a bit of one of those things that stumped me briefly and thought I’d share!

You walk in, go up to the bar and both order a cocktail. She says I'll get these as you paid the deposit. She pays. Drink.

Sit and have meal.
When Bill arrives split 50/50.

(To be honest if you aren't both short of cash is it really worth worrying about for the sake of £5?)

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz

Think of it as you have already covered £10 of the bill.

So bill shows 80, then they deduct 10 deposit (which you paid). That leaves 70. She then also covers 10. That leaves 60 which you split in half.

Get bill - check deposit has been applied
Your friend then covers 10.
The remainder of the bill is split in half.

Yep so effectively she pays £10 more than me for the remainder to pay. For some reason last time I felt like that was unfair for her and she should be paying only £5 more as half the deposit.

But doesn't the £10 automatically come off the bill? And you've already paid it so split the bill and increase her share by £5.

@Mumdiva99

You walk in, go up to the bar and both order a cocktail. She says I'll get these as you paid the deposit. She pays. Drink.

Sit and have meal.
When Bill arrives split 50/50.

(To be honest if you aren't both short of cash is it really worth worrying about for the sake of £5?)

No it’s not worth worrying about, it’s just a little puzzle. I don’t believe I have mentioned being worried.

Be aware though that sometimes they say they're taking a deposit and then don't. This happened at afternoon tea the other week and we'd all pinged our tenners to the organiser. Thankfully we had some accountants out with us or I would have been completely bamboozled - for some reason I find that type of bill splitting completely unfathomable.

@Bluesheep8

But doesn't the £10 automatically come off the bill? And you've already paid it so split the bill and increase her share by £5.

Yep that’s what I thought but it’s not actually right!

@rookiemere

Be aware though that sometimes they say they're taking a deposit and then don't. This happened at afternoon tea the other week and we'd all pinged our tenners to the organiser. Thankfully we had some accountants out with us or I would have been completely bamboozled - for some reason I find that type of bill splitting completely unfathomable.

You’re not the only one it appears!

But if she was only paying half the deposit then she should pay that to you. Then split the whole bill.

£80 bill
Option one:- you pay 30, she pays 40 (plus the 10 you already prepaid)

Option two:- she gives you a fiver to cover her half of the deposit, bill is then split in half 35 each (plus the 10 deposit). She is still paying 40 - she just gives you a fiver of it. You still pay 30 (as the extra fiver is her money).

I think the easiest way is she gives you a fiver before you go, and then you just split the bill 50/50.

I hate this sort of maths. It seems complicated when it isn’t really.

Half the bill and friend leaves the tip

@Wriggleon

Half the bill and friend leaves the tip

It’s the maths side of things I’m interested in. It’s a puzzle I thought I’d share. It’s one of those things that seems easy but when it comes to it is actually quite puzzling! As is evident by the mixture of responses reflecting the exact puzzle I had.

Bill is 100 - 10 already paid = 90

Friend pays 10 first to equal out what you have paid = 80 left

80 / 2 = 40 each

You’ve both paid 50 each.

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz

But if she was only paying half the deposit then she should pay that to you. Then split the whole bill.

£80 bill
Option one:- you pay 30, she pays 40 (plus the 10 you already prepaid)

Option two:- she gives you a fiver to cover her half of the deposit, bill is then split in half 35 each (plus the 10 deposit). She is still paying 40 - she just gives you a fiver of it. You still pay 30 (as the extra fiver is her money).

Yep

Yep that’s what I thought but it’s not actually right!

OP I get that this is about a maths puzzle for you, not worry about £10.

You've got yourself confused about the fact that if your friend pays £5 more on the bill (so her share of the deposit) you will be paying £5 less. That's where the £10 gap in your head is coming in.

As others have demonstrated:

Bill is £50
Less deposit £10 (which you paid)

Bill is now £40

€20 each.

But your friend owes you £5.

She pays £25, you pay £15 = £40

It is equal - you already paid £10, so if you added that to £15, you have also paid £25

@Mumdiva99 that wouldn’t work in London ... cocktails are about £10 each 🤣

I think OP is more asking more from a maths perspective than a AIBU one.

OP I know exactly what you mean! It messes with the head a bit because you think your friend shouldn’t be putting £10 more in the pot because she only owes you £5

But if you think of it as: the bill is 40 so you both owe 20. She also owes you 5 for the deposit. She hands you 5 and you immediately put it on the table as part of your bill. You then have 15 left to pay whilst she has 20. Once you’ve both put down the remainder she will have shelled out a total of 25 and you 15 that night.

Lol thanks for waking my brain up!

@FawnFrenchieMum

Bill is 100 - 10 already paid = 90

Friend pays 10 first to equal out what you have paid = 80 left

80 / 2 = 40 each

You’ve both paid 50 each.

Yes so for the remaining bill, she pays £10 More than me. She’s pay £50 and me £40. We did do this last time but I was then thinking she’d overpaid.

@EarringsandLipstick

Yep that’s what I thought but it’s not actually right!

OP I get that this is about a maths puzzle for you, not worry about £10.

You've got yourself confused about the fact that if your friend pays £5 more on the bill (so her share of the deposit) you will be paying £5 less. That's where the £10 gap in your head is coming in.

As others have demonstrated:

Bill is £50
Less deposit £10 (which you paid)

Bill is now £40

€20 each.

But your friend owes you £5.

She pays £25, you pay £15 = £40

It is equal - you already paid £10, so if you added that to £15, you have also paid £25

Yes that works, I thought pp said split the remainder then friend adds £5 to the restaurant!

I would get her to transfer £5 to you before the meal , then spilt it 50/50 at the end of the night . That way it wont matter if you've had 1, 2 or 10 gins 🤣

She’s pay £50 and me £40.

Oh OP!

No - you paid but £10 to start with. So you also paid £50.

There are a few ways of putting the sums together. But the bottom line is that the gap will always be £10.

But actually, the tip thing does skew it. So even though I know this is about understanding the maths, in a practical way, just get her to cover the tip. (It may not be exactly equal but should be ok if you're friends).

@Lessthanaballpark

I think OP is more asking more from a maths perspective than a AIBU one.

OP I know exactly what you mean! It messes with the head a bit because you think your friend shouldn’t be putting £10 more in the pot because she only owes you £5

But if you think of it as: the bill is 40 so you both owe 20. She also owes you 5 for the deposit. She hands you 5 and you immediately put it on the table as part of your bill. You then have 15 left to pay whilst she has 20. Once you’ve both put down the remainder she will have shelled out a total of 25 and you 15 that night.

Lol thanks for waking my brain up!

No probs and I appreciate the acknowledgment that I’m not a tightwad and need helpful slightly passive aggressive suggestions as to how to manage social interactions!

Now, for the Uber home she paid on her account and dropped me off on way. I attempted to give her £5 but she laughed in my face. How do I manage that?