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.

[DunkMeInTomatoSoup]

O/T I once went out with people I met through a hobby group. 6 of us, never met before. I really don’t think any of them had ever eaten out before. We had a set meal. He-Who-Organised the meal asked if anyone wanted to leave a tip, and collected a large amount of coppers I was embarrassed at this point and put in £10. He then sat and divvied up the bill drink by drink (you know the sort of think I had tap water, I had one coke etc) it was absolutely excruciatingly embarrassing. Never again.

Bills get split equally by the number of people on the table.

[CherryChasingDotMuncher]

Are people really that prissy over 9 quid in a restaurant?

Aside from the fact that £9 is a lot to many people, it’s the principle of being screwed over by so-called friends and family.

[Bluntness100]

We’ve always split by how many folks there, inc tip and service charge. I’ve actually never met anyone who only wants to pay their exact amount. However if that is what you wish to do, you should have explained at thr start of the meal to them and informed the waiter at the point of ordering.

Personally I’d have used the forty pound vouchers and split what was left four ways, so I think they were a bit cheeky there, but to be fair to them, the bill was pretty much split fifty fifty, which in my experience is the norm.

[Bubblebubblepop]

Wouldn't your meal prezzo be practically £20 each anyway? You should've just said the child didn't have anything so you need to take her out

Not as bad as the wedding meal my friend organised when 5 people left before the bill and everyone else had to pay their share

[2014newme]

Yabu to go along with it on the night and moan later.
Be more assertive.

[nutnerk]

Snoooze - if you can't afford to pay an extra £10 either way then you need to scale down what kind of restaurant you go to or do something different. Perhaps Nandos or McDonalds where you just pay for your own order?

[Tania88]

Sorry I have to say that unless the difference is really vast then I would usually expect to split the bill. I have a friend who always like to only pay for their own meal (mainly because she doesn’t often drink and everyone else does) and she always asks if that’s ok before we start, which of course it always is.

I think you are going to have to let this one go and of it really bothers you in future make sure you say something at the time.

[LagunaBubbles]

I think the people that criticise people for wanting to pay only your own have never been in a situation where every penny is accounted for, especially when the other people eat or drink more than you. So its only £10, that can be a lot of money.

[PandorasXbox]

Why on earth didn’t you say something there and then if you dislike her so much and you’ll not see her again?

[Bubblebubblepop]

I have Laguna but I'd rather not go out than have to act like that it's just too miserable

[CherryChasingDotMuncher]

Wouldn't your meal prezzo be practically £20 each anyway? You should've just said the child didn't have anything so you need to take her out

That’s what I did say, that I wasn’t paying £20 for my DD when she hadn’t even had anything off the menu! IIRC I think our meals and drinks and dessert came to about £30 (we are boring pizza people and have margaritas ) and I think we put £50 in.

[LadyinCement]

I think you are particularly unreasonable to mention different circumstances - over ten pounds ! I would be astonished if someone thought I should pay more because I had one dc when they had two. What has this got to do with anything? The children weren't even there!

[Quartz2208]

If it had been me I would have taken off the vouchers and split the rest

she sounds mean

[PandorasXbox]

Laguna people counting their pennies don’t usually go out to eat in restaurants.

[RavingRoo]

You should have said something. Those jokers were taking the piss.

[DunkMeInTomatoSoup]

So its only £10, that can be a lot of money. If that's a lot of money, you dont eat out

[CherryChasingDotMuncher]

Snoooze - if you can't afford to pay an extra £10 either way then you need to scale down what kind of restaurant you go to or do something different. Perhaps Nandos or McDonalds where you just pay for your own order?



How patronising

[MsHarry]

YANBU The only people that think you are are those that like others to be for some of their bill for them. Scroungers!

[LagunaBubbles]

Laguna people counting their pennies don’t usually go out to eat in restaurants

Of course they do, If I have a budget of £30 for a meal for example I can work out I can afford a meal etc but I wouldnt be budgeting another £10 to sub someone elses.

[MsHarry]

*to pay!

[Bluntness100]

I think the people that criticise people for wanting to pay only your own have never been in a situation where every penny is accounted for, especially when the other people eat or drink more than you

I think the vast majority of the population has been in that situation to be fair, for example we were all young once and not earning much, irrelevant of how our finances stacked up as older adults.

But even when young we just split the bill, if nine quid was make or break, I wouldn’t have went to the meal in the first place, or I would have spoken out at the start. But I will be honest and say I’d feel embarrased to be counting out exact amounts.

[expatinscotland]

'I have Laguna but I'd rather not go out than have to act like that sad it's just too miserable'

I'm the same. It's a rare treat to go to a sit-down restaurant that's not Maccie D's or the like.

[PandorasXbox]

Well in that case Laguna they need to speak up and not pay the extra for someone else!

[disahsterdahling]

The waiter was flustered by us saying we wanted 2 bills, so DH said not to bother and we’d sort it out after

I suspect you've learnt not to do that again. The waiting staff can do it. They might not like it, but it's not really an inconvenience.

[12hrsoff]

Also what does how many children you have or your working hours have to do with this one-off scenario of £10! What kind of logic is that? I agree with PP, it sounds like a very miserable occasion.