Splitting restaurant bill

[idontwanttodothisanymore]

I’m one of those people who like to pay for just my meal. I hate splitting the bill by how many people there are.

Me and DH went out with his friend and his OH the other day.

Mine and DH meal came to: £31.57
I had pizza and water, he had chicken and one coke.
DH friend and OH meal came to: £49.78
They had ribs, lasagne, chips and 3 drinks.

Final bill was £81.75
DH friend had two vouchers for £20 off, so they both used that.

Then the OH said we could pay the rest. So we ended up paying £41.75 - £10 more than our meal!!!

I had never met her before and was completely shocked that she wanted us to split by 4 when our meal was cheaper.
She was very intimidating anyway so I didn’t want to say anything.

We were going to do 2 bills but the waiter was all flustered so we said don’t bother. Regretting it now!

I know it’s only £10 but our circumstances are so different. They both work and she has one child - he works full time and she works part time. Whereas DH works part time (and overtime if there is any) but I don’t (I had to leave my job due to medically issues), and we have 2 children.

DH doesn’t think I should be annoyed but I really am!
AIBU to be annoyed?

I don’t think I’ll ever see her again anyway, I didn’t get a good vibe from her and she’s just not my kind of person at all.

@Christinayangstwistedsista We only had £40 on the card until today when DH got paid. The food shopping and bills had already been sorted.

I wouldn't have gone in that circumstance, idont, much less have gone to the cinema, but it's water under the bridge and you need to let it go.

I'm not sure they did anything wrong, it depends if they knew what they ate cost.

If they didn't get their calculators out, I think it was fair enough to think that £40 is about half of £81, and that was close enough.

It sounds like they have more money and are used to being less precise about how they divide bills.

Having said that, I always know roughly how much I've eaten and never pay less. So I would have chucked another £10 in if I were them. (I think they are entitled to a full £40 credit for their vouchers, regardless of how obtained.)

Going out for dinner is meant to be fun...

Might be fun when you're the one being subsidised.

always say before the meal, are we splitting the bill or paying for our own. even when i go out drinking i always say ill buy my own, mainly because i only drink halves of lager and lime whereas all my friends are gin and cocktail lovers

So MsHarry every time you go out you feel like you're out of pocket? I find it tends to even out with the same group of friends... I never even think to work it out....

No not at all. It has happened, as i explained upthread. With friends we would order much the same and drink the same, then split by number of people. But if they weren't drinking or had much less to eat than us(say 1 course to our 3) then I wouldn't expect them to pay the same as us.

You got the cinema time wrong, arrived 5 hours early so ‘had’ to buy tickets elsewhere at £12 each, whilst having £40 in your bank account.

You ended up paying for an ‘expensive’ meal on your credit card because you couldn’t be bothered to wait for the waiter to split the bill.

If I was in your financial situation, I would have just gone home and gone another day (after pay day!). It just sounds like silly, frivolous spending that you now regret and are trying to blame the other woman for. I wouldn’t have made the same DECISIONS as you if I was in your £££ position.

It’s either fine financially to eat out/go to a pricy cinema or it’s not. The other couple may be in a more comfortable position where they don’t have to calculate down to the penny yes, but you’re grown adults that are responsible for your own spending. You both need to be more assertive and responsible as the entire day sounds poorly planned - and you could barely afford it

If your idea of a nice meal out is Wetherspoons those prices will be eye watering. I’m hoping the other couple were just thoughtless.

Those if you saying you never bother to add up the bill please check your privilege.

However I find YOU extremely offensive making such sweeping assumptions of ones character

The assumption came from the tone of your obnoxious post.

If your idea of a nice meal out is Wetherspoons those prices will be eye watering
Snob!

might be snobbish. Also true though.

I would rather not go out than have to get my calculator out though.
I do think it depends on your circle of friends... Going out with unknown people
is even more problematic as you don't want to come across as penny pinching. Therefore if £7 is going to push you over the edge then it's best to postpone until after pay day.

Have never got my calculator out btw. Most people can manage simple mental addition.I always round up and add on a tip.

Wow, I can’t believe the thread got to page 7 before someone pointed out that the OP’s DH OFFERED to cover the rest of the bill!
Maybe he was just trying to do something nice, and even then it’s hardly a big deal.
Why is the OP pissed at the couple?

I’d be more pissed off with my DH if he sat and got his calculator out rather than just paid the bill for the sake of £9!

I’m also a bit weirded out that the OP knows how much their shares were..... to the PENNY, that’s pretty anal.

I've found that when people are being very exact and adding to the penny on their phones it always turns out that the amount thrown in the middle is short. They tend to forget about the tip, or the bread, or "I only had a glass of the wine so I'm not putting in for the booze"

This is true I find. When people pay for themselves it always comes up short.

I always offer to pay more when I’ve had a more expensive meal, and when I have had a less expensive meal I insist we split equally. Most of my friends do similar. This is the luxury that comes from having a healthy disposable income. Not everyone has that. £10 may not break the bank but it’s £10 the OP could have spent on something else, which when you dont have a lot spare is galling.

Most people can manage simple mental addition

Unfortunately they can't,

Oh are these the Wetherspoons customers?

@19lottie82

DH didn’t offer to get the rest of the bill!
He said that we’d sort it out at the end!

Their version of sorting it out was just using their vouchers.

I know to the penny how much it was because I have a receipt!

If you only want to pay for what you have, you MUST be explicit up front. Bitching about it afterwards does nothing

Am i the only one who is confused as to why people are saying the Tesco vouchers should have been shared......I spend a fortune in Tesco to earn points to use in various places....certainly not free and I would not be sharing mine.

My apologies I read it wrong

Well, he sorted it out by pitching in more cash. You sorted it out by saying nothing. You both sorted it out by going along with these people to the cinema and a restaurant you normally wouldn't go to because it's more expensive. It's a relatively cheap lesson in how to learn to be assertive, or how to stick to lower cost plans if going out with others.

Consider it money well spent in that respect. Maybe keep the receipt to remind you every time you go along with something you cannot afford, especially now you're looking at one PT worker supporting a family of five with no additional tax credits for 3rd children.

I don't really drink alcohol - normally when I go out for dinner everyone but me will be drinking. I also don't have a massive appetite so will usually only have one course when others will have at least 2. We still always split the bill two ways (or whatever) though - I don't work either due to health reasons but this is what happens when you go out to dinner. Next time get the steak ;)