Readers are divided on splitting the bill

Plenty of you chimed in with your own tales of big-group-dinner woe after last week's story on the trials and tribulations of splitting the bill.

One man declared shared bills to be so much drama he'd rather just eat alone. Relatives complained of in-laws (out-laws?) and siblings who consistently underpay. Another reader wrote all the way from Fiji to relive a dining-experience-gone-sour from the 1980s. The '80s! (Well, he did have to fork over $70 for two sodas plus an order of fish and chips ... ).

Whether you're an Equalizer, Calculator, Cringer or Cleanup Splitter, there's insight to be gleaned from fellow readers.

"I dine out so often with different groups and friends that I'm entertained when it comes to the bill-paying 'shakedown.' I realized a few years back that I was the Cleanup Splitter. My focus has always been on having a lovely time together and not sully the experience with a lousy bill-splitting experience.

I have one friend who feels she is less financially set than I. She would end the evening with some type of dodge of her fair share. Even take my cash without the needed change (five dollars give or take) and pay with a card that's almost maxed.

After I saw the pattern, I quit 'meeting' her for a bite. Now when we get together, I'm prepared in advance for what tactic she might use. Last night I had a great dinner downtown and another one of my friends insisted on picking up the tab! Great times!"

— Elizabeth Anderson

"We have finally decided that we only go to dinner with those we know have the same attitude as we do. I am a nondrinker so my part of the bill would seldom equal the bill of drinkers (including my husband), but over time our spending usually equals out. With some we simply split the check evenly; with others we pay one time and they pay the next.

With those we know who will stiff the waitperson my husband simply says 'your share of the bill is' and that includes their part of a 20 percent tip. We only have one relative in our lives who HATES tipping, but since he is a relative we swallow that one."

— Diana Hill

"I have a standing weekly 'guys night' where seven to nine of us get together for beers, sometimes appetizers, or pizza, etc. ... When the bill comes, one of us gathers up a stack of credit cards. The server will say, 'Uh, split this eight ways?' to which we reply no, and one of us explains the rules of Credit Card Roulette — shuffle the cards, put them behind your back and lay them on the table one by one. The 'winner' has immunity from the bill the next week, unless that bill is quite a bit smaller than the previous bill (lowest I can remember: $23, highest over $200).

Needless to say, it keeps us all from going overboard, but keeps us all cognizant of what we're consuming. If someone is feeling their bank accounts/credit limits can't handle the bill, they are free to 'cash out' and pay their share of what they ate and drank. However, it is much more fun to 'spin' the roulette wheel!"

— Jeff Englehorn

"I totally favor splitting evenly; otherwise, it just seems petty and awkward to divvy up exactly, especially since nobody EVER includes tax and/or tip when they contribute for their portion, so there's always a shortage and somebody gets cheated even more.

However, if there's a situation where people ate substantially different amounts, say one person ordered a side salad and the other the steak dinner with three glasses of wine, then we divide and make rough adjustments.

I mean you just have to be reasonable. I believe a meal shared between friends is a meal, regardless of whether one person drinks more than the next. What if you invited friends for dinner and everybody brought a bottle of wine and one person drank a whole bottle and another drank only a glass. Would you make that bottle drinker bring more next time?"

— Stephanie Crocker

"How to split the bill is mostly an issue with co-workers. We have one person pay the entire bill with a credit card. This person requests a copy of the detailed bill, and then the rest of us 'initial' the portion that is ours.

The 'Payor' enters this information on a spreadsheet, listing each person by name, and the total of their portion of the bill, including the tax and tip. The spreadsheet is sent to each person electronically. The rest of us pay the 'Payor' with cash or a check, and when they receive their credit-card bill, they have the money to pay it. Sounds complicated, but it really works (hey, we're bankers; we like 'doing the math'!!!)."

— Ann Holmberg

Karen Gaudette: 206-515-5618 or kgaudette@seattletimes.com